7 minute read
Paddling the lake
Jaxon olsen and his mother, trina, tour lake tahoe on a standup paddleboard.
Water wise
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by shaUN h UNtER
Family Friendly aquatic sports do more than skim the sur Face
On a recent July morning, the heat of summer was already visible on Lake Tahoe. The sun had only just risen above the Tahoe Basin’s eastern peaks a couple of hours earlier, and already Kings Beach was dotted with kayakers and standup paddleboarders meandering along the shoreline. Further out on the water, a few boats zoomed around, but closer to shore, a more silent and fluid group of people were on the lake, sliding gently across the water on their smaller, more maneuverable crafts.
The arrival of summer heat usually means many Northern Nevadans, as well as tourists, begin making plans to spend more of their days near the rivers and lakes abundant in our corner of the Sierra. