The Lake of the Sky
by
George Wharton James
Part 5 out of 8
To those who come early in the season tobogganing and snow shoeing are
not unusual experiences. The shady sides of the mountains offer these
winter sports as late as June and early July, and many Californians
who have never enjoyed the frolic of snow-balling come here to gain
their first experience in this common eastern enjoyment.
Elsewhere I have referred to the many evidences of glacial action
found about a mile above Deer Park Inn. Still further up the canyon,
on the trail going to Five Lakes, are interesting deposits of volcanic
rock--andeside--so that these two geological phenomena may be studied
close at hand.
Having its own rich meadows on Bear Creek, the Deer Park Spring tables
are always supplied with good milk and cream from its own dairies,
while fresh fruit and vegetables are supplied daily. Fish and game in
season are frequent, and the table being under the direct and personal
supervision of the management has gained an enviable reputation.
Living water flows in marvelous abundance through Deer Park all
throughout the year. Springs and melting snow send four different
streams, tributary to Bear Creek, coursing across the property.
The domestic water supply of the Inn is gained from springs on the
mountain side, 800 feet above the Inn, and it is piped all over the
place and to every cottage.
There has been some talk, recently, of converting Deer Park into a
private park. There is no better location for such a purpose in the
whole Tahoe region. Situated as it is in the heart of a canyon it
is readily isolated and thus kept entirely secluded and free from
intrusion. While such a procedure would be a great advantage to
any individual or club who might purchase the estate, it would be a
decided loss to the general public who for so many years have enjoyed
the charms and delights of this earliest of Sierran mountain resorts.
CHAPTER XX
RUBICON SPRINGS
One of the oldest and most famous resorts of the High Sierras is
Rubicon Springs. It is nine miles from Lake Tahoe, at McKinney's,
over a mountain road built many years ago, engineered so as to afford
marvelously entrancing glimpses of the Lake and of the mountain
scenery on either hand. Here are primeval forest, flower-strewn
meadows of emerald, crystal streams and placid-faced glacial lakes
in which snow-clad mountain summits are mirrored in quiet glory. The
Rubicon River is one of the feeders of the American River, and the
springs are located not far from its head waters.
The Rubicon Springs were originally discovered and located upon by the
Hunsaker brothers, two genuine explorers and adventurers whose names
deserve to be preserved in connection with the Tahoe region. They
were originally from the Hoosier state, coming to California in 1849,
across the plains, by Fort Hall, the sink of the Humboldt, Ragtown,
and by Carson Canyon to old Hangtown (now Placerville). They mined
for several years. Then came the Comstock excitement. They joined the
exodus of miners for the Nevada mountains and were among the earliest
to help to construct the Georgetown trail. Thus it was they discovered
Rubicon. In 1869 they located upon 160 acres, built a log-house and
established a stopping station which they called Hunsaker Springs. In
the winter they rested or returned to Georgetown, making occasional
trapping trips, hunting bear and deer, and the meat of which they
sold. In those days deer used to winter in large numbers almost as far
down as Georgetown (some fifteen miles or so), so that hunting them
for market was a profitable undertaking in the hands of experts.
They and John McKinney, the founder of McKinney's, were great friends,
having worked together in the Georgetown mines. They soon made their
places famous. Their mining friends came over from Virginia City,
Gold Hill, Carson, etc., by way of Glenbrook, where they were
ferried across Lake Tahoe by the old side-wheel steamer, _Governor
Stanford_, to McKinney's. Then by pack trail over to Hunsakers.
For many years they used to cut a great deal of hay from the nearby
meadows. A natural timothy grows, sometimes fully four feet high.
A year's yield would often total fully thirty tons, for which the
highest price was paid at the mines.
There was another spring, beside Hunsakers', about a mile higher up,
owned by a friend of the Hunsakers, named Potter. In time he sold this
spring to a Mrs. Clark, who finally sold it back to him, when it was
bought by Mr. R. Colwell, of Moana Villa. When the Hunsakers grew too
old to run their place they sold it to a man named Abbott, who, in
due time wished to sell out. But, in the meantime the railroad had
surveyed their land, granted by Congress, and found that the springs
and part of the hotel building were on their land, so that while
Abbott sold all his holdings to Mr. Colwell, he could not sell the
main objects of the purchaser's desire. An amicable arrangement,
however, was made between all the parties at interest.
Mr. Colwell is now the owner of all the property.
For countless centuries the Indians of both west and east of Tahoe
were used to congregate in the Rubicon country. They came to drink
the medicinal waters, fish, catch deer and game birds, and also gather
acorns and pine nuts. How well I remember my own visit to the Springs
in the fall of 1913. Watson and I had had three delightful days on
the trail and in Hell Hole, and had come, without a trail, from
Little Hell Hole up to Rubicon. The quaking aspens were dropping
their leaves, the tang of coming winter was in the air, mornings and
evenings, yet the middle of the day was so warm that we drank deeply
of the waters of the naturally carbonated springs. No, this statement
is scarcely one of fact. It was warm, but had it been cold, we, or,
at least, I should have drank heartily of the waters because I liked
them. They are really delicious, and thousands have testified to their
healthfulness.
We saw the station of the water company, where a man remains through
the year to register the river's flow and the snowfall. Then we passed
a large lily lake to the left,--a once bold glacial lake now rapidly
nearing the filled-up stage ere it becomes a mountain meadow--and were
fairly on the Georgetown grade, the sixty mile road that reaches from
McKinney's to Georgetown. It is a stern road, that would make the
"rocky road to Dublin" look like a "flowery bed of ease," though we
followed it only a mile and a half to leave it for the steep trail
that reaches Rock Bound Lake. This is one of the larger of the small
glacial lakes of the Tahoe Region, and is near enough to Rubicon
Springs to be reached easily on foot.
From a knoll close by one gains an excellent panorama of Dick's,
Jack's and Ralston's Peaks. Tallac and Pyramid are not in sight. The
fishing here is excellent, the water deep and cold and the lake large
enough to give one all the exercise he needs in rowing.
On the summit of the Georgetown road one looks down upon the nearby
placid bosom of Buck Island Lake. It received this name from Hunsaker.
The lake is very irregular in shape, about a third of a mile long,
and a quarter of a mile wide in its widest part. Near one end is a
small island. Hunsaker found the deer swam over to this island to
rest and sleep during the heat of the day, hence the name.
[Illustration: Angora Lakes, Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe ]
[Illustration: White Cloud Falls, Cascade Lake]
[Illustration: Upper Eagle Falls, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe]
The Little Rubicon river flows into Buck Island Lake and out again,
and about two miles below Rubicon Springs the Georgetown road crosses
the river at the foot of the lake.
With these two lakes, and others not far away, fine hunting and
fishing, with several mountains nearby for climbing, the hotsprings,
a fine table and good horses to ride it can well be understood that
Rubicon Springs makes a delightful summer stopping-place. One great
advantage that it possesses, under its present proprietorship is that
guests may alternate between Moana Villa and the Springs and thus
spend part of their time on the Lake and the other part in the heart
of the mountains. The Colwells are hearty and homelike hosts, and are
devoted to giving their many guests the greatest possible enjoyment,
pleasure and health that a summer's vacation can contain.
CHAPTER XXI
EMERALD BAY AND CAMP
Situated near the southwest corner of Lake Tahoe is Emerald Bay,
by many thousands regarded as the choicest portion of Lake Tahoe.
Surrounded by so many wonderful scenes, as one is at Tahoe, it is
difficult to decide which possesses surpassing power, but few there
are who see Emerald Bay without at once succumbing to its allurement.
Its geological history has already been given in Chapter VIII, in
which it is clearly shown by Dr. Joseph Le Conte that it was once a
glacial lake, and that the entrance to the main lake used to be the
terminal moraine that separated the two bodies of water. As a natural
consequence, therefore, visitors may expect to find evidences of
glacial action on every hand. They are not disappointed. The walls of
the Bay, on both north and south, are composed of glacial detritus,
that of the south being a pure moraine, separating the once glacial
lake of Emerald Bay from Cascade Lake.
Emerald Bay is about three miles in length, with a southwesterly
trend, and half a mile wide. The entrance is perhaps a quarter of a
mile wide and is formed by a triangular spit of sand, on which grows a
lone pine, on the one side, and a green chaparral-clad slope, known
as Eagle Point, on the other. The Bay opens and widens a little
immediately the entrance is joined. The mountains at the head of the
Bay form a majestic background. To the southwest (the left) is Mount
Tallac, with a rugged, jagged and irregular ridge leading to the west,
disappearing behind two tree-clad sister peaks, which dominate the
southern side of the Bay's head. These are known as Maggie's Peaks
(8540 and 8725 feet respectively, that to the south being the higher),
though originally their name, like that of so many rounded, shapely,
twin peaks in the western world gained by the white man from the
Indian, signified the well-developed breasts of the healthy and
vigorous maiden. Emerging from behind these the further ridge again
appears with a nearer and smoother ridge, leading up to a broken and
jagged crest that pierces the sky in rugged outline. A deep gorge is
clearly suggested in front of this ridge, in which Eagle Lake nestles,
and the granite mass which forms the eastern wall of this gorge towers
up, apparently higher than the nearer of Maggie's peaks, and is known
as Phipps' Peak (9000 feet). This is followed by still another peak,
nearer and equally as high, leading the eye further to the north,
where its pine-clad ridge merges into more ridges striking northward.
Between Maggie's and Phipps' Peaks the rocky masses are broken down
into irregular, half rolling, half rugged foothills, where pines,
firs, tamaracks and cedars send their pointed spires upwards from
varying levels. In the morning hours, or in the afternoon up to
sunset, when the shadows reveal the differing layers, rows, and levels
of the trees, they stand out with remarkable distinctness, each tree
possessing its own perfectly discernible individuality, yet each
contributing to the richness of the clothing of the mountainside, as a
whole.
Down across the lower portion of Maggie's Peaks, too to 200 feet above
the level of the Bay, the new automobile road has ruled its sloping
line down to the cut, where a sturdy rustic bridge takes it over the
stream which conveys the surplus waters from Eagle Lake to the Bay. On
the other side it is lost in the rolling foothills and the tree-lined
lower slopes of Cathedral Peak from whence it winds and hugs the Lake
shore, over Rubicon Point to Tahoe Tavern.
But Emerald Bay has other romantic attractions besides its scenery.
In the early 'sixties Ben Holladay, one of the founders of the great
Overland Stage system that reached from the Pacific Coast to the
Missouri River, built a pretentious house at the head of the Bay.
Naturally it was occupied by the family only part of the time, and in
1879, a tramp, finding it unoccupied, took up his lodgings therein,
and, as a mark of his royal departure, the structure burned down the
next morning. The site was then bought by the well-known capitalist,
Lux, of the great cattle firm of Miller & Lux, and is now owned by
Mrs. Armstrong.
As the steamer slowly and easily glides down the Bay, it circles
around a rocky islet, on which a number of trees find shelter. This
island was inhabited at one time by an eccentric Englishman, known
as Captain Dick, who, after having completed a cottage to live in,
carried out the serious idea of erecting a morgue, or a mausoleum, as
a means of final earthly deposit upon dissolution. This queer-looking
dog-house might have become a sarcophagus had it not been for one
thing, viz., Captain Dick, one dark and stormy night, having visited
one of the neighboring resorts where he had pressed his cordial
intemperately, determined to return to his solitary home. In vain the
danger was urged upon him. With characteristic obstinacy, enforced by
the false courage and destruction of his ordinarily keen perception by
the damnable liquor that had "stolen away his brains," he refused to
listen, pushed his sail-boat from the wharf and was never seen again.
