Summer Boat Day out of Tahoe Vista

Launched at the Tahoe Vista ramp with a full boat — six of us — and crossed the lake toward the south shore. Snow still holding in patches on the high peaks even in late June, and there was enough chop out in the middle that the two in the bow rode most of it wrapped in towels and a blanket.

Emerald Bay was the point of the run. Once inside, the water turns that green-blue you can see straight down through, and the granite above the bay was bare and pale in the sun, boats already lined along the beach at the bottom. We idled past Fannette Island close enough to see the boulders stacked at its waterline and the dead snags leaning out of the pines.

Had to share the channel on the way out with the Tahoe Gal, the paddlewheeler out of Tahoe City, deck full of passengers, wake rolling off her stern.