Lake Tahoe, a Work Trip Turned Into an Adventure

While my personal travel went on the back-burner the first half of this year I have been traveling a lot for work (Beth and I are moving to Denver, Colorado soon! More on that later!). A couple of these work trips were to the Reno, Nevada area and I couldn’t resist not visiting beautiful Lake Tahoe nearby and do some hiking. I was able to get in a couple hikes after work and before sunset while visiting the Reno area. Sunset was around 8:30 PM so I had just about 2 hours to get some hiking in before dark.

I was even able to convince some coworkers to drive to South Lake Tahoe City for some dinner near the water. Totally worth the drive. We were there in late May and early June range so there were almost no crowds. Weather was perfect at 70 degrees and sunny but the water was a tad chilly for swimming.

On the hiking front my coworkers were not up for it but I didn’t mind going by myself. I did part of Marlette Lake Trail until the snow became too deep. I was literally the only person on the trail which was kind of cool but eerie at the same time. With the record amount of snow in Lake Tahoe (they are still getting snow!) this year there was still plenty of snow and I had to end the hike earlier than I wanted to. Going any higher would have required snowshoes.

I made way back down the trail and decided to hike along the beach near Chimney Rock Beach.

Instead of driving back to the hotel I decided to stay and watch the sunset at the beach which was spectacular. The pictures really don’t do it justice. Also didn’t help that my phone died before the apex of the sunset.

On a different day I drove to the north side of the lake to Incline Village and did the Tunnel Creek Trail. It was definitely a more popular trail but I still had most of the hike to myself. Tons of dogs and bikers made their way up the trail. Of course there was still tons of snow at the top so that was the natural turning back point. Watching the mountain bikers tear down the hill after climbing up looked thrilling. I have never done real mountain biking before but I can understand the appeal now, kind of reminded me of snowboarding down the slopes.

It is always great when you can use a work trip to satisfy your travel goals. Lake Tahoe has always been a place I had wanted to go to and now I can check it off. It really is an amazing place and would love to explore it more. Hopefully I will go back there for work and Beth can join me for the weekend so we can do even more exploring.

Has anyone been able to do some hiking or other fun activities while traveling for work?