BY STEAMER AROUND LAKE TAHOE
The ride around Lake Tahoe is one of varied delights, as the visitor
sees not only the Lake itself from every possible angle, but gains an
ever shifting panorama of country, and, more remarkable than all, he
rides directly over that wonderful kaleidoscope of changing color that
is a never-ceasing surprise and enchantment.
Tahoe Tavern is the starting point of the ride, the train conveying
the passenger directly to the wharf from which he takes the steamer.
Capt. Pomin is in control.
Not far from where this, the most beautiful and charming hotel of the
Lake is erected, there used to be a logging camp, noted as the place
from which the first ties were cut for that portion of the Central
Pacific Railroad lying east of the summit of the Sierras. A number of
beautiful private residences line the Lake for some distance, the area
having been portioned out in acre and half-acre lots. Chief of these
are the summer home of Professor W.T. Reid, for a time President of
the State University of California, and Idlewyld, the residence of Mr.
and Mrs. Frederick Kohl, of San Francisco.
One of the oldest villas of this portion of the Lake used to be owned
by Thomas McConnell, of Galt, and it was his daughter, Mary, who first
made the ascent of one of the peaks now known as Maggie's Peaks, as a
marble tablet placed there testifies.
In the mountains beyond are Ward's Peak (8665 feet) to the right, and
Twin Peak (8924) to the left, from the first of which heads Ward's
Creek, and the second Blackwood Creek, both entering the Lake two
miles or so apart. Just beyond Twin Peak are Barker's Peak (8000
feet), and nearer to the Lake, Ellis Peak (8745 feet), the waters from
the former making the South Fork of Blackwood Creek. Ellis Peak, being
easily reached by a good trail, is the common point of ascent from
Homewood, McKinney's, Tahoe Tavern and other resorts.
Six miles out from the Tavern, the first stop is made at Homewood, one
of the newer resorts.
Three and one-half to four miles further along is McKinney's, one of
the oldest, best known and well established resorts on Lake Tahoe. It
was founded by J.W. McKinney, who was first attracted to this region
by the Squaw Valley excitement. (See special chapter.) For a time in
1862-3 he sold lots on the townsite of Knoxville, then when the
bottom dropped out of the "boom" he returned to Georgetown, engaged in
mining, but returned to Tahoe in or about 1867, located on 160 acres
on the present site and in 1891-2, after having erected two or three
cottages, embarked fairly and fully in the resort business. For
several years his chief patronage came from the mining-camps, etc.,
of Nevada, Gold Hill, Virginia City, Dayton, Carson City, Genoa, etc.
They came by stage to Glenbrook and thence across the Lake, on the
small steamer that already was doing tourist business in summer and
hauling logs to the lumber mills in winter and spring. Thus this
resort gained its early renown.
The bottom of the Lake may be seen at a considerable depth near
McKinney's, and looks like a piece of mosaic work. The low conical
peak, back of McKinney's is about 1400 feet above the Lake and used to
be called by McKinney, Napoleon's Hat.
The next stop of the steamer is quite close to McKinney's, viz.,
Moana Villa, and a mile or so further on at Pomin's, the former an old
established resort, and the latter an entirely new one. After passing
Sugar Pine Point, Meek's Bay and Grecian Bay are entered. These two
shallow indentations along the shore line are places where the color
effects are more beautiful than anywhere else in the Lake, and vie
with the attractions of the shore in arresting the keen attention of
the traveler. Meek's Bay is three miles long, and, immediately ahead,
tower the five peaks of the Rubicon Range, some 3000 feet above
the Lake. Beyond, a thousand feet higher, is snow-crowned
Tallac,--_the_ mountain--as the Washoe Indians called it, the
dominating peak of the southwest end of the Lake.
Rubicon Point is the extension of the Rubicon Range and it falls
off abruptly into the deepest portion of the Lake. The result is a
marvelous shading off of the water from a rich sapphire to a deep
purple, while the shore on either side varies from a bright sparkling
blue to a blue so deep and rich as almost to be sombre. Well, indeed,
might Lake Tahoe be named "the Lake of ineffable blue." Here are
shades and gradations that to reproduce in textile fabrics would have
pricked a king's ambition, and made the dyers of the Tyrian purple of
old turn green with envy. Solomon in his wonderful temple never saw
such blue as God here has spread out as His free gift to all the eyes,
past, present and to come, and he who has not yet seen Tahoe has yet
much to learn of color glories, mysteries, melodies, symphonies and
harmonies.