His overturned boat was afterwards found, blown ashore.
[Illustration: The marble tablet on one of Maggie's Peaks, bearing
the inscription: "FLEETWOOD PEAK, ASCENDED BY MISS MARY McCONNELL,
SEPT. 12, 1869."]
[Illustration: The island in Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: 'Whispering Pines', Al Tahoe, on Lake Tahoe]
* * * * *
EMERALD BAY CAMP
Emerald Bay is made accessible to regular summer guests by Emerald Bay
Camp, one of the choice and highly commendable resorts of the Tahoe
region. The Camp is located snugly among the pines of the north side
of the Bay, and consists of the usual hotel, with nearby cottages and
tents.
Less than five minutes' walk connects it with the picturesque
Automobile Boulevard, which is now connected with the Camp by an
automobile road. The distance is four-fifths of a mile and hundreds of
people now enjoy the hospitality of Emerald Bay Camp who come directly
to it in their own machines.
Its location suggests many advantages for the angler, the famous
Indian fishing grounds being located at the mouth of the bay. Cascade,
Eagle, and the unfished Velma Lakes are easily accessible to trampers,
the outlets from these furnishing sporty brook trout fishing. These
streams and lakes are all stocked with Eastern brook, Loch Levin
and cutthroat. The protected waters of the bay make boating safe and
bathing a comfortable delight.
But not all the beauty of nature and the advantages of excellent
location can make a popular camp. There is much in the individuality
of those who own or "run" it. Emerald Bay Camp is owned by Mr. Nelson
L. Salter, for many years so favorably known in the Yosemite Valley.
Such is its growing popularity that Mr. Salter has recently (1921)
purchased another ten acres of adjoining land, thus enlarging his
frontage on the Bay to about 1000 feet, and giving him many more
cottages for the entertainment of his guests.
* * * * *
EAGLE LAKE
From Emerald Bay Camp there are quite a number of interesting trail
and climbing trips, one of the commonest of which is that to Eagle
Lake.
Taking the trail west, one zigzags to the north until the Automobile
Boulevard is reached. A half mile's walk brings one to the bridge over
Eagle Creek. Here a few steps lead to the head of the upper portion of
Eagle Falls, which dash down a hundred feet or so to the rocky ledge,
from whence they fall to their basin, ere they flow out to join the
waters of Emerald Bay.
A few yards beyond the bridge the trail starts. It is a genuine
mountain trail, now over rough jagged blocks of granite, then through
groves of pines, firs, tamaracks and spruces, where flowers, ferns,
mosses and liverworts delight the eyes as they gaze down, and the
spiculae and cones and blue sky thrill one with delight as they look
above, and where the sunlight glitters through the trees as they look
ahead. To the right Eagle Creek comes noisily down, over falls and
cascades, making its own music to the accompaniment of the singing
voices of the trees. Now and again the creek comes to a quiet,
pastoral stretch, where it becomes absolutely "still water". Not that
it is motionless, but noiseless, covered over with trees and vines,
that reflect upon its calm surface and half hide the trout that float
so easily and lazily through its clear, pure, cold stream.
There is enough of climbing to call into exercise long unused muscles,
the granite blocks are rough, angular and irregular enough to exercise
eyes, hands and feet to keep one from falling, and the lungs are
filled with balsam-ladened mountain-air, fresh from God's own perfect
laboratories, healing, vivifying, rejuvenating, strengthening, while
the heart is helped on and encouraged to pump more and more of its
blood, drawn from long almost quiescent cells into the air-chambers of
the lungs, there to receive the purifying and life-giving oxygen and
other chemical elements that multiply the leucocytes vastly and set
them at work driving out the disease germs that accumulate and linger
in every city-living man's and woman's system.
Suddenly from a little rise the lake is revealed. Eagle Lake, or Pine
Lake, or Spruce Lake, or Hidden Lake, or Granite Lake, or Sheltered
Lake--any of these names would be appropriate. Almost circular in
form--that is if you are not expected to be too rigidly exact in
geometric terms--it is literally a jewel of lapis lazuli in a setting
of granite cliffs.
Here one may sit and rest, enjoying the placid waters of the lake, the
rugged grandeur of the immediate cliffs, or the slopes of the towering
mountains that encircle the horizon.
Eagle Lake is but one of the hundred of glacially made Sierran lakes
of the Tahoe region, but a study of its idiosyncrasies would reveal
distinctive and charming characteristics.
* * * * *
CATHEDRAL PEAK
There are two Cathedral Peaks at Tahoe, one above Cathedral Park on
Fallen Leaf Lake, the other at the rear of Emerald Bay Camp. Early in
the season, 1914, three _girls_ decided to climb this peak from
the camp although there was no trail. One of them wrote the following
account of the trip:
The most interesting peak of the Rubicon ridge is Cathedral.
The mountain rises directly back of Emerald Bay, some three
thousand feet above the Lake. About six hundred feet above the
camp there is a meadow where larkspur grows four and five
feet high. But from Eagle Creek the aspect is quite different.
There are no soft contours. Huge rocks pile up--one great
perpendicular surface adding five hundred feet to the
height--into spires and domes for all the world like some vast
cathedral which taunts the soul with its aloofness. If, on
some sunshiny afternoon you look up from the camp and see
a ghost-moon hanging, no more than a foot above the highest
spire, you must surely be "citified" if you do not pause to
drink in its weird sublimity and wild beauty.
Many winters of storm and snow have loosed the rocks
and carried them down the mountain. Those thrown down years
ago are moss-covered and have collected enough soil in their
crevices to nourish underbrush and large trees. But there are
bare rocks along Eagle Creek to-day large enough for a man
to hew a cabin from. Standing in awe of their size one surely
must look curiously up the mountain to find the spaces they
once occupied. Then, taking in the size of the peak it is
equally natural that one should be filled with a desire to
climb it and look down the other side and across the vista
to the neighboring ranges. While we were getting used to the
altitude we stood below admiring. Every evening we went out on
the wharf, gazed up at its grandeur and discussed the best
way to go, for though we knew we should have to break our own
trail, we had decided to attempt the climb. We set a day and
the hour for rising; the night before laid out our tramping
clothes and religiously went to bed at eight. I doubt if any
of us slept, for we were used to later hours and excitement
kept us awake.
As it was the first trip of the season, we lost some time at
the start, admiring each others' costumes. Two of us adhered
to the regulation short skirt and bloomers, but the third
girl wore trousers, poked into the top of her high boots. This
proved, by far, the most satisfactory dress before the day's
tramping was done. We got started at four-thirty. The first
awakened birds were twittering. The shadows of the moraine lay
reflected in the unruffled surface of the Bay. Gradually rosy
flushes showed in the east. By the time we reached the meadow
the sun rose suddenly above the Nevada mountains and some of
the chill went out of the atmosphere.
The meadow was flooded with snow-water. Beyond, the mountain
rose by sheer steps of rock with slides of decomposed granite
between. We avoided the under-brush as far as possible,
preferring to take back and forth across the loose granite.
The wind came up as we left the meadow, grew in force as we
climbed. Some one suggested breakfast, and then there began a
search for a sheltered place. A spot sided by three bowlders
away from under-brush was decided upon. By the time the fire
was built the wind was
a gale sending the flames leaping in every direction--up the
rocks and up our arms as we broiled the bacon. Breakfast was a
failure, as far as comfort was concerned. It was a relief when
we finally tramped out the embers and resumed our journey.
The top of a long snow-drift was a previously chosen
land-mark. It was seven when we reached the top of it. Some
one came out on the Bay in a row-boat--we were too high for
recognition--thought better of it and went back. Towards the
top we left the decomposed granite and underbrush behind,
climbing the rocks in preference to the snow, where the choice
was allowed us. The wind howled and shrieked, and blew with
a force great enough to destroy balance, while its icy touch
brought the blood tingling to our cheeks.
At last we reached the summit. And oh! the joy of achievement.
All Rubicon ridge and its neighbors, as far as the eye could
see, were white with snow; the lakes in the valley below
were still frozen--only one showing any blue. Clouds came up
rapidly from the west, rushed by to the Nevada side where
they piled up in great cumulous heaps. The apex of Pyramid was
cloud-capped all day. Shifting gusts drove the waters of
Tahoe scurrying first this way, then that. Where in the early
morning every tree had viewed her image among the reflected
tints of sunrise, at ten-thirty white-caps flashed and
disappeared to flash in a different place among the
everchanging eddies. Cascade and Fallen Leaf Lakes presented
a continuous procession of white-caps to the east, while Eagle
lay black and sinister in the shadow of Maggie's Peaks.
After lunch, the wind blowing too cold for comfort, we started
home, straight down--over snow, granite and underbrush--till
we hit the State Highway. Here we found a sheltered place by a
creek and talked over the day's happenings.
Along the roadside we drew up a resolution on the satisfaction
of the trip. The girl who had been cold all day didn't ever
want to see snow again, but already the others were discussing
a possible ascent from the Eagle Creek side--so great is the
lure of the high places.
CHAPTER XXII
AL-TAHOE
Al-Tahoe, four miles east of Tallac, is one of the newer, better and
more fashionable and pretentious resorts recently established at the
south end of the Lake. Its projectors saw the increasing demand for
summer residences on the Lake, and realizing to the full the superior
advantages of this location, they divided their large holding into
suitable villa and bungalow sites, and other lots, and readily
disposed of a number of them to those who were ready to build. To
further the colonizing plans of these chosen and selected purchasers
a fine, modern, well-equipped hotel was erected, replete with every
convenience and luxury that progressive Americans now expect and
demand in their chosen resorts. The result is quite a settlement
has grown up, and Al-Tahoe sees ahead an era of rapid growth and
prosperity. Its homes are substantial and beautiful and indicate that
John LeConte's prophecy, elsewhere quoted, is already coming to pass.
Pasadena capitalists are behind the hotel and town project.
Being advantageously located on the State and National automobile
boulevard, and near to all the choice mountain, lake and other resorts
of the southern end of Tahoe, it appeals to those who wish to combine
equally ready access to civilization with the wild ruggedness and
infinite variety of many-featured Nature.
It is situated on a high plateau, gently sloping from the bluff, with
a Lake-frontage of about three quarters of a mile. The land rises with
a gentle slope to the edge of the terrace facing the stream, meadow,
and mountains on the south.
With no stagnant water, there are practically no mosquitoes, and it is
confessedly one of the most healthful spots of all this health giving
region. Being on a lea shore, the cold air from the snowy summits of
the mountains tempered by the warm soil of the foothills and level
area, there is no place on the Lake better adapted for bathing and
boating, especially as the beach is sandy and shallow, sloping off for
some distance from the shore.
The accompanying photographs give some idea of the hotel and its
cottages, together with some Al-Tahoe homes. The water supply for the
town and hotel is gained from beautiful and pure Star Lake, 3000 feet
higher than Lake Tahoe, and where snow may be seen during the entire
year. The Al-Tahoe Company owns its own electric generating plant and
supplies all the cottages with electric light.
The hotel itself is conducted on the American plan, and in every
modern way meets the requirements of the most exacting patrons.
Amusements of every kind are provided, and there is a good livery
stable and automobile garage.
