Lake Tahoe

We left Mariposa after breakfast and decided to head north on Hwy 49. The scenery was awesome with winding roads and switchbacks through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains with pine trees, rocky ridges and rivers. This is historic gold rush country and many of the towns along this route have preserved their buildings from 'back in the day'. We passed through towns with names like; Coulterville, Angels Camp and San Andreas.

We met a couple of bikers (Vicky & Pat) who were on their way to a rally in Hollister. They saw our NZ flag flying from our pack and pulled alongside and waved us over for a chat.  Vicky & Pat run their own motorcycle touring business and were really interested in what we had planned for our tour. After exchanging email addresses we carried on our way.

We stopped at Jamestown at the local Harley Davidson dealership where Tracee purchased a top and then carried on to Jackson for fuel and lunch. After turning on to Hwy 88 we headed east and started climbing up the Sierra Nevada range through the Stanislaus National Forest. The air got noticeably cooler as we climbed and was a welcome relief after the hot conditions of the last couple of days. We climbed to 8000 feet, before descending down towards South Lake Tahoe - our stop for the day. The views were stunning!

Lake Tahoe is a beautiful lake with deep emerald waters and is set in an alpine valley at the highest point of the High Sierra mountains. The lake is a year round recreational area with water sports, hiking & camping in the summer and close proximity to ski-fields in the winter.