Leon Turnbull Photography

After sunrise at Emerald Bay, Rob and I headed over to Fallen Leaf Lake. This is where I really wanted to be for sunrise. I knew there were Aspen trees at the end of the lake, and I had envisioned a fabulous image with first light on Mt. Tallac, with the lake and colorful Aspens in the foreground (and a great reflection too). We were snubbed on three fronts. Firstly, a big dark, ominous cloud hung over Mt. Tallac like a wet blanket. As you can see in the photo, only the bottom part of the mountain was showing; the peak is up there somewhere, but I sure can’t see it. Secondly, it was rather windy which prevented any good reflections to be seen on the lake. And thirdly, the Aspen trees at the end of the lake were not in full color. We both were rather bummed about that. I had expected this weekend would be the prime weekend at Lake Tahoe for viewing Fall Colors. And actually, when we went over to Taylor Creek a bit later, the trees there were much more colorful (we should have gone there first!), but the ones at Fallen Leaf Lake were listless, and a lot of the leaves were already falling off due to the cold and wind.

So anyway, we walked right to the end of the lake, across the bridge, and walked through the mud on the other side to get right in front of the Aspen trees and the mountain. I tried to get out as far as I could without getting wet. I was standing on some precarious rocks in the lake to take this photo. Rob was watching close with his camera at the ready in case I slipped and fell into the lake. But I did the same when he tried an identical stunt a bit later. I think we were both disappointed that the other person didn’t end up in the drink. That’s just no fun.