The town itself is being built up with a select class of summer
residents. No saloons are allowed. There are still desirable lots for
sale, and the Al-Tahoe Company, or L.H. Bannister, the Postmaster,
will be glad to correspond with any who contemplate purchasing or
building. Letters may be addressed to either at Al-Tahoe, Lake Tahoe,
Calif.
CHAPTER XXIII
GLEN ALPINE SPRINGS
The earliest of all the resorts of the Tahoe region away from the
shores of Tahoe itself, Glen Alpine Springs still retains its natural
supremacy. Located seven miles away from Tallac, reached by excellent
roads in automobile stages, sequestered and sheltered, yet absolutely
in the very heart of the most interesting part of the Tahoe region,
scenically and geologically, it continues to attract an increasing
number of the better class of guests that annually visit these
divinely-favored California Sierras. John Muir wrote truthfully when
he said:
The Glen Alpine Springs tourist resort seems to me one of the
most delightful places in all the famous Tahoe region. From
no other valley, as far as I know, may excursions be made in
a single day to so many peaks, wild gardens, glacier lakes,
glacier meadows, and Alpine groves, cascades, etc.
The drive from Tallac around Fallen Leaf Lake under trees whose
boles form arch or portal, framing pictures of the sunny lake, is a
memorable experience; then on past Glen Alpine Falls, Lily Lake, and
Modjeska Falls, up the deep mountain glen, where the road ends at the
hospitable cottages, log-houses and spacious tents of Glen Alpine.
[Illustration: Mount Tallac, Rubicon Peaks, etc., from Long Wharf
at Al Tahoe, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Al Tahoe Inn and Cottages, on Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Murphey Cottage, Al Tahoe, on Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Porterfield Cottage, Al Tahoe, on Lake Tahoe]
Here is the world-famous spring, discovered in the 'fifties by
Nathan Gilmore (for whom Gilmore Lake is named). Mr. Gilmore
was born in Ohio, but, when a mere youth, instead of attending
college and graduating in law as his parents had arranged for
and expected, he yielded to the lure of the California gold
excitement, came West, and in 1850 found himself in Placerville.
In due time he married, and to the sickness of his daughter
Evelyn, now Mrs. John L. Ramsay, of Freewater, Ore., is owing
his discovery of Glen Alpine. The doctor ordered him to bring the
child up into the mountains. Accompanied by an old friend, Barton
Richardson, of the James Barton Key family of Philadelphia, he came
up to Tallac, with the ailing child and its mother. Being of active
temperament he and Mr. Richardson scaled Mt. Tallac, and in returning
were much entranced by Fallen Leaf Lake. Later Mr. Gilmore came to
Fallen Leaf alone, wandering over its moraines and lingering by its
shores to drink in its impressive and growingly-overpowering beauty.
In those days there was no road at the southern end of Fallen Leaf and
the interested explorer was perforce led to follow the trails of bear,
deer and other wild animals. Rambling through the woods, some two
miles above the lake he came to a willow-surrounded swampy place,
where the logs and fallen trees were clearly worn by the footprints
of many generations of wild animals. Prompted by curiosity he followed
the hidden trail, saw where a small stream of mineral-stained water
was flowing, observed where the deer, etc., had licked the stones, and
finally came to the source in what he afterwards called Glen Alpine
Springs. Scientific observation afterwards showed that the water had
an almost uniform temperature, even in the hottest days of summer, of
39.6 degrees Fahr., and that there was free carbonic acid gas to the
extent of 138.36 cubic inches. The analysis revealed that each U.S.
gallon contained grains as follows:
Sodium Chloride ............ 21.17
Sodium Carbonate ........... 32.75
Potassium Carbonate ........ Trace
Ferrous Carbonate........... 1.8
Alumnia .................... 1.43
Borates .................... Trace
Magnesium Carbonate ......... 9.96
Calcium Carbonate ........... 45.09
Calcium Sulphate ............ 4.10
Silica ...................... 2.50
Organic Matter............... Trace
------
Total Solids................ 118.80
The water is pleasant to the taste, and, as has been shown, highly
charged with carbonic acid gas; its action is diuretic, laxative and
stimulative to the entire digestive tract. Eminent physicians claim
that it is beneficial in dyspepsia, torpid liver, kidney and bladder
irritation, and is also a tonic.
Whether this be true or not I cannot say, but I do know that every
time I go to Glen Alpine I drink freely and abundantly of the water,
to my great physical pleasure and satisfaction. It is one of the most
delicious sparkling waters I have ever tasted, as gratifying to the
palate and soothing to the fevered mucous membranes as Apollinaris or
Shasta Water, and I am not alone in the wish I often express, viz.,
that I might have such a spring in my backyard at home.
One result of this discovery was that Mr. Gilmore decided to locate
upon the land. As soon as the first claim was made secure a rude
one-roomed cabin was built and Mr. Richardson was the first guest.
Preparatory to bringing his family, Mr. Gilmore added two more rooms,
and to render ingress easier he built a road to intersect with the
Tallac road at the northern end of Fallen Leaf Lake. As this had to
be blasted out with black powder,--it was before the days of
dynamite,--Mr. Gilmore's devotion to the place can be well understood.
When his daughters grew up, they and their friends came here to spend
their summers, and by and by, almost unconsciously, but pleasantly and
agreeably, the place became a public resort. Though Mr. Gilmore has
long since passed on, having died in Placerville, Calif., in the year
1898, Glen Alpine Springs is still in the ownership of his family, and
its management and direction is entirely in their hands.
As in the beginning they have ever sought to preserve its character of
simplicity. It is their aim that everything should be as primitive as
possible, consonant with healthfulness, privacy and comfort. While
no sanitary precautions are neglected, and water, hot and cold, is
extravagantly provided, with free shower baths, there are none of
the frills and furbelows that generally convert these--what should
be--simple nature resorts into bad imitations of the luxurious hotels
of the city. There are positively no dress events. Men and women are
urged to bring their old clothes and wear them out here, or provide
only khaki or corduroy, with short skirts, bloomers and leggings for
the fair sex. Strong shoes are required; hob-nailed if one expects to
do any climbing. Wraps for evening, and heavy underwear for an unusual
day (storms sometimes come in Sierran regions unexpectedly), are
sensible precautions.
Sleeping out-of-doors is one of the features of the place, an
invigorating, rejuvenating joy, which Mark Twain affirmed was able
to destroy any amount of fatigue that a person's body could gather.
Visitors are given their choice of a comfortable bed in the open, in a
cottage, tent, or one of the main buildings. There are practically no
rules at Glen Alpine save those that would operate in any respectable
home. No liquors are sold, and visitors are frankly told that "If they
must have liquid stimulants they must bring them along." In order that
those who desire to sleep may not be disturbed by the thoughtlessness
of others, music is prohibited after ten o'clock. One of the delights
of the place is the nightly camp-fire. Here is a large open space,
close to the spring, surrounded by commodious and comfortable canvas
seats, that will easily hold eight or ten persons, the blazing fire
is started every evening. Those who have musical instruments--guitars,
banjos, mandolins, flutes, cornets, violins, and even the plebeian
accordion or the modest Jew's-harp--are requested to bring them.
Solos, choruses, hymns and college songs are indulged in to the
heart's content. Now and again dances are given, and when any speaker
arrives who is willing to entertain the guests, a talk, lecture or
sermon is arranged for.
Three things are never found at Glen Alpine. These are poison-oak,
rattlesnakes and poisonous insects. The rowdy, gambling and carousing
element are equally absent, for should they ever appear, they speedily
discover their lack of harmony and voluntarily retire.
While the Glen Alpine resort is not situated directly on one of the
lakes, it owns over twenty boats on eight of the nearby lakes, and
the use of these is freely accorded to its guests. That it is in close
proximity to lakes and peaks is evidenced by the following table,
which gives the distance in miles from the hotel:
_Miles_
2-1/2 Angora Lake
4 American Lake
6 Avalanche Lake
3-1/4 Alta Morris Lake
7 Azure Lake
5 Center Lake
5-1/2 Crystal Lake
5-3/4 Crater Lake
6 Cup Lake
4-3/4 Cathedral Lake
5-1/2 Echo Lake
2 Fallen Leaf Lake
5-1/4 Floating Island Lake
4-1/4 Forest Lake
6 Fontinalis Lake
1-1/4 Glen Alpine Falls
1-1/4 Grass Lake
4-3/4 Grouse Lake
3-1/2 Glmore Lake
3-1/4 Heather Lake
3-1/4 Half Moon Lake
5 Kalmia Lake
1 Lily Lake
2-1/4 Lucile Lake
3-3/4 LeConte Lake
2-1/2 Margery Lake
1/4 Modjeska Falls
3-1/2 Observation Point
4-1/4 Olney Lake
4-1/4 Pit Lake
6 Pyramid Lake
4-3/4 Rainbow Lake
2-3/4 Susie Lake
3-1/2 Susie Lake Falls
2-3/4 Summit Lake
6 Snow Lake
[Illustration: Cluster of Tents, Glen Alpine Springs]
[Illustration: Glen Alpine Falls, Near Glen Alpine Springs]
[Illustration: In the 'Good Old Days'. Glen Alpine Stage approaching
Office at Glen Alpine Springs]
_Miles_
4-1/4 Tamarack Lake
6 Tallac Lake
7 Tahoe Lake
6-1/2 Velma Lakes
3-1/4 Woods, Lake of the
3-1/2 Angora Peak
5-1/4 Dicks Peak
5-1/2 Jacks Peak
2-1/2 Keiths Dome
7 Pyramid Peak
6-1/2 Ralston Peak
3-3/4 Richardsons Peak
5 Upper Truckee River
4-3/4 Mt. Tallac
7 Mt. Agassiz
3 Cracked Crag
As the proprietors of Glen Alpine ask: "Where else outside of
Switzerland is there a like region of lakes (forty-odd) and world of
Sierran grandeur, such air with the tonic of altitude, mineral-spring
water, trout-fishing, and camaraderie of kindred spirits!"
While the foregoing list gives a comprehensive suggestion of the wide
reach of Glen Alpine's territory there are several especial peaks and
lakes that are peculiarly its own. These are Pyramid, Agassiz, Dicks,
Jacks, Richardsons, Ralston, and the Angora Peaks, Mount Tallac,
Mosquito Pass, and Lakes Olney, LeConte, Heather, Susie, Grass,
Lucile, Margery, and Summit with Lake of the Woods and others in
Desolation Valley, Gilmore, Half Moon, Alta, Morris, Lily, Tamarack,
Rainbow, Grouse, and the Upper and Lower Echo. Desolation Valley and
all its surroundings is also within close reach. This is some four
miles westward of Glen Alpine Springs, and is reached by way of easy
mountain trails under sweet-scented pines and gnarled old junipers;
besides singing streams; across crystal lakes, through a cliff-guarded
glade where snowbanks linger until midsummer, ever renewing the
carpet of green, decking it with heather and myriad exquisite mountain
blossoms. On, over a granite embankment, and lo! your feet are stayed
and your heart is stilled as your eyes behold marvelous Desolation
Valley. Greeting you on its southern boundary stands majestic Pyramid
Peak, with its eternal snows. Lofty companions circling to your very
feet make the walls forming the granite cradle of Olney, the Lake of
Mazes. The waters are blue as the skies above them, and pure as the
melting snows from Pyramid which form them. He who has not looked
upon this, the most remarkable of all the wonder pictures in the Tahoe
region, has missed that for which there is no substitute.
