OVER THE BOW: LAKE TAHOE

"When quietly floating upon the placid surface of Lake Tahoe, the largest of the "gems of the Sierra - nestled as it is, amidst a huge amphitheater of mountain peaks - it is difficult to say whether we are more powerfully impressed with the genuine child-like awe and wonder inspired by the noble grandeur of nature, or with the calmer and more gentle sense of the beautiful produced by the less imposing aspects of the surrounding scenery."  John Le Conte  

I have kayaked bigger lakes by far. Under Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior, Lake of the Wood on the border of U.S. and Canada and into sea caves along Lake Michigan in Door County Wisconsin.  All of those lakes are massive in size.  At their edge, you look out into a sea swell as far as you can see. The horizon falls off into waves. However, at Lake Tahoe, you look across to see the gleaming Sierra Nevada Mountains rising from its blue depths and feel the majesty of the place. American writer, Mark Twain described the thoughts we all must experience when seeing the lake for the first time or one hundredth.

"...at last the Lake burst upon us—a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full three thousand feet higher still! ... As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords."

You will need waterproof pocket Thesaurus to come up with all the different types of color blue you will see when paddling around the lake. Its cobalt color was long credited to the unusual clarity of the water, however surprising new research suggests that the real explanation lies with algae that live in the lake.

“The result was totally unexpected, since we all expected that clarity and blueness of the lake is correlated,” Dr. Shohei Watanabe, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, told The Huffington Post, “Clarity is mainly controlled by fine inorganic sediments but blueness is mainly controlled by algal populations.”
Using help from NASA, Wantanabe, measured the lake’s blueness and then combined this “blueness index” with measurements of a Secchi disk, a white disk commonly used to measure its transparency of water that remains visible when it's lowered into it. His results showed that the bluer the lake, the lower the clarity of its water, and the lake is actually bluest when algae concentration is low, suggesting a possible need to change in conservation efforts, which traditionally have focused on controlling sediment to keep the lake water clear.

The blueness of the lake is extraordinary along the massive granite walls of D.L. Bliss State Park's Rubicon Point. There it is hard for me to take my eyes off the water as it changes in hues blues as I paddle along with my son Taylor. Under the point, it is the most stunning shade of indigo I think I have ever seen. North of fabled Emerald Bay, this area is a  popular spot for boaters as well as swimmers, who brave the cool waters. Kayaks and speedboats rock along in the waves along the shoreline. For me, finally paddling towards the horizon of mountains proves to be an exhilarating experience.

"This place is spectacular because it is one of the highest, deepest, oldest and purest lakes in the world." said President Barack Obama told a crowd of about 9,000 at the 20th annual Lake Tahoe Summit,  "It’s no wonder that for thousands of years, this place has been a spiritual one. For the Washoe people, it is the center of their world. And just as this space is sacred to Native Americans, it should be sacred to all Americans."

He challenged all of us, to keep the lake's spirit alive through conservation and combating climate change to protect its pristine views, keep its air pure, and most certainly its waters clear and blue.

Over the Bow is a feature from Outside Adventure to the Max, telling the story behind the image. If you have a great picture with a great story, submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

This article was originally published Outside Adventure to the Max on September 9, 2016.

 

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OVER THE BOW: LAKE TAHOE

 

I have kayaked bigger lakes by far. Under Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior, Lake of the Wood on the border of U.S. and Canada and into sea caves along Lake Michigan in Door County Wisconsin.  All of those lakes are massive in size.  At their edge, you look out into a sea swell as far as you can see. The horizon falls off into waves. However, at the Lake Tahoe, you look across to see the gleaming Sierra Nevada Mountains raising from its blue depths and feel the majesty of the place. American writer, Mark Twain described the thoughts we all must experience when seeing the lake for the first time or one hundredth.

  "...at last the Lake burst upon us—a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full three thousand feet higher still! ... As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords."

