Balanced Rock - near Castleford-Buhl Idaho

I have to give the credit to seeing Balanced Rock to my Mother-in-law Beverly, who mentioned it to Kathy.   She noticed it in her Atlas and suggested we stop by for a visit.  

 It was an easy thirty minute drive from Twin Falls, ID on old Highway 74 which took us first near Castleford and Buhl. The drive was quite pretty and took us through lots of farm land.  We could not believe how many huge dairy farms we noticed along our route.

  We eventually descended into a canyon that was eerily reminiscent of Bryce Canyon in Utah with it's perpendicular rock formations. We drove along the base of the canyon for less than half a minute, stopped by Balanced Rock State Park, then drove back up out of the canyon to see the Balanced Rock right above us to the right.

We actually thought Balanced Rock was located at the Park but that was not the case.  Had we took a little more time to look at the sign to the bottom right of this photo, we would have known we had to continue another half-mile to Balanced Rock.

Balanced Rock Park may be the narrowest park we have ever seen, with a mere sliver of lawn and a small stream squeezed between the towering walls of the canyon. 

The park boasts a picnic shelter, playground equipment, and restrooms with a canyon view that was quite spectacular.

Every state has it's quirky landmarks, and here in Idaho in addition to it's "famous potatoes" it is Balanced Rock. 

At the base of Balanced Rock is a little picnic shelter, a small parking area large enough to hold half dozen cars, and several unimproved trails leading directly up the hill. We decided to climb up to the rock which only took about five minutes. It wasn't until we reached the base of Balanced Rock, that we realized how huge it actually was.

Balanced Rock is absolutely impossible to miss. It is perched on the edge of the Canyon's rim.  It stands 48 feet tall balanced on a stone 19 inches x 39 inches.

I can tell you that this is the closet Kathy gets to the edge of anything.  I think she is telling me she can push the rock off the base.  It's an amazingly geographical anomaly, and one that has you wondering how it has not managed to fall over after some 20,000 years.

Thanks Mom. It was worth the trip!

Snow Valley Peak Hike - Lake Tahoe

The Snow Valley Hike begins at the Spooner Summit on the North side of Highway 50, 1/2 mile east of the junction with Highway 28.  We started our hike at 8 a.m. The elevation at the trail head is 7199. 

Kathy indicates the hike with her thumb and index finger.  This part of the trail is open to hikers and equestrians.  After hiking this trail, we both question the use of horses on this trail.

After 2-1/2 miles you see a vista sign indicating a 100-yard spur trail leading to a great view of Carson City.  

We took a break 3-1/4 miles into our hike.  The trail rises steeply from the trail head to the Jeffrey Pine Forest.  

This is our first view of Lake Tahoe. 

You can see the snow covered peaks along the California side of the lake.

The views of Lake Tahoe get better and better the higher you go along the trail.

As we travel, we noticed two bikers below us who are riding up a steep bike trail.  The bike trail starts at the North Canyon Campground and ends with great views of Marlette Lake. The ride back to the campground is all down-hill.

Here are three photos of Lake Tahoe from the South to the North.  Our final climb is on a one-mile exposed west-facing ridge.

This is the second photo.  You can see the bikers road along the lower section. 

Here is the third photo looking towards Incline Village.

Finally, we get to enjoy full views of Lake Tahoe and Marlette Lake.  Seeing these two lakes side by side is truly spectacular. 

This is a view of several snow covered areas we had to navigate during our hike.

Here Kathy and I take a break to enjoy our views, snacks and some water.  It took us 3-hours to hike 6 miles to the summit with an elevation of 8974.  The hike was mostly uphill. Our return hike was fairly easy.  We traveled the 6 miles down in 1 hour 59 minutes.  We would recommend this hike to anyone visiting the Lake Tahoe area.  

The six miles we hiked is just a small section of the 165 miles that make up the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of the world’s premier trails. It passes through two states (California and Nevada), six counties, one state park, three National Forests, and three Wilderness areas as it winds from peak to peak around Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe Nevada-California

Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is 1,645 ft (501 m), making it the second-deepest in the United States.

We entered the Lake at Incline Village on the North Eastern side.  The lake has many cities along it's 72-miles of shoreline.  Approximately two-thirds of the shoreline is in California.

The lake was formed about 2 million years ago and is a part of the Lake Tahoe Basin with the modern lake being shaped during the ice ages. It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides.

This section of the lake is known as Crystal Bay.  You can see I managed to capture a photo of someone sailing.  The north shore boasts three peaks at 10,000+ feet: Mount Rose, Houghton and Relay peaks. Mt. Rose is a very popular hiking and back country skiing destination.

