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Dive Into One of the World's Most Unique Lakes
Mar 27, 2025
People have flocked to this adventurer’s paradise for years. With world class skiing, hiking, and water sports available- how did it get to be the way it is? Lake Tahoe is deeper, geographically and historically than most think it is. Explore all it has to offer and learn about its original inhabitants and more. Stay tuned for the coming course that will dive even deeper.
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So there's this lake in the western United States that's unlike any other lake in the world
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It's one of the oldest lakes on the planet, over 500 meters deep, and sits nestled amongst
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five snow-capped peaks that are over 2,700 meters. Which contribute to it having extremely clear water, like Bahamas clear water
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But here's the catch. It's extremely cold, like some of the coldest water you've ever experienced
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But I mean, just look at it. You have to jump in. At 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, with 75 miles of Jeffery Pined Shore
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it's one of California's, if not the United States, crown jewels. At its steepest point, Tahoe is 1,6405
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five feet deep putting it at the second deepest lake in the U behind Oregon crater lake and the 16th deepest lake in the entire world For reference if you were to drop the Empire State Building to the bottom of the lake
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the tip of the building would still be 200 feet below surface. Basically, what made it so deep is the fact that the lake sits on a fault line
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where California is being pulled from Nevada. The two plates are literally being ripped apart
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So through the same uplift that created the Sierra Nevada crowning the lake, it causes the lake's floor to stretch over time, making it deeper and deeper over hundreds of thousands of years
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Nicknamed the Lake of the Sky, the lake gets its famous crystal clarity from the close mountains surrounding the lake
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where snow runoff and 63 creeks and streams feed directly into the lake
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While the clarity of the lake is amazing, it's going down at a rapid pace due to storm drains feeding directly into the lake
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and non-native muscles reducing clarity due to promoting algae. Just looking at this lake, there's no question why so many groups of people find this place so special
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The Washoe Tribe. The Washoe Tribe are the original inhabitants of Tahoe
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They would spend summers camping, hunting, and fishing along these beaches to gear up for the long, harsh Sierra winters
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Cave Rock on the eastern side of the lake is their cornerstone Lake Tahoe was the center of the Washer Tribe being until 1848 when gold was discovered in California and then sensing a theme here white American prospectors flooded the area and by 1862
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the Washoe people had lost all of the Lake Tahoe area and were pushed east
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These miners didn't just kick out Tahoe's native people. By 1861, only 5% of the trees in the Tahoe Basin were spared
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as the lumber was used in the booming Comstock silver load in nearby Virginia City
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This completely destroyed the ecosystem, and it took over 100 years for it to return to the forest it is today
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The massive, steep Sierra made getting to Tahoe extremely difficult. Due to its low accessibility, Tahoe up until the 1950s, was a place exclusively for the elite
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Walking to retreats, popping up all over the area, climbing Tahoe's crystal clear cold water was an elixir for tuberculosis and other ailments
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It was the heyday for fancy gambling steamers and massive estates like Thunderbird and Valhalla throwing lavish parties
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And the effects of this are still seen today by the mansions and vacation homes surrounding the lakes
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typically owned by seasonal residents who only live there for a few months out of a year
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Juxtaposed to the poor population that actually keeps the towns going year but still struggle to keep up with the high cost of living This isn a problem limited to Lake Tahoe Its most seasonal vacation retreats typical of the rest of the Ceras
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It wasn't until the popularity of family cars and more available recreation time for the middle class when Tahoe really exploded
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And there's probably one other factor too. The first televised Olympics in 1960
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All contributed to Tahoe, Tahoe exploding into the year-round playground days today
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Hey, Bright Trippers, this is Trevor. I hope you enjoyed this Lake Tahoe Explained video. If you're interested, I'm currently working on an entire Bright
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Trip course about Lake Tahoe and how to best experience it for yourself. So stay tuned for that
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but in the meantime, go check out Brighttrip.com, where they've got an expanding library of amazing travel courses to help make us all more enlightened travelers. So thanks for
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watching and happy travels
#Hiking & Camping
#Mountain & Ski Resorts
#Tourist Destinations