You will need waterproof pocket Thesaurus to come up with all the different types of color blue you will see when paddling around the lake. Its cobalt color was long credited to the unusual clarity of the water, however surprising new research suggests that the real explanation lies with algae that live in the lake.

“The result was totally unexpected, since we all expected that clarity and blueness of the lake is correlated,” Dr. Shohei Watanabe, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, told The Huffington Post, “Clarity is mainly controlled by fine inorganic sediments but blueness is mainly controlled by algal populations.”
Using help from NASA, Wantanabe, measured the lake’s blueness and then combined this “blueness index” with measurements of a Secchi disk, a white disk commonly used to measure its transparency of water that remains visible when it's lowered into it. His results showed that the bluer the lake, the lower the clarity of its water and the lake is actually bluest when algae concentration is low, suggesting a possible need to change in conservation efforts, which traditionally have focused on controlling sediment to keep the lake water clear.

The blueness of the lake is extraordinary along the massive granite walls of D.L. Bliss State Park's Rubicon Point. There it is hard for me to take my eyes off the water as it changes in hues blues as I paddle along with my son Taylor. Under the point, it is the most stunning shade of indigo I think I have ever seen. North of fabled Emerald Bay, this area is a  popular spot for boaters as well as swimmers, who brave the cool waters. Kayaks and speedboats rock along in the waves along the shoreline. For me, finally paddling towards the horizon of mountains proves to be an exhilarating experience.

"This place is spectacular because it is one of the highest, deepest, oldest and purest lakes in the world." said President Barack Obama told a crowd of about 9,000 at the 20th annual Lake Tahoe Summit last week, "It’s no wonder that for thousands of years, this place has been a spiritual one. For the Washoe people, it is the center of their world. And just as this space is sacred to Native Americans, it should be sacred to all Americans."

He challenged all of us, to keep the lake's spirit alive through conservation and combating climate change to protect its pristine views, keep its air pure and most certainly its waters clear and blue.

Over the Bow is a feature from Outside Adventure to the Max, telling the story behind the image. If you have a great picture with a great story, submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

OVER THE BOW: FOLSOM LAKE

 

 "We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms." --Barack Obama

Over the Labor Day weekend the surface of Folsom Lake hovered at dwindling 364 feet above sea. That is 7 feet above last year's low point of 357 feet and 17 feet higher than the all-time record low of 347 set in 1977. California's drought is taking a huge toll on the lakes and reservoirs and Folsom Lake seems to rest at ground zero as the lake level continues to drop by inches daily.
“It means we would no longer be able to revert water out of the reservoir for the City of Folsom and there would be no water for folks to drink,” Bureau of Reclamation spokesperson Shawn Hunt told CBS13.
The lake, which supplies water to nearly half a million people, is nearing the so-called dead pool level. That means that its water level is nearly too low for water to be pumped out. The Bureau of Reclamation is spending about $3.5 million to build a barge including 10 floating platforms with pumps, so if the water level even further drops, the agency can still provide 19 million gallons of water to residents daily.
The historic drought has also revealed some history as stone walls and foundations of the gold mining town of Mormon Island are revealed again after spending years at the lake. Hikers and explorers now tour the ruins of the town destroyed by fire in 1856 according to historians.
My trip takes me to the north arm and narrow section of the lake across from Anderson Island. In the low water, the island is anything but. Mammoth granite boulders choked the flow North Fork of the American River in past on both sides making it now the narrowest point of the lake. On my way there, I stick to the ever rising banks and paddle past stalagmite shaped pillars reaching out of the water. On both sides of the lake it relative wasteland up to the trees. It's an alien world. An ideal setting for the next Star Trek movie, bleak, stern with little signs of any living thing. The waterline is  shrinking the farther north I paddle, as the lake becomes a thin band of blue.
Benjamin Franklin said, "When the well's dry, we know the worth of the water." I can say the same now about Folsom Lake. As I paddle on I hope for a rainy winter.

Over the Bow is a feature from Outside Adventure to the Max, telling the story behind the image. If you have a great picture with a great story, submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com