18-March-2024 Alpine Meadows and Lake Tahoe

Today was another fun day of skiing and exploration!

The day started again at Palisades Tahoe ski area where I had skied the previous 2 days. But today I did something different – I took a "base to base" gondola. They have connected Palisades ski area with Alpine ski area and it's about a 15 minute gondola ride. I climb aboard and it being a weekday I had a gondola all to myself. Beautiful views and the ride takes you over mountains, rocky peaks, over a road and a large lodge and delivers you right to the base area of Alpine. I got out of the gondola and was about to put my skis on and noticed the man next to me looking up towards the mountain. I followed his gaze and said "oh my!" - it was a mama bear and her two adorable cubs scooting across an open area and into the trees. It's spring and it's a warm beautiful day and apparently it's time for bears to come out of hibernation with their young.

Alpine ski area was gorgeous. Lots of views of Lake Tahoe and some beautiful trails through the trees. I found 2 bowls on either side of the summit chair that were sundrenched with soft snow and basically spent the afternoon there. You could not craft a more perfect ski condition day! I ate my lunch outside (no helmet/hat, no jacket, no gloves – just the shirt I was skiing in) and was going to spend a few minutes sitting by a fire to digest and it was actually too warm to sit close to the fire pit. How crazy is that?

I really enjoyed skiing Alpine and was sad when I had to take the gondola back over to Palisades before the lifts closed. Got a few final runs in there and as usual was the last person heading up the lift minutes before before they close at 4PM.

I decided that since Lake Tahoe was only 5 miles away that I would make a slight detour on my way home and go see the lake close up. Figured there would be some place I could walk there to get my daily mile in. To my delight there is a walking path along the shoreline with several piers where you can walk out over the lake. The water is crystal clear and the stones below are an emerald green color. It almost looks fake! I tried to take a few pictures that focused both on the rocks below the water near me and the snow capped mountains in the distance. The views were just spectacular!