Journeys›Photograph

Kayaking a Tahoe Lake in Mid-June

·Truckee, California·#summer#tahoe#donner lake#kayaking#paddleboarding
A child in a red kayak on a blue lake looks towards a forested shore with snowy mountains.

Snow still on the peaks at the west end of the lake and it's the middle of June — that's the winter we had. Mid-June to August is when the paddling season really opens up here, and the water was busy with kayaks and boards to prove it.

Put the red tandem in with my daughter up front, pink life vest cinched over her swimsuit, and worked out toward the middle where the wind puts a chop on the water. She spent a good stretch of it turned around grinning at me, arms wet to the shoulder from her own paddle. Somebody in the green single waved at us on the way past.

Later I traded the kayak for the paddleboard for a while. Standing up you can see straight down through the water near shore, snowmelt-clear, and the whole line of white ridges running behind the trees. Her life vest stayed folded on the nose of the board, still dripping.

A child in a red kayak on a blue lake with a forested shore and snow-capped mountains in the background.A child in a red kayak on a lake smiles at the camera, with a forested shore and snowy mountains in the background.A child in a red kayak looks back, smiling, on a lake with forested mountains and distant snowy peaks.A smiling bearded person in a kayak holds a paddle, with a lake, forest, and snow-capped mountains under a blue sky.A person's feet are in a red kayak on a lake with a paddle, facing distant snowy mountains and forests under a clear blue sky.A person stands on a paddleboard on a clear lake, with forested and snow-capped mountains under a blue sky.A child in a red kayak on a lake smiles at the camera, with mountains and trees in the background.A child in a green kayak on a lake, with snow-capped mountains and evergreen forests under a clear sky.

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