198 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEBK TJKITED STATES. 



though the glaciers extended down the tributary valleys from 

 west^ just reaching the river at one or two points. 



summer there is probably no mor 



refreshing and on the whole delightful side trip on the journey across 



the continent than that to Lake Tahoe. The trip to 



Lake Tahoe. 



Elevation 6,225 f( 

 Truckee 15 miles 



from 



made 



bile. The railroad terminus is at the northwest side of 



form 



sm 



the trip occupying most of a day. The steamer stops at manj- sum- 

 mer camps, hotels, and permanent settlements. During the winter 

 most of the resorts are closed, as the snowfall is heavy at this elevation. 

 Lake Tahoe is not a natural wonder, as that term is applied to the 

 Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, but the lover of nature can 

 probably get no truer satisfaction than can be had from a quiet and 

 restful sojourn along its beautiful shores. (See PI. XLY.) There 

 is much in the history of its origin and that of the ranges surrounding 



it that is full of interest. 



The lake is 21 J miles long from north to south and about 12 miles in 

 its greatest width. Its surface, which stands 6,225 feet above sea 

 level, covers 190 square miles. The water is of unusual depth, Crater 

 Lake, in Oregon, being said to be the only deeper mountain lake in 

 America. A soundin 

 south of Hot Springs, in what is perhaps the deepest part, but the 

 contour of the bottom is not accurately known. According to a 



statement 



probably on account of its great depth. The mountains around the 

 lake rise abruptly and cidminate in "Mount Rose, in the Carson Eange, 

 at 10,800 feet. It has already been noted that the Sierra Nevada is 

 here a double range of almost parallel north-south ridges and that the 

 lake lies in a part of the depression between the two. The mountains 



ange, east oi the lake, thouerh thev do not seem 



Tinusu 



ingly bold escarpment when viewed from the Nevada side. The 

 mountams to the west form the main watershed between the streams 

 flowing to the Pacific and those flowing to the Great Basm. Near 



peaks on this divide 



comes 



ulminates in Mount Whitney 



One of the chief beauties of Lake Tahoe lies in the clearness and 

 purity of its water and its wonderful coloring, varying from the deep 



mam 



Bay. The lake abounds in fish, which include se^ 

 trout. Shoals of the smaller fish may be seen from 