The whole Glen Alpine basin,--which practically extends from the
Tallac range on the north, from Heather Lake Pass (the outlet from
Desolation Valley) and Cracked Crag on the west and southwest, Ralston
Peak and range to the south and the Angora Peaks on the east,--is one
mass of glacial scoriations. Within a few stone-throws of the spring,
on a little-used trail to Grass Lake, there are several beautiful
and interesting markings. One of these is a finely defined curve or
groove, extending for 100 feet or more, above which, about 11/2 feet, is
another groove, some two to four feet wide. These run rudely parallel
for some distance, then unite and continue as one. Coming back to the
trail--a hundred or so feet away,--on the left hand side returning to
the spring, is a gigantic sloping granite block, perfectly polished
with glacial action, and black as though its surface had been coated
in the process. Near here the trail _ducks_ or markers are placed
in a deep grooving or trough three or four feet wide, and of equal
depth, while to the right are two other similar troughs working their
winding and tortuous way into the valley beneath.
In Chapter VIII an idea is given of the movements of the great
glaciers that formed Desolation Valley and all the nearby lakes,
as well as Glen Alpine basin. These gigantic ice-sheets, with their
firmly-wedged carving blocks of granite, moved over the Heather Lake
Pass, gouging out that lake, and Susie Lake, in its onward march, and
then, added to by glacial flows from Cracked Crag, the southern slopes
of the Tallac range, and the Angora Peaks, it passed on and down,
shaping this interestingly rugged, wild and picturesque basin as we
find it to-day. How many centuries of cutting and gouging, beveling
and grooving were required to accomplish this, who can tell? Never
resting, never halting, ever moving, irresistibly cutting, carving,
grinding and demolishing, it carried away its millions of millions
of tons of rocky debris in bowlders, pebbles, sand and mud, and thus
helped make the gigantic moraines of Fallen Leaf Lake. The ice-flow
itself passed along over where the terminal moraine now stands,
cutting out Fallen Leaf Lake basin in its movement, and finally rested
in the vast bowl of Lake Tahoe.
To the careful student every foot of Glen Alpine basin is worthy of
study, and he who desires to further the cause of science will do
well to make a map of his observations, recording the direction,
appearance, depth, length and width of all the glacial markings he
discovers. On the U.S. Government maps the stream flowing through Glen
Alpine basin is marked as Eau Claire Creek. To the proprietors of Glen
Alpine, and the visitors, the French name is absurd and out of place.
No Frenchman has ever resided here, and if it was desired to call
it Clear Water Creek, why not use good, understandable, common-sense
English. At the request of those most intimately concerned, therefore,
the name has been changed on the map that accompanies this volume,
to Glen Alpine Creek, a name that "belongs" and to which no one can
possibly have any objection.
CHAPTER XXIV
FALLEN LEAF LAKE AND ITS RESORTS
Fallen Leaf Lake is a noble body of water, three and a half miles
long and about one mile across. Why it is called Fallen Leaf is fully
explained in the chapter on Indian Legends. Some people have thought
it was named from its shape, but this cannot be, for, from the summit
of Mt. Tallac, every one instantly notices its resemblance to the
imprint of a human foot. It is shaped more like a cork-sole, as if cut
out of the solid rock, filled up with a rich indigo-blue fluid, and
then made extra beautiful and secluded with a rich tree and plant
growth on every slope that surrounds it.
The color of the water is as richly blue as is Tahoe itself, and there
is the same suggestion of an emerald ring around it, as in the larger
Lake, though this ring is neither so wide nor so highly colored.
In elevation it is some 80 feet above Lake Tahoe, thus giving it an
altitude of 6300 feet.
At the upper end, near Fallen Leaf Lodge, under the cliffs it has a
depth of over 380 feet, but it becomes much shallower at the northern
or lower end near the outlet. Its surroundings are majestic and
enthralling as well as picturesque and alluring. On the west Mt.
Tallac towers its nearly 10,000 feet into the sea of the upper air,
flanked on the south by the lesser noble and majestic Cathedral Peak.
In the earlier part of the season when these are covered with snow,
the pure white materially enhances the splendor of both mountain and
lake by enriching their varied colorings with the marked contrast.
[Illustration: Glen Alpine Falls]
[Illustration: Glimpse of Grass Lake, looking across and up
Glen Alpine Canyon]
[Illustration: The Triumphant Angler, Lake Tahoe]
To the southwest rise the Angora Peaks, and these likewise catch,
and hold the winter's snow, often, like Mt. Tallac, retaining beds of
_neve_ from year to year.
To the geological student, especially one interested in glacial
phenomena, the lateral and terminal moraines of Fallen Leaf Lake are
of marked and unusual interest. The moraine on the east is upwards of
1000 feet high, and is a majestic ridge, clothed from the lake shore
to its summit with a rich growth of pines, firs and hemlocks. Its
great height and bulk will suggest to the thoughtful reader the
questions as to how it was formed, and whence came all the material
of its manufacture. It extends nearly the whole length of the
lake, diminishing somewhat in size at the northern end. There is a
corresponding moraine on the western side not less compelling in its
interest though scarcely as large in size as its eastern counterpart.
The terminal moraine, which is the one that closed up the lake,
separating and raising it above the level of Lake Tahoe, is a less
noble mound, yet geologically it allures the mind and demands study as
much as the others. In Chapter VIII, Dr. Joseph LeConte's theories are
given in full explaining the various glacial phenomena connected with
this lake.
The fish of Fallen Leaf are practically the same as those of Tahoe,
though rod and fly fishing is more indulged in here.
Boating, canoeing and the use of the motor boat are daily recreations,
and swimming is regularly indulged in during the summer season.
FALLEN LEAF LODGE
The distinguishing characteristics of this resort are simplicity,
home-likeness, unostentation. It makes its appeal especially to the
thoughtful and the studious, the not luxuriously rich, those who love
Nature rather than the elegance of a first-class hotel, and who desire
to climb trails, study trees, hunt, fish, and generally recreate
out-of-doors rather than dress and fare sumptuously.
It is situated on the southwestern edge of Fallen Leaf Lake, five
miles from Tallac, reached by a road that winds through the trees of
the Baldwin estate, and then skirts the eastern and southern shores
of the Lake. Stages--horse and automobile--run daily during the season
and meet all the steamers at Tallac.
The "Lodge" consists of a number of detached buildings, conveniently
and picturesquely scattered among the pines on the slopes and at the
edge of the lake. There are dining hall, social hall, post office,
store, electric power-house, boat-house, with stables far enough away
to be sanitary, and cottages and tents located in every suitable nook
that can be found. There are one, two or three-roomed cottages, tents,
single and double, all in genuine camp style. There is no elegance
or luxury, though most of the cottages have modern toilets, porcelain
bath-tubs with running hot and cold water. Electric lights are
everywhere.
The camp has been in existence now (1915) for seven years and each
year has seen considerable enlargement and improvement, until now
Fallen Leaf Lodge in the heart of the summer season is an active,
busy, happy and home-like community.
The table is wholesome, substantial and appetizing. There is no
pretense at elaborateness. Home-cooking, well served, of simple and
healthful dishes, in reasonable variety, is all that is offered.
Needless to say there is no bar or saloon, though there is no attempt
to compel a personal standpoint on the liquor question upon those who
are accustomed to the use of alcoholic liquors at meals.
In its natural beauties and advantages Fallen Leaf Lodge claims--and
with strong justification--one of the very best of locations. Fallen
Leaf Lake is large enough to give scope to all the motor-boats,
row-boats, canoes and launches that are likely to be brought to it for
the next hundred years, and ten thousand fishermen could successfully
angle upon its bosom or along its shores. For millions of Tahoe trout,
rainbow, Eastern brook, Loch Levin, Mackinac and German brown have
been put into this and nearby lakes in the last few years. While
some jerk-line fishing is indulged in, this lake, unlike Lake Tahoe,
affords constant recreation for the more sportsmanlike fly-fishing.
Another of the special advantages of Fallen Leaf Lodge is its
possession of a fine log-house and camp on the shore of Lake of the
Woods, five miles away, in Desolation Valley. To those who wish to
fish in greater solitude, to climb the peaks of the Crystal Range, or
boat over the many and various lakes of Desolation Valley this is a
great convenience.
Nothing can surpass the calm grandeur of the setting of this glorious
beautiful water. Lying at the lower edge of Desolation Valley and
facing stupendous mountains, the picture it presents, with Pyramid
Peak reflected in its gorgeously lit-up sunset waters, is one that
will forever linger in the memory.
The close proximity of Fallen Leaf Lodge to Mt. Tallac, Cathedral
Peak, the Angora Peaks, Mounts Jack, Dick, and Richardson, Ralston
Peak, Keith's Dome, Maggie's Peaks, Tell's Peak, with the towering
peaks of the Crystal Range--Pyramid and Agassiz--to the west, and
Freel's, Job's and Job's Sister to the southeast, afford an abundance
and variety of mountain-climbing that are seldom found in any region,
however favored.
But in addition to the peaks there are Sierran lakes galore, rich
in unusual beauty and picturesqueness, and most of them stocked with
trout that compel the exertion of the angler's skill, as much as
tickle the palate of the uncorrupted epicure. Close by are Cascade,
Cathedral, Floating Island, Echo, Heather, Lucile, Margery, Gilmore,
Le Conte, Lily, Susie, Tamarack, Grouse, Lake of the Woods, Avalanche,
Pit, Crystal, Pyramid, Half Moon, with the marvelous and alluring maze
of lakes, bays, straits, channels, inlets and "blind alleys" of the
Lake Olney of the ever-fascinating Desolation Valley. And those I
have named are all within comparatively easy walking distance to the
ordinarily healthful and vigorous man or woman. For those who seek
more strenuous exercise, or desire horse-back or camping-out trips
another twenty, aye fifty lakes, within a radius of fifty miles may
be found, with their connecting creeks, streams and rivers where gamey
trout abound, and where flowers, shrubs and trees in never-ceasing
variety and charm tempt the botanist and nature-lover.
While to some it may not be an attraction, to others there may be both
pleasure and interest in witnessing the operations of the Fallen Leaf
sawmill. This is situated on the western side of the lake, and is
a scene of activity and bustle when logging and lumbering are in
progress. On the hills about the lake the "fellers" may be found,
chopping their way into the hearts of the forest monarchs of pine,
fir and cedar, and then inserting the saw, whose biting teeth soon
cut from rim to rim and cause the crashing downfall of trees that have
stood for centuries. Denuded of their limbs these are then sawn into
appropriate lengths, "snaked" by chains pulled by powerful horses to
the "chute", down which they are shot into the lake, from whence they
are easily towed to the mill. The chute consists of felled logs,
laid side by side, evenly and regularly, so as to form a continuous
trough. This is greased, so that when the heavy logs are placed therein
they slide of their own weight, where there is a declivity, and are
easily dragged or propelled on the level ground.
[Illustration: Boating on Fallen Leaf Lake]
[Illustration: Fallen Leaf Lodge Among the Pines, on Fallen Leaf Lake]
[Illustration: Camp Agassiz Boys setting out for a Trip, Lake Tahoe,
Cal. Copyright 1910, by Harold A. Parker.]
[Illustration: Tahoe Meadows, With Mt. Tallac in the Distance]
I use the word propelled to suggest the interesting method used in
these chutes. Sometimes ten or a dozen logs will be placed, following
each other, a few feet apart, on the trough (the chute). A chain is
fastened to the rear end of the hindermost log. This chain is attached
to a single-tree fastened to a horse's harness. The horse is started.
