Surrounding Objects of Interest.
All visitors to the Pacific Coast who are lovers of the beautiful and
picturesque in natural scenery, will endeavor to spend some time at Lake
Tahoe. Taking into consideration the surroundings, there is nowhere in
the world a more grandly beautiful mountain lake. The lake lies between
the eastern and western summit ridges of the main ridge of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, at an elevation of 6,247 feet above the level of the
sea. Its length is a little over twenty-one miles, and its width about
twelve miles. Roughly it has the form of a parallelogram, lying nearly
north and south, about one-third in Nevada and the remainder in
California. It has an area of 204 square miles, as is shown by
measurements made in four places across its width, and longitudinally
(north and south) in three places. Its greatest depth is 1,800 feet.
It is shut in and surrounded on all sides by mountains that rise to a
height of from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above its surface. The lake evidently
occupies an extinct volcanic crater of great size. Soundings show in the
bottom a deep channel or crevice which extends nearly the whole length
of the lake in a north and south direction. In this the depth is
everywhere from 1,500 to 1,700 feet. The deepest spot (1,800 feet) is
toward the south end of the lake, in front of Mount Tallac. The water is
of great purity and crystal clearness, and never freezes.
The lake receives the waters of fifty-one creeks and brooks, the largest
of which is the Upper Truckee, which falls in at the south end. It also
receives the aqueous contributions of almost innumerable ravines,
gorges, and canyons. It drains an area of over 500 square miles,
composed largely of lofty mountains on which the snow falls to a depth
of many feet, and by the melting of which the numerous streams are fed.
There are also many living springs on the sides of the surrounding
mountains, with a great number (both hot and cold) along the shores of
the lake, and doubtless a much larger number deep beneath its surface.
The only outlet of the lake is the Truckee River, at its northwest
corner. This outlet, which forms the head of the Truckee River, is fifty
feet in width, has an average depth of five feet, and a velocity of six
feet a second, making the discharge 123,120,000 cubic feet in
twenty-four hours, in early spring when the snow in the mountains is
rapidly melting.
Since it was first seen by white men the lake has been given several
different names. Tahoe is popularly supposed to be a Washoe Indian word,
that means “big water.” Some say the word means “deep water,” “clear
water,” “elevated water,” or “bright water.” The Washoe Indians
themselves say they know nothing about the word. Fremont saw it in 1844,
and simply called it “Mountain Lake.” It was once mapped as “Lake
Bonpland,” and in 1859 was mapped by Dr. Henry De Groot as “Lake De
Groot.” It was also once known as “Lake Bigler,” being so named by some
in honor of a Democratic Governor of California, and the name is still
used by some of the strait-laced among the Democracy. Tahoe, whatever it
may mean, is a name now so universally acknowledged and so firmly fixed
that it is not likely that it will ever be supplanted by any other.
Lake Tahoe is surrounded on all sides by mountains that have an
elevation of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above its surface. Mount Tallac
towers to a height of 11,000 feet above the level of the sea; Pyramid
Peak, 10,000; Monument Peak, 10,000; Rubicon Peaks, fifteen miles west
of the lake, 9,284; Job’s Peak, 10,637; Sand Mountain, back of
Rowland’s, 8,747 feet; and Bald Mountain, Mount Pluto, Mount Anderson,
Old Hat, Mount Ellis, Barker’s Peak, Table Mountain, the Cliffs, the
Needles, and many other peaks, rise to a height of over 8,000 feet. On
all sides great old peaks stand about gazing down forever upon their
reflected images in the lake below. It is a grand convocation of
mountains, a convention of granite peaks, gray and ancient. In a circle
about the lake stand pine-clad mountains, snow-clad mountains, and
unclad mountains that are merely stupendous piles of granite—granite
cathedrals piled up by nature for the delectation of those of her
votaries that ever gladly worship at her shrine.
In places towering rocks stand quite near the water, and around the
shores are so many bays and inlets, so many jutting points and tongues
of land, that there is a constant change of views—an endless succession
of either grand or picturesque effects. A single cliff—as Shakespeare
Rock—seen from different points and distances, takes a dozen different
shapes, and so of all prominent capes and caves. The distance round the
shores of the lake is 144 miles, and may be said to represent that many
miles of landscape panorama of unrivaled beauty and grandeur. Volumes
have already been written descriptive of the wonders and the beauties of
Lake Tahoe, and innumerable volumes will still be written as the ages
pass, yet to comprehend the place it must be seen and _felt_.
