Caught in the Pass

We took an extended trip around Tahoe. It has to be one of the nicest lake areas in the world. The east side is more developed in the sense that there are more services and stores in the towns there, and they are right on the lake. On the north side, the main road drifts away from the lake, so we took a turn into Incline Village and continued on the lake front. Beautiful homes and villages were tucked in there. At the NW side of the lake, we headed north to Truckee and the Donner Pass State Park.
At the Park we saw a film about the tragic events which occurred there in 1848. A group of pioneers got a late start crossing the Sierra Nevada and then ran into delays. They then ran into a winter the film claimed has not been surpassed to this day in severity. About 90 people were trapped by storms. They split into 3 or 4 separate groups to try to survive. One group chopped down trees to make a shelter. For years the stumps of these trees acted as a marker because the axe cuts were 22' up the trees. Provisions were inadequate so starvation and canabalism followed. Nobody was accused of murder. They ate the dead. Heroic rescue efforts were all thwarted by weather. By the time rescuers got there, only about half were alive. This pass is now crossed by I-80.
We continued south down the west side of Lake Tahoe. The homes become even more spectacular with many having private gates. I'd have to guess that 75 per cent of the shore line is developed with the rest being parklands. For those of you who haven't been here, the lake is basically surrounded by 7,000' mountains, almost like a huge Crater Lake. Many ski areas surround it, and judging by the number of boats and marinas, it's also a popular summer vacation spot. The altitude makes for comfortable summers and lots of snow in winter. We stopped at a couple of state parks on the way around to view the sites. It has to be added to the "I've never seen anything prettier" list, which is getting longer.