This makes the hinder log strike the next one, this bumps into the
third and gives it a start, in its turn it bumps the fourth, the
fourth the fifth, and so on, until the whole dozen are in motion. Had
the string of logs been fastened together, the horse would have found
it impossible to move them, but "propelling" them in this fashion they
are all set in motion, and their inertia once overcome there is no
difficulty experienced in keeping them going.
The views from Fallen Leaf Lodge are varied and beautiful, one in
particular being especially enchanting. Over the Terminal moraine,
across the hidden face of Lake Tahoe, the eye falls upon the mountains
in Nevada, on the far-away eastern side. In the soft light of evening
they look like fairy mountains, not real rocky masses of gigantic,
rugged substance, but something painted upon the horizon with delicate
fingers, and in tints and shades to correspond, for they look tenderer
and sweeter, gentler and lovelier than anything man could conceive or
execute.
The owner of Fallen Leaf Lodge is Professor William W. Price, a
graduate of Stanford University, who first came into this region
to study and catch special Sierran birds and other fauna for the
Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and
the British Museum. Later, when he founded the Agassiz school for
boys, at Auburn, California, he established Camp Agassiz near Fallen
Leaf Lake, in a grove of pines, firs, and cedars. Assisted by other
university men he made of this an ideal open-air school and camp
for boys. They were taught such practical things as to take care
of themselves in the mountains, find a trail, or go to a given spot
without a trail, fish, hunt, make camp, build fires in a rain-storm,
find proper shelter during a lightning-storm, carry a pack, pack a
mule or burro, even to the throwing of the "diamond hitch," the
"squaw hitch," and the "square" or other packer's especial "knots" and
"ties". They were induced to climb mountains, row, swim, "ski", and
snow-slide, and all were taught to recognize at sight the common
birds, smaller wild animals, trees, and flowers. Frequent camping-out
trips were arranged for, and the youngsters thus gained health, vigor
and permanent strength while doing what they all enjoyed doing.
In due time the parents wished to share the fun, joy, and out-of-door
experiences of their youngsters; then the friends, and those who heard
about them, and out of the numerous requests for accommodations Fallen
Leaf Lodge was born. For a time Mr. Price tried an ordinary hotel
manager, but the peculiar and individualistic needs of his peculiar
and individualistic camp at length led Mrs. Price and himself to take
the complete control. From that time its success has been continuous.
Mr. Price is a scientific expert upon the flora (especially the
trees), the birds and the four-footed fauna of the whole region, and
his readiness and willingness to communicate his knowledge to his
guests is a great advantage to the studious and inquiring.
Owing to the demands made upon his time by the management of Fallen
Leaf Lodge Mr. Price has transferred his school into other hands, and
has given up the Boys' Camp, though the lads are still welcome, with
their parents, as regular guests at the Lodge.
It should be noted that Fallen Leaf Lodge is but two miles from Glen
Alpine Springs and that all that is said of the close proximity of the
most interesting features of the southern end of the Lake Tahoe region
to Glen Alpine, applies with equal force (plus the two miles) to
Fallen Leaf Lodge.
CATHEDRAL PARK ON FALLEN LEAF LAKE
One of the newest of the Tahoe region resorts is that of Cathedral
Park, located on the western side of Fallen Leaf Lake. It was opened
in the latter part of the season of 1912 by Carl Fluegge. Everything
about it is new, from the flooring of the tents to the fine
dining-room, cottages and stables. A special road has been constructed
on the west side of the lake, over which Cathedral Park stages run
daily the three and a half miles, to meet every steamer during the
season at Tallac.
Rising directly from the edge of the lake, surrounded by majestic
trees, protected by the gigantic height of Mt. Tallac (9785 feet)
from the western winds, a clear open view of Fallen Leaf Lake and the
thousand-feet high lateral moraine on the eastern side is obtained;
there could be no better location for such a resort.
The distinctive features of Cathedral Park are simplicity and
home-comforts, with special advantages for hunting, fishing and
camping out. For ten years Mr. Fluegge has taken out some of the most
distinguished patrons of the Tahoe region in his capacity as expert
guide and huntsman. He knows every trail thoroughly and has scaled
every mountain of the surrounding country. He knows the habits and
haunts of bear, deer, and other game, and is a successful hunter of
them, as well as of grouse and quail. His office and social-hall bear
practical evidence of his prowess and skill in the mounted heads of
deer, and the dressed skins of bear that he has shot. He is also an
expert angler, and well acquainted with the best fishing in Granite,
Eagle, the Rock-Bound, Gilmore and other lakes, as well as those
closer at hand. There are twelve such lakes within easy reach of
Cathedral Park. Fishing and hunting are his hobbies and delights,
hence he makes a thoroughly competent, because interested, and
interesting guide. Nothing pleases him more than to get out with his
guests and assist them in their angling and hunting. To aid in this he
has established his own permanent camp at the beautiful Angora Lakes,
four miles from Cathedral Park, which is placed freely at the disposal
of his guests.
Especial arrangements are made for the perfect and satisfactory
accommodation of guests who desire to sleep out of doors. Tents,
sleeping porches and platforms are arranged with a view to the
strictest privacy, and those who desire this healthful open-air mode
of life can nowhere be better accommodated than here. As Mark Twain
has said, it is the "open air" sleeping in the Lake Tahoe region that
is so beneficial. Again to quote him: "The air up there in the clouds
is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it
be?--it is the same the angels breathe. I think that hardly any amount
of fatigue can be gathered together that a man cannot sleep off in
one night here. _Not under a roof, but under the sky_." Therefore
Cathedral Park says to those who wish to breathe the same air as the
angels while they are yet on the earth: Come to us and we will meet
your reasonable wishes in every possible way.
[Illustration: Picturesque Palo Alto Lodge, at Lakeside Park, Lake
Tahoe]
[Illustration: The Long Wharf at Lakeside Park, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Automobile Road Around Cave Rock, Lake Tahoe]
The presence of Mrs. Fluegge, who is associated with her husband
in the management, guarantees to ladies, whether unaccompanied, or
with their families, the best of care, and the former are especially
invited to come and test the homelike qualities of the place.
The water supply of Cathedral Park is gained from its own springs, on
the mountain side above the resort. It is piped down to every tent or
cottage and the supply is superabundant. Fish are caught almost daily
on the landing in front of the hotel. Fallen Leaf is an ideal spot for
rowing, canoeing, and launch rides, and the hotel owns its own launch
in which parties are regularly taken around the lake. During the
summer season bathing is as delightful here as in any of the seaside
resorts of the Atlantic and Pacific, and almost every one takes a
plunge daily.
A camp-fire is built every night, where singing, storytelling, and
open air amusements of an impromptu nature are indulged in to one's
heart's content, though visitors are all expected to remember the
rights of others and not keep too late hours.
Informal dances are indulged in occasionally and everything is done to
promote the comfort, pleasure and enjoyment of the guests that earnest
desire, constant watchfulness and long experience can suggest.
The table is simple and homelike, but abundant, well-served and
satisfactory. This department is entirely under the control of Mrs.
Fluegge, who never employs any other than white help in the kitchen.
Fresh fruit and vegetables, lake trout and game in season, fresh milk
and cream, with everything of the best that the markets afford, are
none too good for the guests at Cathedral Park.
Unlike most of the Lake Tahoe resorts, it keeps open throughout the
whole year, and is managed with but one idea, viz., to give absolute
and complete satisfaction to all its guests.
Its rates are reasonable, and especial prices are given to children
under ten years of age and to families who wish to stay for any length
of time.
The short trail to Mount Tallac rises directly from Cathedral Park,
and all that has been said of the close proximity of Glen Alpine and
Fallen Leaf Lodge to the most interesting peaks, lakes, etc., of the
Tahoe region applies with equal force to Cathedral Park, plus the
short additional distance, which is something less than a mile.
Mr. Fluegge will be glad to correspond with those contemplating a
visit to Cathedral Park, especially should they desire his services
for hunting, fishing, or camping-out trips of a few days or a month's
duration. The address is Cathedral Park, Tallac P.O., Lake Tahoe,
California.
CHAPTER XXV
LAKESIDE PARK
Situated on the shore of Lake Tahoe and at the same time on the
great Lincoln Highway stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific,--a
division of the State Automobile Highway reaching from Sacramento,
California, to Carson City, Nevada, via Placerville, Lakeside Park is
readily reached by travelers from every direction, whether they
come by steamer, buggy, or automobile. The Lakeside Park hotel was
established in 1892 and has an enviable reputation. It consists of
hotel, with adjacent cottages and tents, comfortably furnished and
equipped with every healthful necessity. Here surrounded by beautiful
trees, that sing sweet songs to the touch of the winds, drinking in
health and vigor from their balsamic odors, enjoying the invigorating
sunshine and the purifying breezes coming from mountain, forest
and Lake, swimming in the Lake, rowing, canoeing, climbing mountain
trails, exploring rocky and wooded canyons, fishing, hunting,
botanizing, studying geology in one of the most wonderful volumes
Nature has ever written, sleeping out-of-doors under the trees and the
glowing stars after being lulled to rest by the soothing lappings
of the gentle waves upon the beach--who can conceive a more ideal
vacation-time than this.
Unlike many parts of Lake Tahoe, Lakeside Park possesses a fine
stretch of beautiful, clean, sandy beach. There are no rocks, deep
holes, tide or undertow. Children can wade, bathe or swim in perfect
safety as the shore gradually slopes into deeper water.
The whole settlement is abundantly supplied with purest spring water
which is piped down from its source high on the mountain slopes to the
south. The hotel is fully equipped with hot and cold water for baths
and all other needed purposes, and there is a good store, well stocked
livery stable, row-boats, steam laundry and home dairy.
The store carries a very complete line of provisions and supplies,
fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy-produce, ice, hay, grain,
lumber, shingles, stove-wood, paints, gasoline--in fact, everything
that is likely to be in demand in such a community. Camp-fire wood is
abundant and free to patrons. This is particularly advantageous for
those who wish to tent and "board themselves." Housekeeping tents
are provided, on platforms in the grove, at reasonable rates, and the
hotel owns its pasture in which the horses of patrons are cared for
free of charge.
The location of Lakeside Park in relation to Lake Tahoe is peculiarly
advantageous in that it affords daily opportunity for driving,
horseback-riding or walking directly along the shore for miles. Indeed
the twelve mile drive to Glenbrook is one of the noted drives of
the world, taking in the celebrated Cave Rock, and giving the widest
possible outlooks of the whole expanse of the Lake.
Patrons of the hotel or camps are assured that there are no
rattlesnakes, fleas, malaria, fogs, or poison oak. The character
and tone of the place will also be recognized when it is known
that saloons and gambling resorts are absolutely prohibited in the
residential tract.
The most majestic of all the mountains of Lake Tahoe are closely
adjacent to Lakeside Park. Mt. Sinclair, 9500 feet, rises immediately
from the eastern boundary, whilst Monument Peak, Mounts Freel, Job,
and Job's Sister, ranging from 10,000 to 11,200 feet above sea level
are close by. Such near proximity to these mountains gives unequalled
opportunities for tramping, riding and driving through and over
marvelous diversity of hill, valley, woodland, canyon and mountain.
Scores of miles of mountain trails remain to be thoroughly explored
and to the hunter these highest mountains are the most alluring spots
of the whole Tahoe Region.
