Lake Tahoe: Blowing In The Wind

I had a great stay in Reno, thanks to the two-room suite I spent the night in!  It wasn't much of a splurge...the price was right.  Before leaving town, I grabbed lunches for two days from Trader Joe's.  I like not relying on restaurants when I'm visiting parks.  My destination for the day was the southern end of Lake Tahoe...that would be on the California side.  Most of the lake is in California, and the rest of it to the east is in Nevada.  My first stop was the picturesque Inspiration Point.  There were many people stopping to take in the views and yes, take pictures.  Here's a shot of Fannette Island in Emerald Bay.

It was a picture perfect day...well, almost perfect.  I would have liked it better if there weren't gusty winds.  I shouldn't complain...it wasn't that bad.  Across the street from Inspiration Point was the trail to Cascade Falls.  It's a two mile in-and-out hike that's a bit challenging given the rocky trail.  I took it slow and enjoyed the scenery along the way.

In the above photo, you can kind of make out Cascade Falls.  When I reached the top, the views were gorgeous.  There weren't many people around, which added to the serenity.  The water from Cascade Falls runs into...Cascade Lake.

On my return trip, I saw several different types of small butterflies flitting around.  Most of them didn't sit still long enough to snap a pic.  I managed to get a few shots of one, though.  I'm pretty sure it's called a persius duskywing...a type of skipper butterfly.  AND, for the third day in a row...here's your daily squirrel photo!  Another golden-mantled ground squirrel, but no less cute!

Tomorrow, I'm going to Yosemite National Park!  For the first time, I'll be taking the Tioga Pass Road...the highway that goes east-west through the park.  Looking forward to great scenery and hopefully wildflowers.  And, the timing is perfect.  Snow looms on the horizon the following day!