Soon, Emerald Bay is entered. This is regarded by many as the rich
jewel of Lake Tahoe. The main body of the Bay is of the deep blue
our eyes have already become accustomed to, but the shore-line is
a wonderful combination of jade and emerald, that dances and
scintillates as the breeze plays with the surface of the waters. A
landing is made at Emerald Bay Camp, one of the most popular resorts
of the Lake, and while at the landing the curious traveler should take
a good look at the steep bank of the opposite shore. This is a lateral
moraine of two glaciers, one of which formed Emerald Bay, as is
explained in Chapter VIII, and the other formed Cascade Lake, which
nestles on the other side of the ridge.
At the head of Emerald Bay, also, is Eagle Falls, caused by the
outflow of water from Eagle Lake, which is snugly ensconced at the
base of the rugged granite cliffs some three miles inland.
Four miles beyond Emerald Bay is Tallac, one of the historic resorts
on the Lake.
Tallac was originally Yanks. Yank was really Ephraim Clement,
originally a Yankee from Maine, a stout, hearty, bluff man, who
homesteaded his land, added to it until he owned about a thousand
acres, and finally sold out to E.J. (Lucky) Baldwin. Baldwin had come
over from Virginia City and seeing the great havoc made in the fine
timber, of which he was very fond, exclaimed with an oath: "Someone
will be cutting this (the timber of Yanks) next," and then and there
he began to bargain for the place. In 1878 he bought, changed the
name, and thenceforward Tallac became known. Little by little, as
Yank had done, so Baldwin bought from sheep-men, squatters, and others
until he had quite a holding.
The hotel was built and in 1879 Sharp Brothers ran it. In 1880 Capt.
Gordon was manager for a year, and in 1881 Baldwin gave a lease to
Messrs. Lawrence & Comstock who held it until 1914.
Baldwin was a great lover of trees, and when the present hotel and
cottages were built, not a single tree was cut without his express
permission. Yet he had no foolish sentiment about the matter as is
proven by the fact that all the buildings were constructed from
local lumber produced in his own sawmill, except the redwood used for
finishing. The hotel as it now stands was completed in 1900.
Gulls, pelicans and mud-hens can generally be seen in large numbers
around the piers at Tallac, and the fleet of fishing boats, each with
its one or more eager anglers, is one of the sights.
The steamer stops here long enough to allow a few minutes ashore, and
the visitors ramble over to the hotel, chat or chatter with the Washoe
Indian squaws who have their baskets for sale, or enjoy the grassy and
shaded grounds.
From the wharf at Tallac visitors for Glen Alpine, Fallen Leaf Lodge,
and Cathedral Park take their respective stages. These three resorts
are within a few miles and afford additional opportunities for lovers
of the region to add to their knowledge of its scenic, botanic,
arboreal and geologic features. Indeed such glacial experts as Joseph
LeConte, John Muir, and David Starr Jordan have united in declaring
that the region around Glen Alpine gives a better opportunity for the
study of comparatively recent glacial phenomena than any other known
area.
Adjoining Tallac on the east is the private residence of W.S. Tevis,
of San Francisco. His beautiful yacht, the _Consuelo_, may
generally be seen anchored here, when not in actual service.
Half a mile from Tallac is The Grove, close to the Upper Truckee
River, the main feeder of Lake Tahoe, and four miles further
is Al-Tahoe, a new and well-equipped hotel, standing on a bluff
commanding an expansive view of the Lake. It practically occupies the
site of an old resort well-known as "Rowland's." It is near to Freel's
Peak (10,900 feet), which in olden days was known as Sand Mountain, on
account of its summit being composed of sand.
A mile and a half further along is Bijou, a pleasant and comfortable
stopping place, while three miles further a picturesque rustic
pavilion on the end of the pier denotes Lakeside Park, a well-known
and long-famous resort. Forty-five years ago, or more, Capt. W.W.
Latham built the famous State Line House at this point, and twenty
years ago it came into the hands of its present owners.
This is the most easterly of all the resorts and settlements at the
south end of Lake Tahoe. It is in California, in El Dorado County,
though its post-office is Stateline, the dividing line between
California and Nevada. The Park is over 2000 acres in extent and has
already become the nucleus for a choice summer residence section.
Leaving Lakeside Park the steamer now turns northward and follows the
eastern or Nevada shore, until Cave Rock is passed and Glenbrook is
reached. This is the only resort on that side of Lake Tahoe. Once the
scene of an active, busy, lumber town, where great mills daily turned
out hundreds of thousands of feet of timber for the mines of Virginia
City and the building up of the great historic mining-camps of Nevada,
the magic of change and of modern improvements has swept away
every sign of these earlier activities and left Glenbrook a quiet,
delightful, restful resort, nestling in its own wide and expansive
meadows at the foot of towering mountains that give a rich and
contrasting background for the perennial beauty of the Lake.
