What do you think of when you think of Tahoe? Do you think of the hot summer days on Sand
Harbor with a cold drink in your hand? Or do you think of skiing or snowboarding and capping it off with a hot toddy? Either way, you're describing it correctly. Tahoe is big and blue and is notorious for many reasons! Here are a couple things that maybe you didn't know about Tahoe:
1. Tahoe is pretty freaking huge! It is the second deepest lake in the United States with 1,645 feet of water above the lake floor, Crater lake in Oregon is the deepest at 1,949 and the world's deepest is a lake in Russia called Lake Baikal with 5,387 feet. At it's longest, 22 miles and widest, 12 miles! The shoreline wraps around to a max of 72 miles!
2. Proud to say that Lake Tahoe isn't completely all California's, two thirds is but Nevada claims 1/3rd of the lake. There is a lot of history with Frank Sinatra and mob members around the southern border at a casino called CalNeva, pretty creative. There is still a CalNeva in Reno but no famous history.
3. You would think that with 600 inches of snow per year that alpine skiing elevation levels there would be more snow at the lake but the lake effect keeps the snow at 125 inches.
4. One of my absolute favorite facts that really puts into perspective how large Lake Tahoe is "If you were to pour Lake Tahoe out onto an area the size of California, the water would still be 14 inches (36 cm) deep." Crazy...
5. Not only is it insanely large but it could also help with an emergency supply of water. Lake Tahoe can provide each American with 50 gallons of water a day if it was dumped out for five freaking years!
6. If you are hiking around the Tahoe Rim Trail and need to stop for some water and don't have your emergency straw on you, you are most likely safe to drink the lake water because it is 99.994% pure water. Distilled water is only .004% more pure than that. Do some research on your distilled water bottles you are buying to see if your water is actually clean to drink.
7. All these facts are pretty neat but one fact that you probably aren't aware of is that fact that Tahoe has a goldfish population! That's right, goldfish. Some carnival-winning goldfish. The USDA put out an article saying that the goldfish are very invasive and can "wreak havoc on the lakes natural ecosystem". They believe it was a pet owner who released their scaley friend into the lake. This one isn't Tessie.
8. Many may know that Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens, had roamed around the Tahoe area and at one point thought that Tahoe was among angels.
9. Go on a night kayak tour (https://clearlytahoe.com/experiences/led-glow-tour/) and look at the "Triple Conjunction", which is Jupiter, Venus and Mercury in a triangle. They lay right over the mountain looking towards Reno.
10. John Bigler. Doesn't ring a bell? That's okay. I didn't know about him either but now you will. John Bigler the governor at the time in California and was the one who officially named it "Lake Tahoe".
Now that you know some more things about Tahoe, book a flight and come see this for yourself!