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Scooter around the lake LbNA #70544

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Sep 18, 2016
Location: Tallac historic site
City:Lake Tahoe
County:El Dorado
State:California
Boxes:1
Planted by:Cali3
Found by: Not yet found!
Last found:N/A
Status:U
Last edited:Sep 19, 2016
Clue image
This was planted to honor our wonderful dog of 13 years Scooter who loved Lake Tahoe!

We know that a drive around the lake is a must-do-item for most visitors to Lake Tahoe. However, if you have the time to experience the Tallac Historic Site you won't regret it. It is a great look into how the well-to-do of the past enjoyed the lake. There is even a self guided walking tour that will have you dreaming of a bygone era. All that history is great but what our old hound Scooter really loved about this area is the beach that allows dogs, leashed of course! He loved to plop his belly down in the water and let the waves crash over him. So we thought the best way to honor Scooter was by creating a letterbox so everyone could experience this area too, of course plopping belly first into the lake is optional.

So, while you are on an adventure around the lake (most likely cruising around on Highway 89/Emerald Bay Road) find your way to the Tallac Historic Site on the southern side of the lake. Turn off the highway at the log sign that reads "TALLAC" and onto Heritage Way. Once on the road you will come across a fork in the road, follow the brown sign leading to "Tallac Historic Site" and "Kiva Picnic". You will find your way to a parking lot for both the Kiva picinic areas and the Pope & Baldwin estate, be aware that this lot tends to fill up fast during the busy seasons. Once parked you can explore the estates but to find this letterbox you will need to walk down the paved path through the green, state park style, gate (open during the summer, may be closed during the winter?) toward the Kiva picnic area.

If you need a bathroom break, great- there is one just on your right. After a pit stop you will need to get back on your path and continue on. Now, you might notice the paved walkway ends but do not worry, just continue straight ahead, even past the sign for the Tallac museum and Washoe Indian exhibit on your right. Once your path has ended you will come to an "intersection". To the right is a gate that closes off the path to the museum grounds and straight ahead is a staircase to the beach (the first of 5 that you will pass). We know the beach will be calling to you but for now you must turn left and continue down the path. You will follow this path as it runs parallel to the beach/lake. There is an informative self guided walking tour in this area so you will come across a tour stop labeled "Saving the Tallac Forest". After reading the sign and imagining this area without trees continue down the path but be sure not to trip on the oddly placed sanitary sewer cover.

Next stop on the walking tour is for "rolling the dice at Lake Tahoe", the remains of an old lakeside casino stands in this area. We are always amazed by how far the lake used to come up and we challenge you toThis was planted to honor our wonderful dog of 13 years Scooter who loved Lake Tahoe!

We know that a drive around the lake is a must-do-item for most visitors to Lake Tahoe. However, if you have the time to experience the Tallac Historic Site you won't regret it. It is a great look into how the well-to-do of the past enjoyed the lake. There is even a self guided walking tour that will have you dreaming of a bygone era. All that history is great but what our old hound Scooter really loved about this area is the beach that allows dogs, leashed of course! He loved to plop his belly down in the water and let the waves crash over him. So we thought the best way to honor Scooter was by creating a letterbox so everyone could experience this area too, of course plopping belly first into the lake is optional.

So, while you are on an adventure around the lake (most likely cruising around on Highway 89/Emerald Bay Road) find your way to the Tallac Historic Site on the southern side of the lake. Turn off the highway at the log sign that reads "TALLAC" and onto heritage way. Once on the road you will come across a fork in the road, follow the brown sign leading to "Tallac Historic Site" and "Kiva Picnic". You will find you way to a parking lot for both the Kiva picinic areas and the Pope & Baldwin estate, be aware that this lot tends to fill up fast during the busy seasons. Once parked you can explore the estates but to find this letterbox you will need to walk down the paved path through the green state park style gate (open during the summer, may be closed during the winter?) toward the Kiva picnic area.

If you need a bathroom break, great- there is one just on your right. After a pit stop you will get back on your path and continue on. Now, you might notice the paved walkway ends but do not worry just continue straight ahead, even past the sign for the Tallac museum and Washoe Indian exhibit on your right. Once your path has ended you will come to an "intersection". To the right a gate that closes off the path to the museum grounds and straight ahead a staircase to the beach (the first of 5 that you will pass). We know the beach will be calling to you but for now you must turn left and continue down the path. You will follow this path as it runs parallel to the beach/lake. There is an informative self guided walking tour in this area so you will come across a tour stop labeled "Saving the Tallac Forest". After reading the sign and imagining this area without trees continue down the path but be sure not to trip on the oddly placed sanitary sewer cover.

Next stop on the walking tour is for "rolling the dice at Lake Tahoe", the remains of an old lakeside casino stands in this area. We are always amazed by how far the lake used to come up and we challenge you to find the remains of the old brick bakery oven. Continue down the path past a duck bench and the old Tallac Resort Fountain circa 1900. At this point you will be faced with a multi pronged fork in the road: your choices will be an old abandoned path, lucky's legacy walking path, beach access, or our preferred choice which is to continue on the path that runs parallel to lake. You will be greeted by a small forest of trees with white bark, we hope that if the sun is out and the breeze is right you will be treated to Nature's show of a thousand dancing leaves.

You might be mesmerized by all the beauty Nature has crammed in this one little area, so you may not notice that a very large tree has fallen across this path. Do not let this bother you for someone has already solved the problem and cut the tree so the path goes right through it. Right about now you might be in need of a seat and some time to appreciate the beauty around you. This is perfect because the South Lake Tahoe Rotary Club donated a bench made of old tree trunks in 2011 just up ahead. This is the perfect spot to have a seat, do not worry the bear on the seat back is totally harmless. From this bench you will be able to admire the lake, wildflowers (if it is the right season), Tallac Point, and hopefully a few dogs out enjoying the lake. You can also relax because you have come to the landing spot of our letterbox!

To find this letterbox you may need one person to be your stealthy lookout while you are retrieving the box. The box is hiding in a small triangular space that is created from the back support, seat, and leg coming together, and if you are standing behind the bench it would be hidden on the left side of the bench. For extra measure we piled up a few rocks to protect it's hiddy-hole, if possible we would appreciate you doing the same when re-hiding the box.

The box is a little hard to open and the contents are definitely all crammed inside, but we hope that all your work will pay off and you will enjoy this tribute to our favorite old gentleman Scooter. Once you are all done we recommend taking a few minutes to dig in the sand, splash in the water, and lay in the sun, because Scooter would want everyone to enjoy this lake just as he had!

SEASONAL WARNING: Even though we are from just down the road in Sacramento we do not get up to the Tahoe area during the winter. With that being said, we do not know what kind of access to this area is available during the winter months. This may be an area that is only available during the Spring to Fall months, we would love to hear if anyone is able to find in the snowy months!

Hike length: 1 mile