By Tim Hauserman
If you don’t live at Tahoe you might not be aware of a great secret the locals keep from you. Hopefully they will not ostracize me and take away my locals credentials for passing it on here: September is better than August. It is just as beautiful, but the kids are back in school and the crowds are gone. If you can just find a way to get yourself here on a clear blue sky Wednesday morning in September you will know you have reached heaven.
Paddleboarding or kayaking:
Instead of having to get up at the crack of dawn to avoid the water skiers and wake boarders, who of course are getting up early to avoid the other water skiers and wakeboarders, you can take your time. Have a relaxing breakfast and another leisurely cup of coffee and let the temperature warm up a bit before heading down to Hurricane Bay or Tahoe Park, or along the shore of Donner Lake. There you can carry your board down to the empty beach, head out into the glassy water, and perhaps see one or two boats while you paddle joyfully for an hour.
Bike riding
Whether you are riding to the top of Barker Pass, from Donner Lake to Cisco Grove, or just along the Truckee River, the number of cars you will encounter on our favorite road rides is dramatically reduced this time of year. The same holds true for getting out on the mountain bike and riding the Emigrant Trail in Truckee, or the trails at Tahoe Cross-Country in Tahoe City. Pretty soon you will find lots of fall colors, but not lots of people.
Spend the night in the wilderness
The trails into the Desolation Wilderness are amazingly beautiful any time of year, but if you head out for a backpacking trip in September, you just might have one of Desolation’s prettiest lakes all to yourself.
Lie down on the beach and do nothing
Of course once you are done paddle boarding or kayaking or bike riding or hiking, you can drag a chair and a book and your favorite refreshment down to the beach. Then with the lake all to yourself alternate between reading a page and gazing out onto our favorite patch of big blue. Yep, now we are talking.
THINK OF ME, LYNN RICHARDSON, FOR ALL OF YOUR LAKE TAHOE AND TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE NEEDS!
www.lynnrichardson.net
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Continued from Part 1 – Your Summer Checklist- All Through the House.
In Part 2 of our Summer Checklist, focus is on summer recreation and prepping all of your outdoor gear.
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7) Get outdoor gear ready. This is a biggie here in outdoor recreation nirvana. I once saw a cartoon that had a VW Bug packed with every sort of bike, ski, canoe, outdoor recreation toy, etc. one could possibly imagine. Two guys looked on admiringly at this feat of car packing magnificence. The caption read: “All the toys ON and IN my car are worth more than the car itself!!! How true this is! I can’t help but laugh about it as I pull out my winter gear from the back of the car; ice skates, snowshoes and snow boots, etc… and replace them with beach chairs, towels, bike rack and hiking boots. Here are just a few suggestions to get you ready for summer.
Camping Gear: Now is the time to check your tent for holes and leaks, (as apposed to pitching it out in the wilderness and discovering during a downpour that what you really have is an enclosed camping shower). Check and fill propane tanks for camp stoves and lanterns. Pack matches in waterproof containers. Find all of your sleeping bags, coolers, cooking and eating utensils, backpacks, fanny packs, hiking boots, etc and have them ready to go. It’s annoying to have to spend hours scrounging around the Christmas ornaments and winter gear in the garage looking for all these items when you’re trying to ‘Get Out Of Dodge’ for a last minute camping trip.
Bikes: Check your bike tires and brakes. Replace flat or cracked tires. There are plenty of places in town that do bike tune ups if you’re like me and don’t have time to do it yourself. It’s a messy job anyway. Invest in a small bicycle pump and a few emergency bike tools. Add a basket or pannier to touring bikes for carrying everything from groceries to day trip picnics.
Canoes, kayaks, small boats, etc. Make sure there are no leaks, and all the equipment is in the craft. Life vests and paddles are a must. I’ve overheard many a person groaning that they forgot their paddles after the kayak was already in the water.
Beach Bag of Summer Stuff. I always try to have these items in a large beach bag or day pack in my car at all times: Sunscreen, chapstick, sun hat or visor, tissues, small flashlight, small fanny pack, water bottle, towel, dry socks, flip flops, small rain poncho in a pouch and Swiss army knife. These items are a life saver for impromptu beach or hiking outings to Summer night events. (You’ll thank me later when you have a handy little flash light so you’re not stumbling back to your car in the pitch black darkness after a late night event – for which Shakespeare at Sand Harbor comes immediately to mind…)
Low backed beach chair and outdoor blanket. There are so many summer events for which these are a must, that I always have them in the back of my car. You’ll also want them for those trips to the beach or a campsite rendezvous too.
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Summer at Sunnyside Deck Opening
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8) Make a list of everything you want to do this summer. Like I said, summer’s here are glorious, but brief. Time tends to slip away, we lose track of half the things we wanted to do, and before you know it, summer is gone. I’m usually not one for lists, but having one on the ‘fridge keeps my goals daily in my face so I remember to do them, and there is a real feeling of accomplishment as I check them off. My personal to do list usually involves favorite hikes, bike rides along the river or lake, hanging out on the deck at some of my favorite restaurants and BBQ’s with friends. I started my list already! We attended Sunnyside Restaurant and Lodge’s official opening of their outdoor deck kick off (see photo above) and did the popular Shirley Lake Hike, (see last year’s post on this hike here):
https://yourfriendinhighplaces.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/go-take-a-hike/
From Houzz Summer Checklist: www.houzz.com/ideabooks/25486546
How about you? Do you have any tips for summer to do lists or summer must haves? Things to do, places to go, events to see? Let us know in the Comments section. And we’ll keep you posted on all the fun happenings at Lake Tahoe, Truckee and the surrounding area.
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YOUR FRIEND IN HIGH PLACES 