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Emerald Bay is an inlet on the south west corner of Lake Tahoe. We had driven up from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe which is a ski resort on the Nevada California border. You can find a decent room in a hotel here for two people for around $30 dollars a night (at the time of writing) often including breakfast.
First view of Lake Tahoe from the road
Lake Tahoe is around 22 miles long 12 miles wide and over 1500ft deep
Its in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains
The map shows the path going downhill to the lake
At the trailhead there is a lot of wildlife and very tame as they associate people with food
Friendly squirrel
A type of bluejay
and in close up
A view of Emerald Bay from near the trailhead
We followed the path for about a mile down to the shore of the lake which is around about 6200ft above sea level. We noticed big scratch marks on one of the trees on the way down
.
At the bay
Mrs. ST on the beach
I had had a chat with the ranger in the carpark before we had set off and he had said there were bears in the area and they were often seen at the lakeside. He also said they were used to people and they "rarely" cause any problems. In the unlikely event that we were chased by bears he advised that they would be after our backpack as bears associate backpacks with food and discarding your pack encourages them to chase people.
So if a bear charges towards you, you have to stand tall and tell it loudly its not getting your food, AYE RIGHT
This was the moment I wished id left the rucksack in the car
There were 4 bears in total 2 adults and 2 cubs
As the ranger had said they caused no problem. Even though they were very close and could see the 2 of us clearly they were not interested.
Another view of the bay
It was about a mile all uphill back to the carpark.
A chipmunk back at the trailhead
It was not frightened at all and got very close. Glad the bears weren't this friendly I like my rucksack
Fannette island In the bay has an old teahouse on it.
A short walk but if your anywhere nearby and can drag yourself away from the big peaks well worth a visit