Kathy and I decided to take a closer look at Bliss State Park in the southern portion of the lake.  The scenery was terrific.  

We both thought the water would be cold and we were both right.  You can see the huge boulders that act as a platform for tourist walking along the edge of the lake.  

We were surprised at the many beaches along its coast.  Although the weather was a little chilly most of the beaches were occupied with local visitors.

Because of Lake Tahoe's striking beauty, it is a draw for year round activities and holds exciting opportunities for scuba divers along with unique challenges for scuba diving due to its elevation.  At this altitude, Lake Tahoe is considered a high altitude dive and requires special high altitude scuba diving procedures.  Here's a group of instructors with their students. 

The water temperature near the surface generally cools to 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during February and March and warms to 65 to 70 degrees during August and September. Below a depth of 600 to 700 ft, the water temperature remains a constant 39 degree Fahrenheit.  

Historically, the clarity of Lake Tahoe has been decreasing, with the rate of decrease slowing. However, in the last two years the lake's clarity has increased by over 10 percent. Fine sediment, much of it resulting from land disturbance in the basin, accounts for about half of the loss in clarity. The year 2010 had a low average Secchi depth, with the depth of 64.4 feet being the second lowest ever recorded (the lowest was 64.1 feet in 1997). It represents a decrease of 3.7 feet from the previous year.

Emerald Bay State Park is a state park of California, USA, preserving Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay, a National Natural Landmark. Park features include Eagle Falls and Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion that is considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States. The park also contains the only island in Lake Tahoe, Fannette Island.

Here's a photo of some of the mountain peaks along the west side of Lake Tahoe.  Kathy and I drove the entire 72 miles of shoreline.  We were thoroughly impressed with the beauty of Lake Tahoe and its surroundings. 

On a sad note, Kathy and I thought we would stop by the famous Ponderosa Ranch  (picture obtained via the web), of the TV series Bonanza which was formerly located on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. When we got near the ranch we were saddened that the Ponderosa Ranch had closed its doors in September 2004, after being sold to developer David Duffield for an undisclosed price. The Ranch had been demolished when we reached the site. 

North Dome Hike - Yosemite National Park

The hike begins at Porcupine Creek Trailhead on Tioga Pass Road.  Although the elevation change is only 580-foot, the hike is considered strenuous due to the step descents and accents along the path.

The path winds through mixed conifer forest for about 0.7 miles on a paved path, and crosses Porcupine creek several times.  I can tell you the paved path is almost gone.  We did see a hiker note in the path they had seen a bear and cub on the evening prior to our hike.  We did not see any bears during our hike and that was just fine with us!

We hiked several areas that were snow covered some about 2-3 feet deep.  

We reach the trail marker which interchanges with other hikes along the route.  We still have 2.7 miles to go.

Here's Kathy proceeding down one of the many slopes we encountered.  The entire hike is 10.4 miles round trip.   We hiked the route in just under 6-hours with breaks. 

The ridge you see in the foreground is near the end of the hike.  It looks fairly close but we have a lot of down hill and up hill hiking to get there.  The path was not easy to follow once you reach the rocky section.  We actually did a little off-path climbing to try and find an access route.  We eventually got back on the trail and continued our hike.

Near the end of the hike, you descend steep rocks steps to the base of the North Dome.  You then climb the domes summit to take in magnificent views of Half Dome and Yosemite Valley.  Kathy normally stays away from steep edges but did a fantastic job walking along the ridge. 

You walk 1/4 mile along a ridge to get to the overlook, but it's well worth the effort.  This is a picture of the famous Half Dome one of the most pictured cliffs in Yosemite Valley.  The Rangers install metal hand rails so that hikers can make the accent to the top of the dome.  

This is a photo of Illilouette Falls which Kathy and I crossed when we hiked down from Glacier Point in 2011. The Panorama Trail provides a close-up view of Illilouette Fall and panoramic views of eastern Yosemite Valley before joining the Mist or John Muir Trails down past Vernal and Nevada Falls to the valley floor.  Here's a link to our hike Glacier Point Hike

Here's a photo of the eastern side of the Yosemite Valley.  Not many people get to see this portion of the park.  You have to climb up to see an aerial view of this section.

We met another couple and agreed to take pictures of each other.   On our return hike, we again, damn GPS, lost track of the path for a moment and had to climb a very steep hill to access the trail again.  We would highly recommend this hike to anyone visiting the Tioga Pass section of the park.