The desert landscape of Reno slowly fades away as I drive up the backside of the mountains that surround the alpine lake. Descending into the Lake Tahoe basin, the hot desert air turns to a cool mountain breeze and tumbleweeds give way to green pines. After throttling the RPM’s of my rental car to their max, I finally begin to descend toward my first view of the lake. The archetypal American writer, Mark Twain, describes the moment he caught sight of Lake Tahoe for the first time.
“At last the lake burst upon us—a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.”
After saluting the stunning lake view, I resumed my drive to the south shore in time to watch a fiery sunset and relax before the race.
“ Perhaps for my own conscience, I want to do something about the dichotomy created by earth-friendly-paddling-vibes and the reality of mass SUP consumerism ”
