Hidden Beach

Lake Tahoe has more beauty than just the surrounding mountains.  Of course the lake is beautiful, but the paths around the lake  provide a beauty of their own.

This past week we left my son's home and took a trip to a local beach named Hidden Beach.  My daughter, and son took my husband and me along with  the dogs, Duke, Darby and Flash. They had heard that this was one of the warmer places to swim along the coast of this very cold lake.

I wasn't as interested in swimming as I was in just enjoying yet another beautiful sunny day.
After walking down a couple paths that lead to rocks, not beach, we understood why this beach was named "Hidden Beach"  We were having a bit of trouble finding it which I didn't mind because the walks were nice, though they were a little too steep for me.
The paths to the beach and rocks were just wide enough for one person to walk along. We carried chairs on our backs; towels and water bottles in our hands while the dogs ran on ahead. straying only to chase small rodents or lizards.
Along the edge grew rambling shrubs and yellow flowers mixed with sage and a holly-like ground cover.  Down, down, down we walked, finally to discover the hidden beach.

While other bloggers have found remarkable wildlife on their trips this summer sighting animals like orca whales, sea lions  and dolphins, I did not find such things today.  What I found were a few sandy paths,  some giant boulders and some very cold water.
But these were good things.

I also found a cool tree, twisted with age and weather; shaped by the winds off of Lake Tahoe as well as giant volcano strewn boulders beneath the ground binding the tree's roots and stunting its growth.

Besides all these things, I found my family, laughing and playing while their dogs climbed over rocks and chased sticks thrown into the water. I  even got to watch while my newest granddog took her first swim.

I sat on my small towel and burrowed my feet under the warm, gravely sand and watched the day move forward.  Soon it was time to return home. The sun was sinking the air was becoming cool.
We packed up our chairs, water bottles, towels, then we and the dogs and slowly made our way up to the road to where our cars were parked - back across the winding path, yellow blossoms tickling our ankles.

Oh, and did you see the turtle that we saw?

Jeff pointed it out to me as it slowly made its way across the beach into the lake.

I inserted a photo of it above . . . Do you see it?  Here is one more photo in case you don't see it above.

So, I guess I did see some pretty amazing sites after all.