We took a little 'get away' trip to South Lake Tahoe in mid-October. We enjoyed some much needed R & R. The weather was beautiful...but we did get a surprise snow shower the day after we arrived. Other than that, clear sunny days with crisp temperatures.
Some dear friends of ours, Pat and John, were able to join us for a few days and we enjoyed a little tour of some old estates from about 1890 to 1930's. What a lovely setting!
Then we mosied on down the road to the Rainbow Trail at the Taylor Creek Visitors' Center http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/visitor-center/events/kokanee.shtml
to watch the Kokanee salmon spawn. The park has an easy access walkway to Taylor Creek--you walk right up to the edge of the shallow creek and can see the fish swishing their tails to create the perfect 'hole' to place the eggs...then the male comes along and hovers over them. Afterwards, the female swishes again to cover the now fertalized eggs with some gravel...then they both go off to die. But, the Kokanee continue on in the spring when these little eggs hatch and grow into sizes that can be washed back into Lake Tahoe for the next 3 or 4 years before
they too return to spawn.
Hundreds of fish make it back up the creek, returning to their birthplace in order to spawn.
The male fish turn bright red for spawning.
A nice view from Rainbow Trail
We had a very nice time relaxing for the week, but we were glad to get home; Toby, Garner and Penny were happy to see us even though they had beed pampered all week by our house/dog-sitter friend, Marie.
