On the Road: Mark Twain and Lake Tahoe

Where Taylor Creek empties into Lake Tahoe.

At last Lake Tahoe burst upon us,
a noble sheet of blue water
lifted some 6,000 feet
above the level of the sea,
and walled in by a rim of
snow-clad mountain peaks
that towered aloft
a full 3.000 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.


— Mark Twain, 1861


Mark Twain lived and worked as a newspaperman in Virginia City, Nevada. As mentioned in his book — Roughing It — Twain spent several days camping on the shores of Lake Tahoe. — US Forest Service guidepost along a trail to Lake Tahoe.