SPAWNING & PRESIDENTIAL YAWNING

POST DEBATE BILGE

     We might be better off if we ignored all of the post debate analysis from the pundits and so called experts and simply held conversations with friends, family and associates, even those, maybe especially those, who hold an opposing view.

      Most of us don't need a television talking head to think for us. The traditional networks do a quick wrap up and analysis and then get back to their precious money making prime time schedule. But the cable nets and the bloggers go until the sun comes up. In this age of partisan networks there is more heat and gas than light and understanding.

     What do we gain?  It fills time and sells commercials, so the cable nets are not likely to change.  We can simply turn it off.

      For most of my life I watched it all, and for many years had multiple television sets in my office so I had as many as 5 or 6 sources of information simultaneously.  Since it is all spin, interpretation, and bombast, with very little genuine insight, what's the point? Unless for sport. 

      And you have probably noticed how the election media

is obsessed with polls, the horse race aspect, and seem to think it is all about how it plays on television and in the media. The media is A) self absorbed, B) does play a significant role but as I said first is C) self absorbed.  Again I am reminded we can switch it off.  Which is exactly what Lana suggested I do after ripping up and down the remote to monitor Fox, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, PBS, ABC and back.

       Do any of you suspend your own thoughts until one of the television yackers tell you what you just saw?

KOKANEE SALMON

    Kokanee Salmon were spawning in this mountain stream west of Lake Tahoe between Camp Richardson and Mount Tallac.

    They travel to lay their eggs and then expire.  They become more red as they mature.  

 

        See you down the trail.

ON THE LAKE

SCALE OF BLUE

     Here's a collection of frames that capture the blue and changing hues of Lake Tahoe as well as things on and in the blue.

     This collection of geese and ducks made a return to the 
beach at South Lake Tahoe every afternoon.  Until they flew away at sunrise, these were their waters.

 Shared with gulls of course.

See you down the trail.

NOW WE'VE SEEN IT

FINDING TRUCKEE

     What I knew about Truckee was that it was at or near the Donner Pass. And that is snowed a lot. We had also heard that modern Truckee is a fun and charming mountain town above Lake Tahoe.

      The Truckee River runs from Lake Tahoe into Nevada. A beautiful bike and hiking path follows the sparkling river through the canyons to Historic Truckee.

    Truckee is pleasing to the eyes and breathes with history.

     The Odd Fellows building, still in use, was built in 1871. Odd Fellows were a strong lodge in California's gold country and mountains.

     On the way from Lake Tahoe to Reno, the Truckee River passes a lot of back doors and porches.
      In the autumn it certainly is a charming spot.  Now when winter starts to bring the hundreds of inches of snow to the Sierra, things no doubt change a bit.  But snow boarders and skiers have different appreciations. I don't know that I will see Truckee in the snow, but we enjoyed
it as it looks above.

     See you down the trail.

EMERALD BAY

PICTURE PERFECT

      Friends advised that we go up to the Emerald Bay overlook when they learned of our first trip to Lake Tahoe.

   The magnificent scene was created by glacial melt, leaving Tahoe's only island, Fannette where the Vikingsholm Tea house perches.  The Vikingsholm Castle, built in 1929, nestles on the facing shore, wrapped and hidden by towering pines.

   The owners hired a retired British Royal Navy sailor as a caretaker during the hard winters.  Tough old salt that he was, he would take a dinghy several miles to Tahoe city for supplies and a stop in the tavern.  Once a storm tossed him and he bound himself to his small boat and rode out the winter blast, later amputating a couple of his own fingers.
After another round in the tavern a winter storm dumped him and his body was never recovered.

    Thanks to our pals for the great tip.  Emerald Bay is an extraordinary scene.

     See you down the trail.

MOUNTAIN RETREAT

FACES OF TAHOE

     Here's the moon over that "Mystery Pier" some of you guessed at yesterday. It's in South Lake Tahoe.

     It's our first visit to the beautiful blue lake on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range.
     TAHOE FACTS
           Elevation 6229 feet
           Maximum Depth  1645 feet  Average Depth 989 Feet
           Length 22 Miles   Width 12 miles
           71 miles of shoreline--42 in California 29 in Nevada
           Annual Snowfall  18 feet

     The legendary blue is indeed beautiful and the water is incredibly clear.

     The top half of the frame below is underwater.

      In the winter the mountains become a ski and winter sport playground. The lake never freezes.

     The surface water temperature ranges from 68 to 41 degrees. It is easy to see why generations have delighted in

Lake Tahoe.

      See you down the trail.