Skunk Harbor

(Note From Erik)

Hello,

Just a quick note from our Saturday.  I am done with school, so free time galore.  Also, the first Saturday in two weeks were it wasn't raining.  What do you do in the Tahoe Basin when you have a day to kill?  We were going to go canoeing, but there was 20 MPH winds.  Too much snowmelt for fly fishing.  So we did a hike to Skunk Harbor.

We have been to Skunk Harbor 1/2 dozen times or so.  Its kind of a pain because you hike down to the beach, then get tired, then you have to hike up.  Kind of difficult.  Water temperature in Tahoe is still 49 degrees, so you have to be crazy to get in.  Actually, one guy why were were there ran from the beach and dove in.  He got right out then shivered on the sand.  Just getting your feet wet gives you a headache.

It was 55 degrees and with the wind, you needed an jacket.  The kids all make me laugh, they are outfitted to the tee.  They look like such serious hikers (actually, the places we take them, they are pretty serious).

Interestingly, The road we are on is an old rail road right of way used to haul timber up from the Tahoe Shoreline during the Comstock boom. (I am now typing for a 2nd time as the blogger deleted my post, so it might not be as detailed as the 1st typing). 

The beach was beautiful.  Even though you can't swim, its amazing that the kids could spend a whole day there.  There is a creek that enters Lake Tahoe at this location.  The kids send time digging different channels for the stream to enter the Lake.  They wade in the water.  They play with other kids, have lunch and the most important thing they spend the most time on is saving drowning lady bugs.

Its kids of a futile way to spend you day, but you can save thousands of lady bugs and not really make a dent in anything.  Oh well, it makes them feel good.  Thats service.

Took a picture of the Lake and Liv wanted to be in on it.

On the way out we decided to find a geocache that was about 100 meters off the trail.  While approaching the cache, it was apparent the terrain was not natural.  Usually banks on either side of a flat area is a "flume" where they used to send lumber down to the mine and that is what I assumed this was.

One more of Liv walking out - looking real sporty.

I love that the kids will hike.  I can tell they feel good doing it and they love to be outside.  I didn't like to hike as a kid (but thats because my parents wouldn't buy me good equipment - no camelbacks, no hiking poles, no hiking boots - they didn't have any of that when I was a kid - life is better now).  You put the kids on a trail and point the way and they do the rest (for the most part).

The name of the cache was "trestle."  Soren was the first to say "this lumber is not natural."  And he was right.  Turns out we were on an old rail road grade used to run lumber from the shore to the top of the basin to be used in the mines.

Amazing to be that close to history and never notice it before.  That is what geocaching is supposed to do, lead you to interesting areas you may have not been aware of before.  The rail road functioned 140 years ago.  Surprised with the Tahoe winters this stuff was still out there.  It was apparent is was an old rail bridge that has collapsed.  And yes, we did find the cache!

The person who hid the cache has a good write up of the history with some interesting photographs

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC59K0R_trestle

The "Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Flume Company."  Seriously, when you read the mining history, everyone made money except the miners.

This picture in 1877, we walked on the lower rail road track down to the beach.  The locomotive in the background is now what would be the highway.

How cool is that?  So much in this photo, but the mining really did a number to the Tahoe environment, striped all the old growth lumber and fished out the lake.  What would it look like if the old growth would have remained?  Not sure, but its still one of the most beautiful places on earth, and its our playground!