A scenic paddle between Tahoe eateries

By Kathryn Reed

While everyone touts there only being one island in Lake Tahoe, four of us say not so fast.

What about that sandbar of sorts between Trout Creek and the mouth of the Upper Truckee River that is home to a flock of geese?

“It’s a natural part of Lake Tahoe’s sedimentation and fluvial geomorphology. Unless the area was part of a planned river restoration, islands like that might remain unaltered for many years before natural hydrologic action takes them out or moves them entirely,” Jeff Cowen with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency told Lake Tahoe News.

Lauri Kemper with Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board had this to say, “The ‘island’ is formed from the flows and sand/sediment coming out of the Upper Truckee River and Trout creek and is dynamic. [It] changes based on lake elevations and river flows and timing of snow melt, etc. It is not likely to ever become ‘permanent’, but if it persists, it may provide an environment for willows and other plants to begin growing there.”

While Kemper said I could name it Reed Island, she said to not start doing anything to the island.

“You can name temporal objects,” she explained.

The four of us out on a recent paddle opted to call it Geese Island based on the inhabitants.

We started the morning at Lakeland Village, where our friends had access to a kayak. Sue and I launched our canoe from there.

In addition to the island’s being new since we were last on this stretch of water along the edge of the South Shore, the entrance to Trout Creek is covered with sand. A year ago it was spectacular to paddle in there among all the blooming lilies. While we could have portaged our vessels, we opted to keep heading toward the Tahoe Keys.

Standup paddleboarders outnumbered other human powered craft – at least on our way out. By the time we headed to our home port there were whitecaps on the lake.

Headed south we had Mount Tallac as our beacon. The water is so clear – even more than 100 yards from shore. And some places it’s shallow enough for people to be standing next to us.

Lakeview Commons really is something to see from the water. Regan Beach is as unimpressive from the water as it is on land.

It becomes a bit of an architectural tour going along Lakeview Avenue and into the Keys.

“I loved being on the lake and seeing things from a whole new perspective,” Roni said.

We didn’t know what to expect coming into the Tahoe Keys Marina in terms of whether we could tie up the kayak and canoe. No problem. We could have stayed for two hours.

As we leave the Fresh Ketch, a marina worker warns us the winds are supposed to be picking up soon and to be cautious. We thank him and heed his warning as we paddle a bit closer to shore on our way back.

It’s getting rough, but plenty of people are still playing on the water.

We get to Timber Cove pier and have the only unpleasant experience of the day. I shout “hey” to a Zodiac with “Camp Richardson” on the side to get the guys’ attention. They are headed to shore and we are headed to go under the pier.

They nastily shout back, “It’s a boat channel.”

Perhaps if they would have been looking in front of them and paying attention to those on the water instead of the skimpily clad woman on the pier they were keeping pace with, they wouldn’t have been annoyed by being shouted to by two middle-aged women in a canoe with unattractive life jackets on. I can only imagine if we were tourists, what kind of impression the exchange would have left.

We paddle on.

Now it’s time for a stop at Riva Grill. No problem getting beyond the boat channel and putting our toys alongside those that are available for rent.

One short push and we make it back to Lakeland – ready for another day on the lake.