It speaks well for Lake Tahoe that its beauties are appreciated and
prized by persons living near by in California and Nevada, and that it
is a favorite place of summer resort with the people everywhere on the
Pacific Coast. In the Bible it is said: “A prophet is not without honor,
save in his own country and in his own house,” and the same may
generally be said of celebrated natural objects, but it is different in
the case of Tahoe—the grand and picturesque scenery of the lake is
admired and esteemed at home. It is not only looked upon as being a
great sanitarium of the Pacific Coast, but also as a grand store-house
of all the delights of mountain scenery. In Tahoe the careworn and
debilitated find a cure for both mind and body.
The water of the lake is as cold and pure as that of the best living
springs, and it possesses wonderful charms—almost the transparency of
the atmosphere. Near the shore, when shallow, it is of an emerald green
here; in deep water, in the sunshine, it is of an ultramarine tinge, and
in the shade an indigo blue. Tossing, distant, deep water in certain
lights assumes tints of purple and violet, with beautiful flashes of
ruby. Seated in a boat on the lake in a calm, one may see the stones and
pebbles at the bottom, with trout cruising about, where the sounding
line shows seventy-five feet of water. The whole dome of the sky, with
every fleecy cloud, is there perfectly reflected. We are midway between
the heavens above and the heavens below, gently rocking upon the waving
veil of blue that separates the two firmaments.
It is difficult to swim in the lake. Some have supposed this to be on
account of the great elevation and reduced atmospheric pressure on the
water, rendering the lake less buoyant than bodies of fresh water at sea
level. This, however, is a mistake. Water is only very slightly
compressible. The great purity of the water of course renders it less
dense than that of lakes holding minerals in solution, but it is the
coldness of the water and the variety of the atmosphere that render
swimming difficult and laborious.
The bodies of persons drowned in the lake (unless very near shore) are
never again seen. The bodies of no fewer than ten or twelve white men
are known to lie at the bottom of the lake; and no doubt among them lie
the skeletons of not a few Indians. The lake is in some respects
treacherous and dangerous. It is subject to sudden and heavy squalls.
Fierce gusts of wind at times rush down the big canyons, and, striking
the water, cause it to boil like a pot. These squalls are liable to
capsize a sail-boat. Unless an experienced boatman be of the party, it
is best to have the sail in hand, that it may be let go in a moment. The
squalls generally plunge down the canyons and gorges on the west side of
the lake.
The route of the passenger steamers round the lake is near the shores.
These are in some places rocky and in others level. In the mountain
gorges and on the ridges are pines and various other evergreen trees,
but down near the edge of the water are small groves of quaking asp,
willow, and other trees of deciduous foliage.
At the Hot Springs is a good hotel, bathing houses, and other
accommodations. At Tahoe City will also be found good hotels, boats,
fishing tackle, and all such little sporting supplies as the visitor is
likely to require. McKinney’s, at Sugar Pine Point, on the west side of
the lake, is a popular place of resort and possesses many attractions.
At Glenbrook, on the east side of the lake, are good hotel
accommodations, and there may also be had boats, fishing tackle, and all
ordinary supplies. In many charming nooks and valleys around the shores
are hotels and cottages for the accommodation of visitors.
Emerald Bay.
Emerald Bay.—One of the most beautiful spots about Lake Tahoe is Emerald
Bay. It is the gem of the place. The bay is situated at the south end of
the lake. It is 2½ miles long and 1¼ wide, nearly as large as Donner
Lake. The entrance to it is through a channel less than 200 yards in
width, but containing a depth of water sufficient to float a man-of-war.
Emerald Bay is surrounded by grand and picturesque mountains, the peaks
of which are 9,000 feet above the level of the sea, and some of which
rise precipitously to a height of 4,000 feet above the surface of the
bay. The water is nearly always of a beautiful emerald green. In the bay
is a rocky and romantic little island of about three acres, on which is
a handsome little cottage. On the island is a tomb excavated in the rock
by an old boatman known as “Captain Dick.” Captain Dick fondly hoped
that this tomb would be his last resting-place, but his body lies at the
bottom of the lake. In October, 1873, his boat was capsized in a furious
squall, and Captain Dick was never seen again.
