As of right now, the end of January 2015, we are having a mighty dry winter in Tahoe. Within a drive of 20-minute drive from my town of Truckee there are more than four ski resorts, all of which are surviving on man-made snow-ice. I literally have not seen a snowflake in one month. It’s quite odd when you move to a ski town for skiing/snowboarding and there’s no snow. Tahoe has a rough last three winters, however, and it’s hard to expect a quick turnaround from a drought. The last winter I was here was in 2010-2011, and it was epic.
This realization of snowlessness has gotten me thinking about summer lately, especially the beach. The beaches are empty right now sans snow, but the temperatures are a bit too cold. I miss soaking up the sunshine at Tahoe’s beaches and hanging out at the docks at Donner Lake. This a throwback to some of my favorite photos from the summer at Chimney Beach. Chimney Beach is about a 2-mile round-trip hike on Tahoe’s East Shore. It has its name from a chimney that is still standing on the beach. It’s secluded and the colors of the water are gorgeous. The clarity of the lake is shocking, as much so as a first dunk into it, because it’s also frigid. I miss swimming in cold blue Tahoe, and now that I’m moving abroad in April, the last swim I took might be my last. It makes me realize how important it is to appreciate when you’re somewhere amazing, because who knows if it’s the last time, or the only time you’ll ever be there.
Maybe I’ll just have to jump into Lake Tahoe one last time, regardless of temperature.
A Hike in Every Country 