Angelika On July 4th, Americans celebrate Independence Day, and we always use the long weekend for a short trip. Although the date fell on a Sunday this year, thanks to a brilliant rule in America, Monday is a day off if a holiday falls on a weekend!
We went with our friends Conny and Roland to the popular vacation area at Lake Tahoe. In the winter time, half of the Bay Area goes skiing there, and in the summer, the 500-meter deep lake invites swimmers and boaters. However, swimming requires some courage, even in the summer, as the water temperature fluctuates between only 13-17 degrees Celsius even in the warm months.
Nowadays, Tahoe is so popular that insiders in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area are well aware of the obligatory Tahoe weekend traffic jam, which practically starts in San Francisco shortly before highway 80 enters the Bay Bridge. A skilled driver can cover the 349 kilometers in four hours, but only on the night of Totensonntag at two in the morning. On an average Friday afternoon, you can easily spend 12 hours on the I-80 highway.
The beaches of Lake Tahoe are correspondingly crowded. Therefore, we opted for the smaller and somewhat less well-known but equally idyllic Donner Lake. It is located near the town of Truckee and is a little over 4 km long and 1 km wide, with a supposedly slightly more pleasant water temperature than Lake Tahoe.
The lake owes its name to the Donner Party, a group of pioneers who sought their fortune in California, but failed miserably due to the winter conditions and the Sierra Nevada mountains. The trek began in April 1846 in Springfield, Illinois, and chose a shortcut that was not actually a shortcut. As a result, the journey took much longer than expected and the group only reached the area around Donner Lake in November 1846, when the first snow had already fallen. The pioneers were forced to spend the winter near Donner Lake, but they only had provisions for one month. A small group attempted to seek help but failed miserably, and it was not until the end of February that a rescue party reached the trek and found a scene of horror: only 47 of the 89 pioneers had survived, and there were signs of cannibalism everywhere. The survivors had eaten human corpses of the deceased.
Today, little is felt of the cruel history, although tiny gold particles in the water remind us of the wild California Gold Rush era. However, the most beautiful part is West End Beach, where a cozy, almost nostalgic-looking beach bath is located at Donner Lake. It has everything you need: a lifeguard, a swimming area in the lake, mowed lawns, a playground, and a kiosk where you can buy delicious ice cream, as well as rent pedal boats. The daily admission is 3 dollars per person (children up to 17 pay 2 dollars). Unbeatably beautiful!