After a few days of hiking at Glass Creek Yair and I decided to head to some hot springs, stopping at two lakes on the way. The first, June Lake, sits inside alpine forest and has sandy white beaches and crystal clear water. We spent some time walking the beach and watching schools of tiny fish dart around the rocks. A lot of families were there fishing, boating, and swimming, making the lake look just like an ocean beach (fun to see amidst the piney-mountains).

Our second stop was Mono Lake which is much larger and known for the tufas (columns of porous rock) that jut out from its sandy beaches. We walked around and snapped photos of the slowly approaching lighting storm before continuing on, through the rain, to Travertine Hot Springs. There, we found an ideal place to park – we lived, for free, only twenty feet from one hot spring and within a three minute walk of at least six others. Some dug out of the ground, some crafted from concrete, some built up around a rock that dripped clear, steaming water. Travertine includes the most interesting hot spring I’ve seen, made up of four tubs that are joined together and fed by a looming rock. It’s a hard thing to describe and I’ve included a photo below to help.

When we left Travertine we headed to South Lake Tahoe, stopping on the way in Hope Valley for a night. We are lucky to be hosted in the small city by the very generous Daniel who has allowed us to park in his driveway near the Tahoe Keys. The location couldn’t be better – we can walk a mile through the forest to a secluded beach or ride our bikes for about twenty minutes to reach the main part of town. And Yair and I have gotten along well with Daniel and his friends, adding a nice social element to our lives in Tahoe.

Generally, the people here are great. I don’t know if it’s because this is a vacation destination and many people here are on break, but the vast majority of people out and about are smiling and ready to shout a friendly hello. And it’s safe here. I’ve seen bikes and paddle boards left unlocked and unguarded, something unheard of in Austin.

In addition to friendly people, Tahoe boasts beaches straight out of the Caribbean (except replace salt water with fresh water and palm trees with pine trees), and a vibrant music scene. So far we’ve seen an afro-funk band playing on the beach, Vikingsholm (a Scandinavian-style mansion right on the lake), the cascading Eagle Falls, and a group of intimate beaches along the north eastern side that remind me of Costa Rica. Tomorrow we leave to check out Sierra Hot Springs but I’m sure we’ll return to Lake Tahoe soon.