Camping at Emerald Bay Boat Camp

Posted by James Savage, on Aug 17, 2024.

Where’s the year gone? It feels like I was just writing about our first camping trip, and yet somehow we just got back from our last of the year! That said, we went out in style, and returned to Myke’s favorite campground: Boat Camp. For campers, this campground is only accessible by boat, and instead of a parking spot each site comes with its own numbered buoy in Emerald Bay. This is now our third year camping here, and it’s easily one of the nicest campgrounds we’ve visited. Actually hauling everything out does take quite a while, and requires lots of small trips: from the house to the truck, from the truck to the boat, from the boat to the campsite, and of course then Myke has to go tie up the boat and swim back to shore.

(I’m just kidding, he has an inflatable kayak. But it’s still a slow process.)

When: August 9-11, 2024
Campsite №: 19 → 22
Elevation: 6,200 ft. (1,900 meters)
Our Rating: 5/5 ★

Friday, August 9th, 2024

Going from our place to the boat dock was only a short drive, so we were able to leave fairly leisurely. Despite offering, no one wanted to join us camping here this year, so it was just Myke, Chelsea, and I on our lonesome. This both made trekking supplies easier (because there were fewer boxes), but probably overall more difficult (since we didn’t have anyone else to help carry, and had to find places to leave Chelsea unattended for a while).

Man made channel, opening up into a large lake, with iron walls on either side. To the left are condos and on the right pine trees and a single person.
Exiting thorough the Tahoe Keys marina east channel.

By the time we arrived at camp the sun had just started to set, but still gave us enough time to get the boat unloaded. After, Myke went off to tie us off to our buoy, and I started to set up camp. We’d picked site 19, which was “conveniently” located right next to the restrooms. It was, perhaps, a little too convenient, as when we arrived we were also greeted by a rope across the path to our campsite and a sign directing people to not walk directly through it to get to them. It took only about 15 minutes for someone to ignore this sign, and instead feign surprise when they found me now settled into the spot. They wouldn’t be the last, either.

Two mountain peaks convering near the center of the photo, with a large expanse of lake in front. A sliver of moon is barely visible in the sky.
The scene as we arrived at Emerald Bay, just as the sun had set behind the mountains.

The site itself was pretty nice. The entire campground is terraced roughly into a steep hill, and most sites span one or two levels of elevation. At this site the fire pit, grill, bear box, and picnic table were all nestled pretty tightly together on a little plateau, with just enough room for our tent next to a big boulder. If we’d been camping with other people there was room for tents along the walkway up to the fire pit.

A tent, bright lit from the inside, in an otherwise black photo. A fire pit is just barely visible.
Our tent set up for the first night. Not much to see. Take with a 30s exposure.

Our first night went a little slow. Without a lot of people, we’d opted for a simple menu–hot dogs and s’mores over the fire–and we even turned in early for once. We decided against a rain fly, despite how many times it’s burned us this year, because the weather looked really, actually clear for once, and the temperatures were staying in the 50’s all night as well.

Saturday, August 10th, 2024

Campground, with a tent, fire pit, picnic table covered in boxes and duffle bags, a cooler, and a half-open bear box.
Campsite 19, as seen in the day time. Really a quite cozy little spot, if you ignore all the constant foot traffic to the restrooms just behind me.

We slept in until around 10:00 the next morning, when the sun finally started to come in through the top of our tent, and made staying asleep impossible. We’d slept decently through the night, despite a shed which was also next to the restrooms, which kept making mysterious mechanical noises every hour or so.

For a treat, I’d picked up some of 85°C’s chocolate chip milk bread for breakfast, which I toasted on the grill after Myke finished making some eggs. After breakfast Myke went to check us in with the camp host, who he knew from the previous years. Except that they, along with their RV, had disappeared. It turned out that the park was operating with a part-time host, and as we’d find out through the week, things were kind of a free-for-all at the moment. The interim host mentioned that site 22 had actually become available. It was reserved, but the campers weren’t able to cancel in time, and wouldn’t be using it that weekend if we wanted it instead.

Two pieces of chocolate chip bread sitting on some aluminium foil above a grill. The picture looks out through a bunch of pine tree trunks onto a lake.

After coming back, we decided to switch campsites. № 22 was right on the water, on the far east side of the campground–prime real estate–and more out of the way for other campers. This did mean that we had to move everything across the campground, including the already set up tent, but it only took us maybe 15 minutes (and a couple of stares as we walked along holding a full tent over our heads) to get everything transferred. The previous residents had packed up, but their things were still in a pile while they’d gone for a hike, but we didn’t have much to unpack so this wasn’t a problem. We also got to briefly meet the intended campers, who had come down anyways just for the day, but couldn’t stay overnight.

A large mountain with swaths of dark green pine trees and lighter green vegetation in the background. A deep blue lake with a speed boat jetting across it in the foreground.

After taking a short break to wait for the peak sun to pass, we headed out to go boating for the day. We started out by going back to the marina to pick up some friends, who’d also been nice enough to bring lunch, and set off for Rubicon Bay to float for a few hours out on the water. Since we’d gotten a late start, it was actually getting late before we knew it, so we went to tour around the west shore a bit more, before dropping our friends at the marina once more, and heading back to camp to get started on dinner.

A large, lenticular cloud being lit in warm tones as the sun sets, hanging over the silluets of pine trees and the dark waters of a lake.

Our second dinner continue the trend of simple meals with potato packets (diced red and gold potatoes, with either shredded chicken or sliced sausage, and cheese) and grilled corn on the cob. These both took a while to cook, but were pretty hands off, and most importantly delicious. The potatoes came out perfectly creamy, and the corn was pretty good (for store bought).

Getting to sleep that night was, for whatever reason, a little rougher. We should probably have re-inflated the air mattress, although I really just wanted a real bed.

Sunday, August 11th, 2024

Looking up at the crowns of several Jeffrey pines through the mesh of a tent roof.
Not a bad view to wake up to.

Somewhat because I hadn’t slept well, we opted to skip breakfast and just pack up camp quickly instead. “Quickly” here is still a relative term, because by the time we got everything loaded into the boat it was only about ten minutes past our checkout time. Thankfully packing out is always easier, since we’re down a few boxes of firewood and a most of the water we brought in. This also made for one fewer trip to load everything back into the truck at the marina.

Campsite with a tent and picnic table in the background under some trees, lots of bare earth, and a bear box off to the side. In the background is a lake, right next to the edge of the campsite.
Our second campsite, with lots of room for more tents. Y’all missed out!

After a much needed shower (for both ourselves and Chelsea) we made lunch back at the house, and headed back out for an evening cruise. Despite the strong winds all weekend the water was still decently smooth, which I appreciated.

Camping by ourselves here was definitely a bit different. I think this campground specifically benefits from having a few more people to help with the logistics, but it was also nice to have some quiet time with just each other. Emerald Bay also has a drive in campground on the other side of the bay, where we’ve also camped once when Myke’s family came out to visit. I think next year I might prefer to give that spot another try, but it will be fierce competition because I know how much Myke loves being able to boat in to this one.

Conditions

Friday: 65-82°F, Sunny
Saturday: 67-82°F, Sunny
Sunday: 64-82°F, Overcast
Peak UVI: 11
Sunrise: 06:13
Sunset: 19:53
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent