A Three Month Smoko: California dreamin'.....part two

The Pacific coast was swapped for the Sierra Nevada mountains, sea-level for altitude. I love the beach, but love the mountains more. As John Muir the explorer said: "the mountains are calling, and I must go". Its the same for me.
Our next stop was the alpine lake town of South Lake Tahoe. This lake is the second deepest (after Crater lake), and is interesting in that it straddles the state line between California and Nevada. As gambling is illegal in CA unless on an Indian reservation, there are no casino's in Tahoe on the CA side, but as soon as you cross the state line, its like mini-Vegas.
Our hotel was right on the beach, complete with hammocks under the pines, which we used a couple of times. The food, as usual, was plentiful and good.

Hammock on the beach!

Ta-dah!

SUPing at sunset at Tahoe.

While at Tahoe, we drove round to Emerald bay. This is the site of a Viking-inspired castle complete with a tea-house on its own island. It was too windy to hire a SUP, so we hired a double kayak and headed out to the island. We could have landed where everyone else did, but that isnt my style....so we headed round to the steep side of the rock, went ashore there, and climbed up the hard way. Carmen did really well, considering I pushed her out of her comfort zone somewhat. We made it safely to the top and were rewarded with stunning views.

Viking castle

Looking out to the island from the castle

"who are the Cockleshell heroes, again?"

View from within the tea-house, looking west towards main part of Lake Tahoe.

Made it!

View of island from lake side.

After returning the kayaks, we had a bite to eat, then headed out on the Rubicon trail along the lake edge. We didnt go far, as we found a private sandy beach and had a quick dip to cool off. Bracing!