Since we were in Vegas, we were looking for nearby locations with temperate weather. Neither Adam nor I had been to Lake Tahoe before and given the regular flight schedule and close proximity, it became our destination of choice for the weekend.

I am sure there is more than one way to experience Tahoe in the summer – nature and seclusion in the North, renting a house and chilling with a group of friends on a boat or our way — we chose to spend the weekend in South Lake Tahoe to get in some nature and also have restaurants and bars at our fingertips.

South Lake Tahoe has casinos, restaurants and pubs lining the lake, all framed by picture perfect alpine mountains.  Unfortunately, the recent fires in the nearby area meant the visibility around the lake wasn’t great so you could only spot the nearby peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The famous clear waters that are known to create a kaleidoscope of purples, blues and greens were not nearly as clear as the pictures during our visit.  Yet we still managed to make the most of it and get in some hiking and water activities to take in the beautiful scenery.

Thursday

We flew into Reno after work and drove to South Lake Tahoe. We stopped at Cave Rock on the way down to enjoy a short hike and a little nice view before checking into the hotel.

We had an amazing dinner at The Lake House that evening.  This discrete little restaurant had amazing service and delicious food – think truffle mushroom risotto, perfectly cooked filet mignon and prawn and scallop chimichurri.

Friday

This was our day to take in the views from Mount Tallac, the tallest peak in the area sitting at 8,738 feet.  This hike is a fairly steep incline with many lakes en route, but the true gem is the vista from the top. Unfortunately the fire smoke in the area made it so there was not much visibility so we decided to turn around shortly after the last lake, Cathedral Lake.

Following our 6.5 mile hike, we stopped from some legendary rum runners at the Beacon, a restaurant located just down the street from the trailhead.

In the afternoon, we just lounged back at the hotel – we had a private beach which was a perfect spot to hang out under the pines and soak in a bit of the warm summer breeze.

We had a dinner reservation at the famous Edgewood Restaurant, a restaurant designed with theatre style seating to enable everyone to enjoy the breathtaking views of the sun setting over Lake Tahoe.

Rather than call it a night, we ventured back out via a couple of the Lime electric scooters and cruised around town checking out the nightlife.

Saturday

We started our morning with a short hike up to Eagle Falls, but were disappointed with the views and the falls were just a trickle (probably because it was August). We then changed course and took the Vikingsholm Trail down to the beach at Emerald Bay and rented a couple of kayaks.  We had a ton of fun paddling around the water, visiting Tahoe’s only island, Fayette Island and swimming in the lake.

We were both ready for an aperol spritz so we stopped at the restaurant next to our hotel, Riva Grill before resting and heading out to Himmel Haus for dinner.

Sunday

We started our day with a trip up the eastern part of the lake. We had seen photos of Secret Cove, a nude beach but more famous for crystal clear waters and gorgeous green and blue hues.  We skipped around on the rocks taking in the beauty and also visiting Secret Beach, just south of the cove.

After grabbing a bite at our local Riva Grill, we hopped on Tahoe Blue, a 40′ Santa Cruz sailboat and set sail to enjoy the lake one more time.

We had a very late flight so we decided to make our way north, walk along the East Shore trail and eventually drive to Reno for a light dinner before heading home.