Big Water

To celebrate the Summer Solstice, the first official day of summer and longest day of the year, I  followed a winding highway into the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Towering pine trees surrounded the Jeep as we drove.  Finally, there it was to our left- Lake Tahoe!  There are boulders the size of cars stacked along the shore.  Deep navy blue water blends into bright turquoise shallows, stretching for miles in every direction.      

  

If you have never visited this amazing place, you are missing out.  Lake Tahoe is about 22 miles long and 12 miles wide.  The water averages 1,000 feet deep, but in Crystal Bay the depth is a whopping 1,645 feet!  That means the Empire State Building (including the antenna) would completely disappear below the surface with almost 200 feet of water to spare.  It’s no wonder some people believe that Lake Tahoe is home to a legendary monster named “Tessie,” much like the famous Loch Ness monster in Scotland.  We only spotted humans paddling brightly colored kayaks on this visit, but I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open next time just in case.