Practically all that remains to remind one of the old days are the
remnants of the logging piers and cribs, the school-house, the quiet
"City of Those who are Gone," and further up the hills, the old
railroad grade on which the logs were carried to the mill and the
lumber taken through the tunnel, which still remains, to the flume by
which it was further conveyed to the railroad at Carson City.
Immediately to the right of Glenbrook, as the steamer heads for the
wharf, can be seen the celebrated Shakspeare Rock. John Vance Cheney,
the poet, thus describes it:
No sooner had the steamer been made fast than a ledge of rocks
was pointed out to us, rising precipitously some distance from
the pier. "Can't you see it?" again and again asked our guide,
renewing his endeavor to dispel our distressing stupidity.
At length "it" appeared to us, and we stood mute with
astonishment. There, on the front of a bold cliff, graven with
all the care of the best copies with which we are familiar,
looked down upon us the face of Shakspeare! As if in
remembrance of her favorite son, here in this far wild region,
nature had caused his features, cut in everlasting rock, to be
hung on high, a fitting symbol of his intellectual
sovereignty over the world. The likeness needs no aid from the
imagination: it is life-like, recognized instantly by the most
careless observer, and, let it be added, never forgotten. The
beard is a trifle longer than we are accustomed to see it, but
this deviation does not detract from the majesty of expression
becoming the illustrious original. The spacious forehead, the
nose, even the eyes, all are admirably represented. A more
astounding surprise it has not been the writer's fortune to
experience. The portrait looks as if it were made by moss
growing upon the smooth flat surface of a huge rock; but we
were informed that the face is all of stone, and has undergone
no perceptible change since its discovery about five years
since. [This was written in 1882.] A lady tourist from
Massachusetts has, it is believed, the honor of first pointing
it out. Nature cannot forget her Shakspeare. So we all mused,
and, musing, would have forgotten our dinners, had we not
been summoned inside the hotel. The repast was not peculiarly
relishable; consequently, we had all the more opportunity
to feed spiritually upon the masterpiece on the cliff,--the
rock-portrait of Avon's, of England's, of the World's immortal
bard.
As the steamer leaves Glenbrook one may gain clear and distinct views
of the four prominent peaks of the Nevada side. Above Lakeside, at the
southeast end, is Monument Peak, then, about midway between Lakeside
and Glenbrook is a sharp-pointed bare mass of rock known as Genoa
Peak. Immediately behind Glenbrook is Dubliss Mountain (8729 feet),
so named after Duane Bliss, father and son, both of whom have done
so much to make Tahoe known to the world. Marlette Peak is to the
northeast, 8864 feet, with Snow Valley Peak, 9214 feet, a little to
the South. These both overshadow Marlette Lake, a full description of
which is given elsewhere. All these peaks afford excellent views of
Lake Tahoe on the one side and of the valleys and mountains of western
Nevada on the other.
The steamer now continues along the Nevada shore, past the scars
caused by the breaking of the Marlette Lake flume, by Crystal Bay
and the site of the old town of Incline, around State Line Point to
Brockway.
This resort has been long and favorably known for its famous hot
mineral springs. The hot water is piped to all rooms and private baths
of the hotels and cottages, and is a great source of pleasure as well
as health-giving comfort to the guests.
We are now on the home-stretch, and soon after leaving Brockway (1-½
miles away) and forty-five minutes (eight miles) from Tahoe Tavern, we
reach Tahoe Vista. Here one is afforded a perfect view of the Lake and
its snowcapped ranges east and south.
Crossing Agate and Carnelian Bays the steamer's last stop is at
Carnelian Bay. Here there is great building activity going on and many
neat and commodious cottages and bungalows are being erected.
[Illustration: Snowballing in June, July and August, near the Summit
of "The Crags," Deer Park Springs, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Fishing in Grass Lake, Near Glen Alpine Springs]
[Illustration: Rubicon Point, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Brockway's Hot Springs Hotel, Lake Tahoe]
Observatory Point is the last object passed before the Tavern is again
reached. This name was given because of the fact that it was once
the chosen site, by James Lick, for the observatory he contemplated
building. This plan, however, was never carried out, as it was shown
to the philanthropist that the cold weather of winter would work
exceeding hardship upon the astronomers without any compensating
advantages. The result was the Observatory was finally established on
Mt. Hamilton, and it is now a part of the great California University
system.
Thus the complete circuit of Lake Tahoe is made daily in summer by the
steamer, and no matter how often the trip is taken it never palls
upon the intelligent and careful observer. New glories and wonders are
constantly springing forth as pleasant surprises and one soon learns
to realize that here Nature indeed has been most prodigal in her
scenic gifts to mankind.