28 Sep California Dreaming Part 3: Lake Tahoe
The drive from Napa to Lake Tahoe was surreal. The wildfires have created a smoky haze creating what one would imagine a post-apocalyptic nuclear fallout to look like. Was unable to take photos because I was driving but I couldn’t imagine living like that every day. The air quality was so unhealthy that it started to affect my voice.
My good friend and business partner, Katie, recently moved to Incline Village in Tahoe so we decided to spend a few days with her and her beautiful family as well as get some trial hikes in before our big one (AKA hopefully climbing to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite. We were in a lottery to climb the cables so we were not 100% sure we were gonna get it, but I had a feeling it was gonna happen).
The next day, we did the almost 4 1/2 mile Marlette Lake Flume Trail. We gained over 1,600 feet in elevation and did it in a not so shabby 1 hr and 44 mins. The trail boasts some of the most jaw-dropping views of Tahoe as you can see from the photos below.
It was a bit frosty for my lil ole Miami self, but it was good because we wore a lot of layers.
Marlette Lake was at the very top of the hike. It was soooo windy and I was so cold that I didn’t really get to enjoy the views from the lake that much. But it was still an amazing hike.
That evening, we went to the Hyatt Regency to have dinner at the Lone Eagle Grille. While waiting for our dinner time, we decided to check out the casino. I never played blackjack before in casino because A. I hate losing money and B. I was always intimidated by the whole casino experience. But, the guy at the table was so sweet and so nice that I became inclined to try. I ended up winning over $100!!! It was actually a lot of fun! Our dinner was yummy and the company even better.
That evening, we got an email saying that we got selected in the lottery to climb the cables on Half Dome on my birthday!
I could not have asked for a better birthday gift. On the flip side, we also got notified that our campground was evacuated due to the forest fires so we had to come up with alternative options. We just decided to leave Tahoe early and see where we could stay close to the park because we had to start hiking at the butt crack of dawn in order to finish hiking in daylight.
In Part 4: Yosemite!!!