Outings in Tahoe and Canada

Posted by James Savage, on Feb 11, 2024.

With winter half over, and zero posts in 2023, I figured maybe it would be easier to write about the year as it happens, rather than give myself huge end-of-the-year projects. So here’s a little about what we’ve been up to, and some photos from the year so far.

If you didn’t get a link to it yet, I flipped my own website into a blog to post more about the projects I’ve been working on. I also wrote a recap of 2023’s winter, and all the things we did to avoid a repeat of it. So naturally, after all that, it’s hardly snowed at all this year. Right now, snowfall totals are hovering around 8 to 12 feet, but hardly any of that has actually stuck around at lake level. We’ve only had to shovel the driveway twice, and our heated walkway mats have done a great job at keeping the stairs clear (aside from what they do to the power bill). On the flip side, ski conditions have been lackluster. While the resorts are able to make snow, and a lot more of it accumulates up in the mountains, it’s been a lot of icy days with patchy cover. Overall, it’s worth it to get a year off from worrying if the roof will collapse though.

A Heavenly Christmas

For the second year in a row, we made a day trip out to Heavenly on Christmas to get in a couple of runs between calling our families. Snow coverage was still a sparse, and the trails somewhat icy, but it was still better than what I used to ski in Ohio.

Two people posing for a selfie on a ski slope

Skiing at Heavenly

Of course, we’ve also made it out to Heavenly for several other ski weekends as well.

A ski trail going across the photo, distant square plots of farmland in the background. — Checking out Nevada from Heavenly resort.

Skiing on Ridge Run from the top of Heavenly’s California side. This trail has some of the best lake views on the mountain, and is overall quite flat and easy, making it a great place to shoot some video. The biggest obstacles tend to be other people falling.

A relaxing ride up Powderbowl Express lift. Please ignore my glove.

Rough snow cut up with ski tracks. Mountains with a lake and many pine trees. — Lake Tahoe taken from about halfway down Ridge Run.

Snaking trails from snowboarders left in fresh powder on the side of a mountain. Pine trees lightly covered in snow. — Coming up the Gunbarrel Express lift.

Trees with several inches of snow and ice crusted around them. A blue sky and snow covered ground. — Taken at the top of Sky Express lift (elevation 10,000 ft). I’m sure there’s a specific word for this type of snow stuck to trees, but I wasn’t able to figure out exactly what to call it. Possibly *rime*?

Hiking at Fallen Leaf Lake

Skiing isn’t all we’ve been up to. In December we also went for a hike at Mt. Tallac trail, one of our favorite for its scenic views of both South Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake. We’ve never made it all the way to the end, but fortunately this is an out-and-back trail, so it can scale for any day.

Two lakes, surrounded by mountains and trees, with a fallen, dead tree on the left.

Clouds coming over the top of a mountain — Heading back, I caught (or tried to catch) clouds rolling over Mt. Tallac. Despite several hours in Lightroom I wasn’t quite able to capture the *golden hour glow* that these gave off.

Whistler Blackcomb and Vancouver

After five years away, we finally made it back to Whistler, both for some skiing and to catch up with our friends, Adam & Tara. I was also excited to deliver my latest crochet project as a belated Christmas gift, and finally meet its recipient. Myke also got to stop by the Vancouver office to finally meet some of his new team members in person on our way home.

Wires from a chair lift strung over a clearing through pine trees. In the background mountains stretch into the distance, with low hanging clouds and fog in the valley. — Riding the Big Red Express lift, with a gorgeous view of the valley.

Taking a break to watch the snow fall.

A wide, snow-covered mountain top, only faintly visible thorugh clouds and fog. — Temperatures hovered right around freezing all day, which led to lots of fog throughout the day. This wasn’t ideal visibility for skiing, but did create some dramatic photos.

Ski trail with snow covered pine trees on either side. A lift tower fainly visible through fog. A person on skis stands on the right of the photo. — Here you can faintly see one of the towers for the Peak-to-Peak gondola through the fog.

Belgian-style waffle with whipped cream, large chocolate shavings, and rapsberry compote. — On our friend Adam’s recommendation, we made sure to stop by the Crystal Hut for a Belgian waffle for breakfast. It did not disappoint!

Two people standing in front of a mountain trail map. — Getting our photo taken outside of Crystal Hut. Photo credit: Adam.

Hiking along Cold Creek

Back in Tahoe, we decided to pay a visit to Cold Creek Trail. This hike is quite long, 11 miles I believe, but we’ve only ever done a fraction of it. It’s nicely secluded, but easy to access. Chelsea loves to hang back and then go for long sprints here (usually to catch up to dad).

Slowly walking through the snow. I’m not sure how well it comes across in video, but it was about 40℉ that day and the snow melting off the trees looked and sounded like rain. It also felt like rain in certain areas, leading to some impromptu jogging to avoid getting wet!

Medium sized dog running across snow towards the camera. — I got a well-timed shot of Chelsea’s zoomies in action.

Chelsea going for a run in the woods.

Day Hike at Camp Richardson

In January we had some of Myke’s friends up for a ski weekend, but also worked in a relaxing hike at Camp Richardson to show them the lake. When we came here last year, there was about 100 feet of ice on the lake’s edge that you could walk out over, but with our mild winter it was all sand and waves.

Close up photo of a lake's surface, with pebbles and sand in focus in the forground and mountains out of focus in the background. — I always like playing with perspective, and the clear and shallow water made for a fun contrast with the huge mountains in the background.

Person crouched at the side of a lake with a phone held just above the water. — Although interesting angles often require interesting positioning to capture. Thanks for the photo, Myke.

Two people and a medium sized dog posing for a photo on the shore of a lake. A large mountain is visible in the background. — A nice family photo, captured by Ching.