Yet while these mountains are close by Lakeside Park is near enough
to Fallen Leaf Lake, Glen Alpine Springs and Desolation Valley to give
fullest opportunity for trips to these noted spots and their adjacent
attractions.
In addition it allows ready incursions into Nevada, where the
prehistoric footprints at Carson City, the marvelous Steamboat
Springs, and the world-famed mines and Sutro Tunnel of Virginia City
have been a lure for many thousands during the past decades. It is
also near to Hope Valley and the peak on which Fremont climbed when,
in 1844, he discovered and first described Lake Tahoe, and is the
natural stopping-place for those who wish to go over the road the
Pathfinder made, accompanied by Kit Carson, his guide and scout, whose
name is retained in Carson City, Carson Tree, Carson Valley and Carson
Canyon, all of which are within a day's easy ride.
PRIVATE RESIDENCES AT LAKESIDE PARK
To meet the ever-increasing demand for lots on which to build summer
homes on Lake Tahoe the Lakeside Park Company has set aside a limited
and desirable portion of its large property on the southeasterly shore
of Lake Tahoe for cottages and log cabins, bungalows and lodges,
or acre tracts for chalets and villas. Already quite a number have
availed themselves of this privilege and a colony of beautiful homes
is being established. Mr. and Mrs. Hill, with a keen eye for the
appropriate, and at the same time wishful to show how a most perfect
bungalow can be constructed at a remarkably low price, have planned
and erected several most attractive "specimens" or "models," at prices
ranging from $450 to $1000 and over. The fact that the tract is so
located in an _actual_, not merely a nominal, wooded park, where
pines, firs, tamaracks and other Sierran trees abound, allow the
proprietors to offer fine logs for cabins and rustic-work in almost
unlimited quantities, and in the granite-ribbed mountains close by is
a quarry from which rock for foundations, chimneys and open fireplaces
may be taken without stint. These are great advantages not to be
ignored by those who desire to build, and those who are first on the
scene naturally will be accorded the first choice both of lots and
material.
There is but one Lake Tahoe in America, and as the men of California
and Nevada cities find more time for leisure it will not be many years
before every available spot will be purchased and summer residences
abound, just as is the case in the noted eastern lakes, or those near
to such cities as Minneapolis, etc., in the middle west.
In setting aside this residential section at Lakeside Park the owners
have planned with far-sighted and generous liberality. The Lake
frontage is reserved for general use of the hotel guests and cottage
community, so there will be no conflict regarding privileges of
boating, bathing, fishing, and "rest cure" on the beach. Another wise
provision is that a generous portion of the amounts received from
early sales of lots is being devoted to general improvements that are
for mutual benefit; such as the extension of roads, paths, trails
and water-pipes, a substantial breakwater for better protection of
launches and boats, larger dancing-pavilion or platform, automobile
garage, more dressing rooms for bathers, etc.
CHAPTER XXVI
GLENBROOK AND MARLETTE LAKE
In Chapter XVI the history of Glenbrook is given in some detail. It is
now, however, converted into a pleasure resort especially popular
with residents of Nevada, and largely used by automobiles crossing the
Sierras and passing around Lake Tahoe.
The Inn, and its veranda overlooking the Lake, is built with an eye
to comfort and convenience. Every need for pleasure and recreation is
arranged for. For those who enjoy privacy, cozy cottages are provided,
around which beautiful wild flowers grow in wonderful profusion. The
guests here are especially favored in that the Inn has its own ranch,
dairy, poultry farm, fruit orchard and vegetable garden. The table,
therefore, is abundantly provided, and everything is of known quality
and brought in fresh daily.
Glenbrook Inn makes no pretense to be a fashionable resort. It
especially invites those individuals and families who wish to be free
from the exhausting "frivolities of fashion," to come and enjoy to the
full Nature's simple charms, regardless of the city's conventions as
to dress and fashion. Rest and recreation, amusement and recuperation
are the key-notes. Simplicity of life, abundance of sleep, sufficiency
of good food, tastefully served, the chief hours of the day spent
in the open air, fishing, boating, swimming, trail-climbing,
horseback-riding, driving or automobiling,--these bring health,
renewed energy and the joy of life.
The specific pleasures provided at Glenbrook are varied. It is
confessedly the best place for fishing on the Lake. During the season
the fishermen from all the resorts at the south end of the Lake bring
their patrons over in this direction. The Inn has its own fleet of
gasoline launches and row boats, with experienced men to handle them,
and it supplies fishing-tackle free, but those who wish to use the rod
must bring that with them. As is explained in the chapter on fishing
the trout of Lake Tahoe are taken both by rod and "jerk-line"
trolling. Near Glenbrook, however, the rod can be used to greater
advantage than anywhere else, and catches of from one-half to thirty
pounds are of daily occurrence.
While promiscuous fishing is not allowed now in the famous Marlette
Lake, eight miles away, the patrons of Glenbrook Inn can always secure
permits, without any vexatious inquiries or delays, and there an
abundance of gamey trout of various species are caught.
The bathing facilities here are exceptionally good. There is a long
stretch of sandy beach, which extends far out into the water, thus
ensuring both warmth and safety to children as well as adults.
In mountain and trail climbing Glenbrook has a field all its own. The
ride or drive to Marlette Lake is a beautiful one, and the climb to
Marlette Peak not arduous. The chief mountain peaks easily reached
from Glenbrook are Dubliss, Edith, and Genoa Peaks, which not only
afford the same wonderful and entrancing views of Lake Tahoe that
one gains from Freel's, Mt. Tallac, Ellis and Watson's Peaks, but in
addition lay before the entranced vision the wonderful Carson Valley,
with Mt. Davidson and other historic peaks on the eastern horizon.
The drive along the shore by the famous Cave Rock to Lakeside Park
or Tallac is one that can be enjoyed daily, and for those who like
driving through and over tree-clad hills, surrounded by majestic
mountains, the drive over the Carson road is enchanting.
[Illustration: Glennbrook Inn, on Nevada side Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Sunset at Glenbrook, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: by Harold A. Parker. Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Cottage overlooking Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe]
It is at Glenbrook that the famous Shakspeare head is to be seen
graphically described by John Vance Cheney, and quoted elsewhere
(Chap. XVI).
TO MARLETTE LAKE FROM GLENBROOK
Marlette Lake and Peak are two of the attractive features to visitors
at Glenbrook Inn. The trip can be made in a little over two hours, and
as on the return it is down hill nearly all the way, the return trip
takes a little less.
Leaving Glenbrook on the excellently kept macadamized road over
which Hank Monk used to drive stage from Carson City, the eyes of the
traveler are constantly observing new and charming features in the
mountain landscape. The Lake with its peculiar attractions is left
entirely behind, with not another glimpse of it until we stand on the
flume at Lake Marlette. Hence it is a complete change of scenery, for
now we are looking ahead to tree-clad summits where eagles soar and
the sky shines blue.
About two and a half miles out we come to Spooner's, once an active,
bustling, roadside hotel, where in the lumbering and mining days teams
lined the road four, six and eight deep. Now, nothing but a ramshackle
old building remains to tell of its former greatness. Here we made a
sharp turn to the left, leaving the main road and taking the special
Marlette Lake road. We cross the grade of the abandoned railway--the
rails, engines and equipment of which are now operating between
Truckee and Tahoe--see in the distance the tunnel through which the
trains used to take the lumber, and notice on the hill-sides the lines
of the old flumes which used to convey the water to the reservoir on
the other side of the tunnel, or bring water and lumber ready to be
sent on the further journey down to Carson City.
My driver was in a reflective mood, and as he pointed these things
out to me, made some sage and pertinent remarks about the peculiar
features of some industries which required large expenditures to
operate, all of which were useless in a comparatively short time.
Mainly uphill the road continues through groves of cottonwood, by
logged-over mountain slopes and sheep-inhabited meadows until the
divide is reached. Here a very rapid down hill speedily brings us to
the south edge of Marlette Lake. Skirting the southern end we follow
the road to the caretaker's house, tie our horses, and walk down to
the dam, and then on the flume or by its side to a point overlooking
Lake Tahoe, from which a marvelously expansive view is to be obtained.
We return now to Marlette and while drinking a cup of coffee prepared
for us by the hospitable caretaker, glean the following facts in
regard to the history and uses of Marlette Lake.
Marlette is an artificial lake, fifteen hundred feet above the level
of Lake Tahoe, and about three miles from its easterly shore. Its
waters are conveyed by tunnel, flume, etc., over the mountains, the
Washoe Valley and up the mountain again to Virginia City. Originally
the only supply of water available for Virginia City was from a few
springs and mining tunnels. This supply soon became insufficient and
many tunnels were run into hills both north and south from Virginia
for the express purpose of tapping water. These soon failed and it
became necessary to look for a permanent supply to the main range
of the Sierra Nevada twenty-five or more miles away. Accordingly
the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company called upon Mr. Hermann
Schussler, the engineer under whose supervision the Spring Valley
Water Works of San Francisco were constructed. After a careful survey
of the ground he found water at Hobart Creek, in the mountains on the
east side of Lake Tahoe, and in the spring of 1872, received orders to
go ahead and install a water system. He ordered pipe made to fit every
portion of the route. It had to pass across the deep depression of
Washoe Valley with water at a perpendicular pressure of 1720 feet,
equivalent to 800 pounds to the square inch.
The first operations were so successful that as needs grew the supply
flume was extended eight and a half miles to Marlette Lake, thus
making the total distance to Virginia City thirty-one and a half
miles. This Lake was named after S.H. Marlette, formerly Surveyor
General of Nevada, who was associated with W.S. Hobart, of San
Francisco, the owner of the land and one of the original projectors of
the Water Company. The site was a natural basin, the dam of which had
been broken down or eroded centuries ago. A dam was built in 1875, and
later raised eleven feet higher so as to afford more storage capacity.
The area of the lake is now about 600 acres (before the heightening
of the dam it was 300 acres), and its storage capacity is about two
billion gallons.
When the supply was enlarged a second pipe was laid alongside the
first with an equal capacity, each being able to convey 2,200,000
gallons every twenty-four hours. A third pipe was installed later. The
second and third pipes were laid by the late Captain J.B. Overton, who
was Superintendent of the Company for over thirty-two years. Captain
Overton also extended the flume lines, constructed the tunnel through
the mountain ridge, built the Marlette Lake dam and made many other
improvements and extensions.
On leaving Marlette Lake through an opening at the lower portion
of the dam the water is conducted five miles in a covered flume and
thence through a tunnel four thousand feet long through the summit
of the dividing ridge or rim of the Tahoe basin to its easterly side.
From this point it is again conducted through covered flumes, together
with water from Hobart Creek and other streams, to the intake of
the pipes across Washoe Valley. These pipes are three in number, two
twelve inch and one ten inch. The difference in elevation between
the inlet and discharge from No. 1 and No. 2 pipes is 465 feet. The
difference in elevation between the inlet and discharge of No. 3 pipe
is 565 feet. The pipes are laid across Washoe Valley in the form of
inverted syphons. At the lowest point in the valley, the perpendicular
pressure is 1720 feet on No. 1 and No. 2 pipes and 1820 feet on No.
3 pipe. The pipe lines go up and down nine canyons in their course
across the Valley. Each line is something over seven miles in length.
The pressure gauges at Lake View, the point of heaviest pressure,
register 820 lbs. on No. 1 and No. 2 pipes when filled, and 910 lbs.
on No. 3 pipe when filled.
