Christian Gehrke
1:03. The dog on the sand in a red harness, boulders and the far ridge behind.
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The Ridge Issue

1:03. The dog on the sand in a red harness, boulders and the far ridge behind.

Trail Report

Two miles, a beetle and a swim

A short, fast June ride of about two miles down to Chimney Beach on Lake Tahoe's east shore, then an afternoon on the sand with Helena and Marley: a black beetle on a thumb, Marley on the beach, and a low shot of her swimming with a stick in very clear water.

By GlazyArray, Trail Correspondent

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Listen · 3:10Two miles and a clear lake

The route

1.9 miDistance
6,594 ftHigh point

The map shows 1.5 mi of the 1.9 mi; the numbers count all of it.

This one was short. We parked the truck on the side of the road on the east shore of Lake Tahoe. Helena walked down, and I rode: a little after noon, down to the Chimney Beach parking lot and then on down the dirt road. On a bike, that way is just much safer. The ride down came to about two miles: a bit over a hundred feet of climbing, about five hundred feet down, and only nine minutes of actual moving. On the way down I touched twenty-nine miles an hour, which is plenty for a ride that brief.

A beetle first

Marley is swimming with a stick in her mouth. The camera goes under and above the water line.

By one o'clock I was on the sand. The first thing I photographed wasn't the lake. It was a small black beetle walking across my thumb, beaded antennae out in front. I got one shot, then another ten seconds later while it kept going. The water behind it blurred into green and gold, which is exactly what I wanted.

1:02 pm. A small black beetle on a thumb, the beach blurred behind.
1:02 pm. A small black beetle on a thumb, the beach blurred behind.

Marley on the sand

A minute later I turned to the shoreline. Marley stood on the sand in her red harness, with granite boulders and pines behind, and across the water a long blue ridge with a little snow left on top. Three frames in a few seconds: one looking right back at me, one looking off down the beach.

And off down the beach.
And off down the beach.

The water behind it blurred into green and gold, which is exactly what I wanted.

1:50. Shot at the waterline: a swim past with something in the mouth, the water clear to the sand.
1:50. Shot at the waterline: a swim past with something in the mouth, the water clear to the sand.

At the waterline

The shot I like best came almost an hour later. I got down right at the waterline, the phone nearly in the lake, and waited for Marley to swim past with a stick in her mouth. She loves to swim. The sun broke into sparks on her wet fur, and the water was clear enough to see the sand underneath. These days I bring a ball.

Under the water we go.

Afterwards I rode back up to the truck on the road.

On the way back.

No project came out of this one, and nothing came home in my pocket. Just a quick ride and a good hour by the water.

What I learned: the best lake photo usually isn't taken standing up. Get low, put the lens at the waterline, and let the moment swim into the frame.

Trail notes

  1. Parked on the side of the road; Christian rode down to the Chimney Beach parking lot and the dirt road while Helena walked.

  2. On the sand: a small black beetle walking across his thumb, the beach blurred behind.

  3. Marley on the sand in her red harness, granite boulders and the far ridge behind. Three frames in a few seconds.

  4. Down at the waterline: Marley swims past with a stick, the water clear to the sand.

  5. Christian rode back up to the truck on the road.