Emerald Bay, with 519 acres of surrounding land, belongs to the estate
of the late Dr. P. T. Kirby, of Virginia City, who at the time of his
death was about to build a fine and commodious hotel. Before his death,
however, he had built over a dozen neat cottages. Heretofore, owing to
lack of accommodations there, many tourists have failed to visit this
bay, the most beautiful nook about the lake, but it will now at once
become a favorite haunt of all lovers of the grand, picturesque, and
beautiful. The island is a little gem, and has about it a style that
gives it almost the appearance of being a toy constructed by a landscape
gardener. It has been very appropriately named “Coquette Island.” It
rises to a height of about 200 feet above the surface of the bay. At the
south end of the bay are the “Lovers’ Falls.” These falls are high up on
the side of a steep and rocky mountain. They are on a small creek which
makes many leaps down perpendicular terraces of rock. The falls are
supposed to have been the favorite tryst of a Digger chief and his
Washoe lady-love.
Fallen Leaf Lake.
Fallen Leaf Lake.—This lake lies one mile south of Lake Tahoe, and about
three miles south of Emerald Bay. It is a beautiful sheet of water two
miles in length and a mile in width. It has an outlet into Lake Tahoe.
Silver Lake.
Silver Lake.—Silver Lake is a perfect little beauty in its way, but is
seldom visited; as it lies high on the side of a mountain which is
covered with chaparral. It is about half as large as Fallen Leaf Lake,
from which it is distant two miles in a northwest direction.
Cornelian Bay.
Cornelian Bay.—This bay lies north of Tahoe City, and has a smooth,
pebbly beach, where are found agates, cornelians, and jasper of several
colors. To sail along the shore the distance from Tahoe City is seven
miles.
Agate Bay.
Agate Bay.—Agate Bay is a place similar to that just described. It lies
a short distance west of the Hot Springs.
Crystal Bay.
Crystal Bay.—This beautiful cove forms the extreme north end of Lake
Tahoe. It lies northeast of Hot Springs.
Shakespeare Rock.
Shakespeare Rock.—In sailing round the lake from Tahoe City to Glenbrook
several picturesque rocky points, studded with stately pines, will be
seen, also Shakespeare Rock, which is a cliff towering high above the
level of the lake. On the face of this cliff are seen ridges, fissures,
and patches of color which at a distance resolve themselves into the
likeness of the face of the immortal dramatist.
Cave Rock.
Cave Rock is passed before reaching Glenbrook. It is about 300 feet in
height and seen from the deck of the steamer, towers upward like the
castle of some “Blue Beard” giant of the Sierras. It has in its face a
yawning cavern some 80 feet in depth. In this dark cave one might
suppose the giant to live.
Glenbrook.
Glenbrook is on the east side of the lake near a large cave. Here are
several large saw-mills, owned by Yerington, Bliss & Co., which
manufacture an immense quantity of all kinds of lumber. The mills are
furnished with electrical lights. The mill company have here a
narrow-gauge railroad nine miles in length, which carries their lumber
and timber to the flumes at the top of the mountain (Eastern Summit),
whence it is floated down to the valley near Carson City.
Cascade Mountain.
Cascade Mountain, at the south end of the lake, is 9,500 feet in height.
Near it are beautiful cascades, and from the top are to be seen a number
of small lakes, and much wild and grand mountain scenery.
Rubicon Springs.
Rubicon Springs, which lie just over the Western Summit of the Sierras,
are easily reached by a good stage road from McKinneys’. Here, on the
headwaters of the Rubicon River, is some of the most charming scenery to
be found anywhere in the mountains. There are innumerable nooks, in
which the disposition and proportions of water, foliage, and rugged
granite rocks is such that all would seem to have been arranged for the
special delectation of the artist and the lover of nature. The water of
the springs at this place possesses wonderful curative powers. No
invalid ever left them with a feeling of disappointment, however highly
they might have been recommended to him.
Besides the places named there are scores of nooks and corners, cliffs,
streams, fountains, canyons, and gorges that are not even honored with a
name, which in almost any other part of the world would be lauded to the
skies, and which would attract swarms of visitors from great distances.
There is not a spot about the lake that would not astound the dweller in
the prairies of the West were he placed before it.
Routes to Lake Tahoe.