When this work was first contemplated many hydraulic engineers
condemned the project as impossible, as never before had water been
carried so far under such pressure. But the fact that the first pipes
laid by Engineer Schussler are still in active use demonstrates the
scientific and practical knowledge and skill with which he attacked
the problem.
It is an interesting fact to note that, prior to the building of the
dam, part of the water was used for "fluming" lumber and wood to
Lake View, and also for a short period of time after the dam was
constructed. But for the past twenty years this practice has been
discontinued, the water being solely for the supply of Virginia City.
The total cost of the work was about $3,500,000. The Company is now
under the immediate and personal supervision of James M. Leonard. The
flumes and pipe-lines have recently been rebuilt and repaired where
necessary so that the entire system is in excellent condition and a
high state of efficiency.
DUBLISS, EDITH AND GENOA PEAKS
The ride to these three peaks can easily be made in a day, and though
they are all in reasonably close proximity, there are differences
enough in their respective outlooks to make a visit to each of them
enjoyable and profitable. With a good saddle-horse from the Glenbrook
stables, a guide, and a lunch tied to the saddle, one may start out
confident that a most delightful scenic trip is before him. The first
hour's riding is over the rocky and tree-clad slopes, far wilder
and more rugged than one would imagine, rudely bordering the Lake
southwards. Then turning east, hills and vales, flowery meads and
dainty native nurseries of pines, firs and hemlocks enchant the eye.
Reaching the summit of any one of the peaks, a wide expanse of Lake is
offered, extending to the surrounding mountains north, south and west,
but on Genoa Peak an additional charm is found in the close proximity
of the Nevada Valley, and mountains to the eastward. The contrast
between the richly clad Sierras and the apparently unclothed, volcanic
Nevada mountains is remarkable.
CHAPTER XXVII
CARNELIAN BAY AND TAHOE COUNTRY CLUB
On making the circuit of the Lake the last stopping-place on the
trip starting south, or the first when starting north and east, is
Carnelian Bay. This is a new settlement rapidly coming into prominence
because of the number of cottages and bungalows erected by their
owners on their own lots. From early until late in the seasons of
1913 and 1914 the sounds of the saw and hammer were seldom still. The
result is the growth of quite a summer settlement. Easy of access,
either by train and steamer from Truckee, or by direct wagon or auto
road via Truckee or the new boulevard from the south end of the Lake,
Carnelian Bay attracts the real home-seeker. It has been the first
section to fully realize what John LeConte has so ably set forth in
another chapter on Tahoe as a Summer Residence. With the completion of
the state highway around Lake Tahoe and the projected automobile route
from Reno and Carson City, Carnelian Bay will be adjacent to the main
arteries of travel. The proposed link of the Lincoln Highway around
the north shore of the Lake will put Carnelian Bay directly on the
great international auto road.
The beauties of Lake Tahoe can hardly be magnified to the people of
the West. Those who have once viewed its wonders and its magnificence,
who have for a season breathed its invigorating and stimulating
atmosphere, who have caught the wily trout which abound in its waters,
who have sailed, or rowed, or motor-boated over its indigo-blue
surface, carry in memory pictures in comparison with which any
word-picture would be inadequate and incomplete.
Hence the projectors of Carnelian Bay struck a popular note when, out
of their 81-acre tract, they put on sale convenient-sized lots. Of
these 75 were purchased almost immediately, and by 1914 there were
over 45 homes, large and small, already erected. Every lot was sold to
a purchaser who expressed his definite intention of speedily erecting
a house, cottage or bungalow for his own use. Hence the community
is of a selected class into which one may come with confidence and
assurance of congenial associations.
While there is no hotel at present there are several cottages and
bungalows especially erected for rent to transient guests, and a
good store, together with its close proximity to Tahoe City and Tahoe
Tavern, render a summer vacation here one of comfort, pleasure and
perfect enjoyment.
PROJECTED TAHOE COUNTRY CLUB AT CARNELIAN
The increasing need exists among those who are familiar with the
beauties and advantages of Lake Tahoe as a summer residence resort for
accommodations for families or transients where the usual comforts
of home may be obtained at a cost not prohibitive to the family of
ordinary means. Last year no less than 80,000 persons visited Lake
Tahoe. It is safe to say that this number will increase annually,
particularly with added accommodations at the Lake and with better
facilities for automobile travel. The proximity of Lake Tahoe to the
coast cities and the cities of the Sierras and the Middle West makes
it at once attractive to the business man who desires to spend his
summer vacation where the family is located for the summer months.
The Tahoe Country Club is designed to meet the need. The incorporators
have taken over in fee simple a beautiful tract embracing about 1500
feet of the beach at Carnelian Bay, California, perhaps the most
attractive site on Lake Tahoe. It commands a view of the entire length
of the Lake, looking toward the south, and embracing a magnificent
panoramic view of the mountains beyond. This site contains
approximately nine acres, and includes a natural inland harbor, making
off from a protected bay. The beach is shallow, of clean sand, sloping
down from easy terraces beautified by shade trees and lawns.
The plan of organization of the Tahoe Country Club is cooperative. Its
benefits are to be shared by its members, their families, and such
of their friends as they may invite to be guests of the club. The
properties taken over by the incorporation, including the 1500 feet
of beach front, harbor, wharf, and a system of water works already
installed, together with the perpetual title to the water rights, is
conservatively appraised at $30,000. This is held in fee, free from
incumbrance.
The charter--or organizing--members of the club will be the investors
in the bonds issued and secured on the real estate taken over by
the incorporation. This bond issue, the redemption of which will be
guaranteed by first mortgage on the properties, will be for $20,000.
These will be in denominations of $100 each, bearing six per cent.
interest after two years from June 1, 1914, and will be redeemable, at
the option of the mortgagor, at any regular annual interest period on
or after five years from the date of issue. They will be payable in
fifteen years.
Each original bond purchaser becomes a charter life member of
the club, entitled, without the payment of annual dues or other
assessments, to the privileges and benefits offered. These, briefly,
aside from the natural advantages of location, scenery, etc., are
an assured congenial environment, known associations (not always a
possibility in a public summer hotel), the absence of every possible
unpleasant influence, opportunities for fishing, boating, tennis,
golf and other outdoor sports, and first-class accommodations at a
cost far below that charged at regular high-class summer hotels.
[Illustration: Proposed Family Club House, Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: Launch towing boats out to the fishing grounds,
Lake Tahoe]
[Illustration: An Early Morning Catch, Tahoe Trout, Lake Tahoe]
The proceeds of the bond issue are to be devoted to the erection of
the first unit of the club's buildings, consisting of the club house
proper, and probably six four-room cottages adjacent. Thus the
value of the real estate securing the bonds will at once be enhanced
virtually to the full extent of the investment made by the charter
members.
With the initial buildings assured and in process of erection, the
membership and patronage of the club will be augmented by extending
the privileges of the organization to non-investors, who will be
enrolled upon payment of a fixed membership charge. These associate
members, like the charter members, will enjoy the privileges offered
for themselves and their families and for such of their friends as
they may desire to recommend, and for whom limited-period guest-cards
are requested.
With a membership so broadly scattered as will be the membership of
this club, community control of its affairs would be impracticable,
if not impossible. It has been decided, therefore, to vest the
supervisory control of the club in a self-perpetuating advisory
board, composed of many of the most prominent citizens of Nevada and
California.
The plan proposed is a feasible and practicable one, and one that
ought to appeal to nature lovers who desire just such opportunities
as it will afford on Lake Tahoe. The president of the company and the
directing genius who has made Carnelian Bay possible is L.P. Delano,
of Reno, Nevada, to whom all requests for further particulars
regarding the Tahoe Country Club, or of Carnelian Bay should be
addressed.
CHAPTER XXVIII
FISHING IN THE LAKES OF THE TAHOE REGION
Fishing in Lake Tahoe, and the other lakes of the region is a pleasure
and a recreation as well as an art and a science. There are laymen,
tyros, neophytes, proficients and artists. The real fraternity has
passes, catchwords, grips and signals to which outsiders seek to
"catch on" in vain.
The chief native trout of Lake Tahoe is locally known as the
"cut-throat," because of a brilliant dash of red on either side of the
throat. The name, however, gives no hint of the exquisite beauty of
the markings of the fish, the skill required and excitement developed
in catching it, and the dainty deliciousness of its flesh when
properly cooked.
Owing to the wonderful adaptability of Lake Tahoe, and the lakes
and brooks of the surrounding region, to fish life, several other
well-known varieties have been introduced, all of which have thrived
abundantly and now afford opportunity for the skill of the fisherman
and delight the palate of the connoisseur. These are the Mackinac,
rainbow, eastern brook, and Loch Levin. There is also found a
beautiful and dainty silver trout, along the shore where the cold
waters of the various brooks or creeks flow into Lake Tahoe (and also
in some of the smaller lakes), that is much prized. Some fishermen
claim that it is the "prettiest, gamiest, sweetest and choicest" fish
of the Lake, and it has been caught weighing as high as twelve pounds.
Another fish, native to Lake Tahoe, is found in vast numbers by the
Indians in the fall. The ordinary summer visitor to Tahoe seldom sees
or hears of these, as they rarely bite until the summer season is
over, say in October. This is a white fish, varying in size from half
a pound to four pounds in weight, with finely flavored flesh. It is
found in shallow water and near the mouths of the creeks, and the
Indians have a way of "snagging" them in. Building a kind of half
platform and half stone screen over the pools where they abound, the
Indians take a long wire, the end of which they have sharpened and
bent to form a rude hook. Then, without bait, or any attempt at sport,
they lower the hook and as rapidly as the fish appear, "snag" them
out, literally by the hundreds. Most of these are salted down for
winter use. This is supposed to be a native, and the traditions of the
Indians confirm the supposition.
The largest native Tahoe trout caught, of which there is any authentic
record, was captured not far from Glenbrook and weighed 35 pounds,
and, strange to say, its capturer was an amateur. This, the boatmen
tell me, is generally the case--the amateurs almost invariably
bringing in the largest fish. Although there are rumors of fish having
been caught weighing as high as 45 pounds it is impossible to trace
these down to any accurate and reliable source, hence, until there is
positive assurance to the contrary it may be regarded that this catch
is the largest on record.
The common Tahoe method of "trolling" for trout is different from
the eastern method. It is the result of years of experience and is
practically as follows: A copper line, 100 to 200 feet long, which
sinks of its own weight, on which a large copper spoon is placed
above the hook, which is baited with a minnow and angle-worm, is used.
Thrown into the water the line is gently pulled forward by the angler,
then allowed to sink back. He takes care, however, always to keep it
taut. This makes the spoon revolve and attracts the fish. The moment
the angler feels a strike he gives his line a quick jerk and proceeds
to pull in, landing the fish with the net. The local term for this
method of fishing is "jerk-line."
The copper line used is generally a 6 oz. for 100 feet, and the length
is adjusted to the places in which the fisherman wishes to operate.
Let us, for a short time, watch the would-be angler. Women are
often far more eager than men. The hotels of Tahoe keep their own
fishing-boats. The larger ones have a fleet of twenty or more, and in
the season this is found insufficient for the number who wish to try
their hand and prove their luck. Often great rivalry exists not only
in securing the boatmen who have had extra good luck or displayed
extraordinary skill, but also between the guests as to the extent
of their various "catches." When a boatman has taken his "fare" into
regions that have proven successful, and does this with frequency, it
is natural that those who wish to run up a large score should try hard
to secure him. This adds to the fun--especially to the onlookers.
