Trek America | Day 28&29: Lake Tahoe & Great Basin

September 30, 2019 in travel, Trek America 2019

Being gone 44 days, you may wonder, if we ever missed home or got a bit bored. Trek America itineraries are so tightly planned that you don’t really get a chance to be bored. Even on the van days we had plenty of stops and lots of different landscapes to look at. On the downside, days like today, it was really sad to leave Yosemite National Park. It can feel like you only just got there but you have to keep moving!

*On May 29th 2019, I travelled with Trek America on their Grand Trek tour for six weeks around the USA. We began in New York, travelling south to the West Coast, then North back to the East Coast. I am not affiliated with Trek America. Read all my Trek America posts here. *

Lunch stop at Silver Lake

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

This was a really nice, unexpected stop. Everyone spent the whole time just taking in this amazing view. A good break from the van!

Lake Tahoe

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

We finally reached Lake Tahoe later on that afternoon. First off we set up the campsite, then our leader dropped us off to sit on the beach for a couple of hours.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

The views with the sand, lake & mountains in the background were really beautiful. Luckily, the weather stayed nice the whole time we were there.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN
TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

Evening hike: Emerald Cove & Eagle Falls

Later that evening our leader suggested taking us on a hike, if anyone wanted to go. I immediately said yes! Only a few of us went…I can’t stress enough, say yes to the spontaneous things – you’ve paid money for the trip, make the most of it. Also, these views were gorgeous!

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN
TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

I looked up some pictures of this trail online and it looks like we didn’t do the whole thing.. although it was getting dark, we probably turned back due to this. However, there are some really good views of the lake. Definitely look up this trail and the viewpoints if you are in the Lake Tahoe area.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

We reached a really cool viewpoint and then realised that we could climb down closer to the waterfall…sounds like a good idea right?!? …We were careful. Although, it wasn’t until we got down there that we then looked back up and wondered how we were going to get back up. It’s moments like this that stick in your mind when you look back at the trip.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN
TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

Campground by the Lake

This campground was so close to the Lake that you could just about see it from where you had pitched your tent. The site itself was okay, pretty standard. Very similar to Mather Campground in Grand Canyon.

Breakfast at Denny’s

Our leader suggested that we could all go to Denny’s for breakfast the next day. I have fond memories of Denny’s from previous USA family holidays, so was pretty excited to go back. I had the cinnamon roll pancake, very sweet…but so good!

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

As we left Lake Tahoe, we stopped at Cave Rock, which had this view. A really great last look at the Lake!

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

Our next stop was at Scheels in Sparks, Nevada. Those of us who did the Southern Sun part of the trip had seen something similar in Tennessee at Bass Pro Shops. Nonetheless, this was still impressive.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN
TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

After exploring the store for a little while, a few of us went round to Bath & Body Works, which happened to be just around the corner. So happy about this! ?I only stuck to buying small items though as we still had a way to go on the trip.

Rollercoaster Fireworks – Battle Mountain

Our leader explained that she was taking us to this cool fireworks store, as 4th July was in a couple of days. When we arrived there we were pretty surprised, check out the pictures below.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

We were all thinking, is this place legit? When we went up to the doors there was a notice on there saying the store had been closed by the Nevada State Fire Marshall.

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

To this day, I am still unsure if this place was a serious stop or our leader brought us here because it was funny?‍♀️. I am assuming that this is a legitimate fireworks store?!

I have since managed to work out where this place was and looking at the google reviews, the shop is legit and you can see the stop work order notice in one of the google reviews. What an odd experience! Unfortunately, we didn’t get any fireworks for 4th July ☹️

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

South Fork State Campground

This campground was…in.the.middle.of.nowhere. In a good way – that’s not a complaint haha! Very minimal facilities as you would expect, but the shower & toilets were decent. Unfortunately there were bugs everywhere – which made trying to do the washing up very difficult. Don’t forget your bug spray!

Next stop – Jackson Hole & Grand Teton

Continue reading Trek America 2019

Let me know if you have any questions regarding Trek America or the places we visited ?

TREK AMERICA | GRAND TREK | DAY 28&29: LAKE TAHOE & GREAT BASIN

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