https://goo.gl/photos/YdvmFkhBph3Xoc8T9
Friday, May 12th – Tuesday, May 16th
Zephyr Cove RV
Resort, Zephyr Cove, Nevada
Reluctantly we left Lake Hensley, as we had a relaxing time
there. We headed back out into the valley and north on I-5, skirted around
Sacramento and then headed west on Highway 50, which took us into the south end
of Lake Tahoe and to our ultimate destination of Zephyr Cove RV Resort on the
Nevada side. As we approached the foothills and then started climbing up the
mountain road towards South Lake Tahoe, we drove the mountain roads through a
beautiful forest and around to the southeast side of the lake to Zephyr Cove.
The altitude change was from the valley at around 500’ to almost 6400’ at the
lake. We didn’t realize how much it affected us until we both woke up in the
middle of the first night with headaches. Some ibuprofen was an easy fix. After
we had setup our RV that first evening, we walked over to the resort’s private
beach. It was really beautiful with great sunsets and we could see it from our
campsite.
The next day we drove the scenic road around the south side
of the lake, through the town of South Lake Tahoe on the California side, stopping
at Emerald Bay, and up to Meeks Bay on the west shore. As you cross the state
line from California to Nevada, the multi-story casinos rise from the ground.
The drive was very enjoyable, even though there was a lot of traffic. And it
wasn’t even on season yet. There were still a lot of closures of Forest
campgrounds, recreation areas and trails, due to the snow still in the
mountains.
We were disappointed that we were not able to ride any
mountain bikes trails, as they either still had snow on them or were muddy from
the snowmelt. So we were able to hike a nice trail just to the north of our
campground. There is a huge rock outcropping called Cave Rock where there is a
tunnel for the road. We took the dogs and hiked this trail which was mostly
dirt, until at the base of rock where it was rock scrambling up to the top. We
all enjoyed the hike and the views were spectacular.
The first couple of days the weather was nice, 60’s for
highs and low 50’s. The remainder of the days we were there it turned really
cold, with highs in the 40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. It did snow a couple
of days, but not enough to stick to the ground. It was still very frigid for us
and the dogs. They were really glad to have sweaters and we were glad we had
heavy jackets and gloves. We made the best of the weather and still enjoyed
being outside.
There was a paved bikeway on the California side, which
mostly followed the lake, with some areas through preserves and some through
town. We rode several miles and even back into an area called the Tahoe Keys.
This was a series of small inlands with houses and marinas. There was a public
beach around the Keys where we were able to get some great pictures of the
lakeshore and mountains.
After five days we were ready to get out of the cold and
head back to California and some warmer weather. We really enjoyed Lake Tahoe,
especially the amazing views of the lake and mountains. It would be fun to
visit there in the summer and enjoy all the summer sports and being on the
lake.
Our drive out of the lake was around the east side scenic
road heading north, which is mostly part of a Nevada State Park. Then up around
the lake and through Truckee California. From there we headed back on I-80 west
to another Army Corp lake which is a stopover heading back to the coast and where
we just needed to relax. 