The boat is all ready; the angler takes his (or her) seat in the
cushioned stern, feet resting upon a double carpet--this is fishing
_de luxe_. The oarsman pushes off and quietly rows away from the
pier out into deep water, which, at Tahoe varies from 75 feet to the
unknown depths of 1500 feet or more. The color of the water suggests
even to the tyro the depth, and as soon as the "Tahoe blue" is reached
the boatman takes his large hand-reel, unfastens the hook, baits
it with minnow and worm and then hands it to the angler, with
instructions to allow it to unreel when thrown out on the port side at
the stern.
At the same time he prepares a second hook from a second reel which he
throws out at the starboard side. At the end of each copper line a few
yards of fish-cord are attached in which a loop is adjusted for the
fingers. This holds the line secure while the backward and forward
pulls are being made, and affords a good hold for the hook-impaling
"jerk" when a strike is felt. While the "angler" pulls on his line the
boatman slowly rows along, and holding his line on the fingers of his
"starboard" hand, he secures the proper motion as he rows.
Then, pulling over the ledges or ridges between shallow and deeper,
or deeper and deep water, he exercises all his skill and acquired
knowledge and experience to enable his "fare" to make a good catch.
As soon as a strike is felt and duly hooked he sees that the line is
drawn in steadily so as not to afford the fish a chance to rid itself
of the hook, and, as soon as it appears, he drops his oar, seizes the
net, and lands the catch to the great delight of his less-experienced
fare.
Many are the tales that a privileged listener may hear around the
fisherman's night-haunts, telling of the antics of their many and
various fares, when a strike has been made. Some become so excited
that they tangle up their lines, and one boatman assures me that, on
one occasion a lady was so "rattled" that she finally wrapped her line
in such a fashion around both elbows that she sat helpless and he had
to come to her rescue and release her.
On another occasion a pair of "newly-weds" went out angling.
When "hubby" caught a fish, the pair celebrated the catch by
enthusiastically kissing, totally regardless of the surprise or envy
that might be excited in the bosom of the poor boatman, and when
"wifie" caught a fish the same procedure was repeated. "Of course,"
said the boatman, in telling me the story, "that pair caught more
fish than any one I had had for a month, simply to taunt me with their
carryings on."
In the height of the season the guests become the most enthusiastic
fishermen of all. They take a growing pride in their increasing scores
and the fishing then resolves itself into an earnest, almost deadly,
tournament in which each determines to outscore the others. This is
what the boatmen enjoy--though it often means longer hours and more
severe rowing--for it is far easier to work (so they say) for a
"fare" who is really interested than for one who is halfhearted and
indifferent.
As these rivals' boats pass each other they call out in triumph their
rising luck, or listen gloweringly to the recital of others' good
fortune, when they are compelled to silence because of their own
failure.
Sometimes the boatmen find these rivalries rather embarrassing, for
the excitement and nervousness of their "fares" become communicated to
them. Then, perhaps, they lose a promising strike, or, in their hurry,
fail to land the fish when it appears. Scolding and recriminations
are not uncommon on such occasions, and thus is the gayety of nations
added to.
What is it that really constitutes "fisherman's luck"? Who can tell?
The theories of Tahoe fishermen are as many as there are men. Some
think one thing, some another. One will talk learnedly of the phases
of the moon, another of the effect of warmer or colder weather upon
the "bugs" upon which the fish feed.
Sometimes one will "jerk" half a day and never get a strike; other
days the boat will scarcely have left the wharf before one pulls the
fish in almost as fast as hooks can be baited and thrown out. When
fishing is slow an amateur soon becomes tired out. The monotonous pull
on the line soon makes the arm weary, and destroys all enthusiasm.
But let the strikes begin and weariness disappears. Some days the fish
will bite for an hour, say from eleven to twelve, and then quit and
not give another strike all day. The very next day, in the same spot,
one cannot get a bite until afternoon.
One of my fishermen friends once related the following: "Again and
again I have heard old and experienced fishermen say that no fish can
be caught in a thunder-storm. Yet in July 1913 four boats were towed
by a launch out to the Nevada side, near to Glenbrook. It appeared
stormy before the party left, but they refused to be daunted or
discouraged by the doleful prognostications of the "know-it-alls."
Before long the lightning began, the clouds hung heavy, and while they
fished they were treated to alternate doses of thunder, lightning,
cloud, sunshine, rain and hail. In less than an hour every member of
the party--and there were several ladies--were soaked and drenched to
the skin, but all were happy. For, contrary to the assertions of the
experts, every angler was having glorious success. Each boat secured
its full quota, 40 fish to each, and the catch averaged 70 pounds to
a boat, scarcely a fish being pulled out that did not weigh over a
pound. Talk about luck; these people surely had it."
Once again; I was out one day with Boat No. 14 (each boat has its own
number), and the boatman told me the following story. I know him
well and his truthfulness is beyond question. He had with him two
well-known San Francisco gentlemen, whom I will name respectively,
Rosenbaum and Rosenblatt. They were out for the day. For hours they
"jerked" without success. At last one turned to the other and said:
"Rosie, I've got a hunch that our luck's going to change. I'm going to
count twenty and before I'm through we'll each have a fish." Slowly he
began to count, one,--two,--three. Just as he counted fourteen, both
men felt a strike, gave the fateful jerk, and pulled in a large fish,
and from that moment their luck changed.
This is not the whole of the story, however. Some days later the same
boatman was out on the Nevada side with two gentlemen, who could
not get a bite. Merely to while away the time the boatman told the
foregoing facts. To his surprise and somewhat to his disgust at his
own indiscretion in telling the story, one of the gentlemen began
to count, and, believe it or not, he assures me that at the fateful
fourteen, he gained a first-class strike, and continued to have
success throughout the afternoon.
As he left the boat he turned to his companion and said: "Well, that
fourteen's proved a lucky number. I'm going right over to the roulette
wheel to see what luck it will give me over there."
My boatman friend added that as he heard nothing of any great winnings
at the wheel that night, and Mr. N. looked rather quiet and sober the
next day, he is afraid the luck did not last. Needless to say that
except to me, and then only in my capacity as a writer, the story has
never been told.
Now, while the jerk-line method brings much joy to the heart of the
successful and lucky amateur, the genuine disciple of Izaak Walton
scorns this unsportsman-like method. He comes earlier in the season,
April, May, or June, or later, in September, and brings his rod and
line, when the fish keep nearer to the shore in the pot-holes and
rocky formations, and then angles with the fly. It is only at these
times, however, that he is at all likely to have any success, as the
Tahoe trout does not generally rise to the fly.
Yet, strange to say, in all the smaller trout-stocked lakes of the
region, Fallen Leaf, Cascade, Heather, Lily, Susie, Lucile, Grass,
LeConte, Rock Bound, the Velmas, Angora, Echo, Tamarack, Lake of the
Woods, Rainbow, Pit, Gilmore, Kalmia, Fontinalis, Eagle, Granite, and
as many more, the trout are invariably caught with the fly, though
the species most sought after is not the native Tahoe trout, but the
eastern brook. This is essentially fish for the genuine angler, and
many are the tales--true and otherwise--told of the sport the capture
of this fish has afforded in the region.
There are several interesting peculiarities about the fish of Lake
Tahoe and its region that it is well to note. In the large lake
(Tahoe) the native cutthroat grows to much the largest size--the
35-lb. one referred to elsewhere being proof of its great growth.
The next in size is the Mackinac which is often caught as large as 10
lb., and now and again up to 15 lb.
In Fallen Leaf Lake, which was stocked with Mackinac some years ago,
the native trout has become comparatively scarce, the former seemingly
having driven it out, though in Lake Tahoe there is no such result. In
Fallen Leaf not more than one or two in ten will be cutthroats, while
Mackinacs abound, up to 6 lbs. and 7 lbs. in weight. Occasionally much
larger fish are seen, though they are seldom brought to net. Not long
ago a Loch Levin, weighing 12 lbs., was caught here.
While the catch of fish in the smaller lakes of the region is
exceedingly large the fish themselves are smaller, the opportunities
for hiding and fattening and growing older being comparatively greater
in the larger body of water.
During the height of the season when there are a great many boats
out it is common to hire a launch which will tow from four to a dozen
boats over towards Emerald Bay on the California side, or towards
Glenbrook on the Nevada side, where the fishing grounds are known to
be of the best. The boatmen especially enjoy these days out--although
the "fares" may not always suspect it--as it gives them a change from
their ordinary routine and table fare. They enjoy trout as well as
do the visitors, and of course, they are all expert cooks as well as
boatmen. When noon-time comes, if there has been any luck, a camp-fire
is built and the fish are fried, or broiled on the coals, or by
experts, made into an excellent chowder. And never does one enjoy a
fish dinner so much as under these circumstances. The exercise, the
fresh air, the motion over the water, the deliciousness and delicate
flavor of the fish, all conspire to tempt the most capricious
appetite.
Once in a while a black bass will be caught, though it is not believed
that this is a native fish. It does not seem to thrive in Tahoe though
the boatmen tell me they occasionally see a few, especially off the
docks at Tallac and other points at the south end of the Lake.
Now and again small bull-heads will be seen, and a very small
rock-bass. But these never bite on hook and line, and are seldom found
more than two or three inches long.
On the other hand big schools of suckers and chubs are seen. The
former naturally are scorned by all true fishermen as they are
regarded as hogs, or scavengers, and are thrown back whenever caught,
or are taken and fed to the gulls or pelicans. The chubs occasionally
are hooked and are from half a pound to a pound and a half in size.
As a rule these are thrown back, though they make good eating to those
who do not object to their excess of bones.
One of the most interesting of sights is to see one of the schools of
minnows that fairly abound in Lake Tahoe. In the clear and pellucid
water one can clearly see them swim along. As they pass a rocky place
a trout will dart out and catch his prey. A flutter at once passes
through the whole school. Yet, strange to say, the trout will
sometimes swim around such a body and either stupify them with fear,
or hypnotize them into forgetfulness of their presence, for they will
float quietly in the center of the mass, catching the minnows one by
one as they need them without exciting the least fear or attention.
The minnows generally remain in fairly shallow water, and keep so
closely together that a line of demarcation is made between where they
are and outside, as if it had been cut with a knife along a straight
edge, and in some mysterious way the fish dare not cross it, though it
constantly moves along with their movements.
It will be obvious that necessarily there is much market-fishing in
Lake Tahoe and its surrounding lakes. Indeed there are large numbers
of fishermen--Indians and whites--who supply the various hotels both
of the Lake region and in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and
adjacent cities, and even as far as Denver and Salt Lake City,
eastwards, and Los Angeles to the south. These fishermen are very
persistent in their work, keeping at it from early morning until
late at night, though their catches are supposed to be officially
regulated.
The amount of fish caught and shipped by these market-fishermen is
remarkable. In 1911 the report shows that over 22,000 pounds were sent
out by express, over half of which were sent from Tallac alone. And
this does not take any account of the amount caught and eaten by
private residents around the Lake, by the visitors or by the hotels.
The fish that are to be shipped are not, as one might naturally
suppose, packed in ice. Experience has demonstrated a better way which
is now universally followed. At Tallac the hotel has a large place
devoted to this process, which is practically as follows: Each boatman
has a fish-box, numbered to correspond with his boat. These are kept
in the water during the season, and if the catch of his "fare" for one
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