Beautiful Deep Blue "Da ow"

We began our stay in Verdi, NV, about 10 miles west of Reno, with a trip to Lake Tahoe. The lake was originally named “Dao w a ga” by a Washoe tribe of Native Americans. Pioneers who arrived later mispronounced the name as “Da ow,” which eventually evolved into Tahoe. “Dao w a ga” originally meant Edge of Lake.

Just south of Reno, we picked up Nevada 341 for the 24-mile journey to Incline Village on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe.



From Reno, at an elevation of about 4500', Highway 341 followed a winding route to the Mount Rose Summit of 8900'.

Signs along this highway state that it is the highest summit open year round in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Judging from the height of this pole (estimated to be 15' tall) used to guide snow removal equipment, keeping the road open year round is no mean feat.

"Serpentine" would certainly be an apt description of portions of this highway. Coming around one of the later curves in our drive, we missed one of the overlooks. We debated turning around, but a glimpse of the view convinced us to retrace our drive.

We were glad we did, because we were rewarded with the views shown in the next several photo-graphs. From the Mount Rose Scenic Overlook we had a view of Incline Village (and its champion-ship golf course, lower left quadrant in the photo on the right), Lake Tahoe, and the Sierra Mountains.

We both marvelled at the deep blue color of the lake and the brilliant blue sky. At times, the mountains seemed to be suspended in a deep blue film.

"North Lake Tahoe’s singular greatness draws not only pleasure-seeking visitors from the world’s nations, but also some of the planet’s foremost scientists and policy makers. Respec-tively, they journey to this only-of-its-kind place to understand its incredible blueness and to ensure that Lake Tahoe remains an icon of pure alpine perfection" (visitinglaketahoe.com).

From the shore of Lake Tahoe just south of Incline Village, we had these views. A couple of facts about Lake Tahoe: it is the highest altitude lake of its size in the US and

is the second deepest lake (behind Crater Lake in Oregon) in the US with a depth of 1,645 feet.

Kayakers and swimmers were enjoying the lake "close-up", but we were satisfied with views from land as our first exposure to Lake Tahoe.



Along with the grand views come other views of equally marvelous subjects--just on a smaller scale.
















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While writing about the beauty of Lake Tahoe, our thoughts are on Hurrican Irene and on our friends and relatives from Tilghman Island, MD, to Philadelphia and its suburbs. We pray that they are well and safe and that their homes--and our home--are secure and free from wind and flood damage.