Early morning along the Truckee, about a half mile downstream from Fanny Bridge
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By Tim Hauserman
Recently there was a great deal of excitement when Lake Tahoe once again rose up to it’s natural rim of 6223 feet and a trickle of water again began flowing through the Truckee River Dam. After a few years of well below normal precipitation it is pretty dang special to see the lake level rise. But there is something just as exciting as the rising of the lake: Once again, the Truckee River is running.
Sure, the river near Tahoe City is certainly not a raging torrent, but water is moving and cleansing out the stagnant pools that were there during the drought. Once again the Truckee River has become a shangra la for ducks, fish and humans. While Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake and the masses of high Sierra granite that surround those beautiful bodies of water are certainly the primary focal point of life in the Tahoe-Truckee region, the Truckee River is truly a gem that is often overlooked.
Several years ago, when the river ran strong all summer long, I lived in the Comstock Acres/Granlibakken area just a two minute walk from the banks of the Truckee River. My afternoon ritual to clean out the cobwebs caused by too much time staring at a computer trying to put together scintillating sentences, was to venture down to the river for a dip.
The river’s water was always several degrees warmer then Lake Tahoe, which was certainly a plus, but my favorite part was that you could just get in the water and float downstream. I would often make my way to the bike bridge across the river at the 64 Acres parking lot, then ease into the gently flowing current. I would float a few hundred yards downstream to an exit point opposite the Tahoe City Lumber Company. From there, I would walk home and confront those sentences again, or If I needed extra brain cleansing, I would walk up stream and do it again.
Hopefully this summer the water will flow through the river strong enough for swimming. Because there is nothing finer then lying on your back and gently floating down the Truckee without a care in the world…at least for a few hundred yards.
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Photo by Michelle Portesi
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THINK OF ME, LYNN RICHARDSON, FOR ALL OF YOUR LAKE TAHOE AND TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE NEEDS!
YOUR FRIEND IN HIGH PLACES 