Que Sierra Sierra

From Yosemite Park we headed south to the Sequoia National Park, in the southern Sierra Nevada. It’s just so amazing how they think up names for these parks – who would have guessed that this park is full of Giant Sequoia trees? Well it was, lots of them too. We did several walks in the forest looking at trees and discussing the quintessential philosophical question: “If Mike burps in the forest, does anyone hear?” The answer is a resounding (and I do mean that literally) YES. He did a beauty which ricocheted around the forest, doing a number of laps before the sound died out. Several small animals died of fright. 

Tunnel Tree in Sequoia

Deirdre beside the Triple Tree

Deirdre is stumped.....

Speaking of fright….we continue to confront our fear of edges and heights with more winding roads, and a climb to the top of Moro Rock, a granite outcrop. Safely on the ground, we went walking in the forest and came across a bear paw print in an area with no other people and lots of blind corners. The way to confront this fear was to sing campfire songs loudly and tunelessly to let the bear know to crawl into a deep hole and plug its ears rather than eating us. The risk was that it would eat us just to make us shut up.

Note the death grip while trying to look cool

Here's why, a nice roll off the edge to another abyss.

On to Lake Tahoe, a ski resort on the edge of a huge, deep, cold lake, straddling California and Nevada. The Californian side is low-rise, with Swiss-chalet style architecture, low-key and tasteful. As soon as you hit the Nevada Stateline - welcome to high-rise casino tackiness.

Lake Tahoe from Heavenly Gondola

At Stateline looking back to California

Looking at the state border, and tacky Nevada instantly is in your face

We had planned 3 days of lakeside adventure – kayaking, sailing and mountain-biking. However, on our first day there was a severe weather alert for gale-force winds with a small boat advisory to avoid being on the lake. The kayak hire place was shutting down and didn’t plan to re-open for 3-4 days due to weather.   No point asking about a sail-boat then.

We then had to consider other extreme-sport options which included mini-golf. We thought about going to the cinema but thought that was too dangerous (we didn’t want to get shot).  Visiting the supermarket (what fun we have!) we amused ourselves at the sight of the Personal Watermelon display. Is that like a pet? A Service watermelon? A confidante? The mind boggles.

Our first Bear sighting was a little unexpected

We went on the Heavenly Gondola from Heavenly Village to the Heavenly Ski Resort (delusions of grandeur anyone?) at the top of the mountain above the town. Although sunny it was pretty windy and very cold, with areas of snow. Now what do you think would be good to wear in these conditions? This is what Mike wore….

And this is what the latest entrant in the Inappropriate Outdoor Attire Contest wore….

In lieu of kayaking we booked a lunch cruise to Emerald Bay on the following day which dawned clear and sunny but quickly deteriorated to rainy and freezing. We didn’t see much on the cruise unfortunately due to misty rain, but at the end we were gripped by the drama of a sailing boat losing someone overboard then struggling to get them back in the boat while the sail flapped madly and the boat turned around in circles. They eventually managed without needing any assistance from our boat. We were glad not to be out sailing.

Our last day in Lake Tahoe was gloriously sunny although still a little chilly. We drove to Emerald Bay and saw what we missed from the cruise due to weather – a gorgeous bay with crystal clear water. We visited Vikingsholme, a grand home built in the 1920’s in Scandinavian style, which has been kept in a beautiful condition. We walked to nearby Emerald Falls and Eagle Lake and enjoyed the stunning scenery. Now who would want to be holed up in a casino when there are places like this to see?

Emerald Bay

Eagle Falls