Tahoetopia

PLACES: Four High Sierra Huts, One with Ghosts

There are four such huts built and maintained by volunteers: Bensen, built in 1949; Peter Grubb built in 1938-9; Ludlow built in 1958; and Bradley (Pole Creek) re-built in 1998.

Bensen Hut

California Wildfires--NASA Image

The red dots mark fire sites.


PLACES: Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe

King was the proprietor of a speakeasy called the Squirrel Inn that specialized in bootleg whiskey made somewhere along the Truckee River.

Today the stretch on Highway 28 along the North Shore of the lake is bustling and the long sandy beach provides an extraordinary view of Lake Tahoe at water level.

WARREN’S WORLD: Is Ski Racing becoming too Dangerous?

There was only a starting line and a finishing line with no gates in between. Before the race was over, eleven skis had been broken, four racers had broken legs, two racers broke arms, and one racer broke his back.

PLACES: Hike to Emerald Bay

Emerald Bay
There is no more scenic trail near the lake than the Rubicon Trail that begins on the beach of Bliss State Park. The trail runs along the shore of Lake Tahoe to Vikingsholm at the head of Emerald Bay; the trail is open and inviting at every turn.

PLACES: Shakespeare Rock

The famous promontory directly south of Glenbrook was first named in 1862. The wife of Reverend J.A. Benton, while sketching mountain backdrops, noticed a deep cut in the side of the bluff situated above Glenbrook, a pioneer settlement. On further study she saw an unusual likeness to the original Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare.

Julia Mancuso Summits Mt. Kilimanjaro for Charity

With her were World Cup colleagues Lauren Ross (Stowe, VT) and Chemmy Alcott (Great Britain).

WARREN’S WORLD: Tug on Smokey the Bear’s Tail

At Deer Valley Stein Eriksen broke ribs, wrist, and collarbone when he collided with a small boy…and Stein had been skiing for 75 years! Some of the injured or killed wore crash helmets, some did not. The primary reason for the deaths, however, is severe overcrowding on Forest Service land leased to ski areas.

PLACES: Historic Truckee

Twenty years more (1869) and the Transcontinental Railroad connecting East and West was completed—through Truckee.

There is much to see and do in this vibrant, colorful part of the Old West that hugs the banks of the Truckee River. The river runs (only) from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake in Nevada, northeast of Reno, where the river ends.

PLACES: Lake Tahoe’s Only Outlet

Many visits to the dam include a stop on the “Fanny Bridge” to watch the large trout that circle just below the dam’s 17 gates; a stroll through the adjacent park with its picnic tables, huge trees, and the Historical Society’s Gatekeeper’s Cabin museum; and a trip across the dam itself—where Lake Tahoe becomes the beautiful Truckee River.

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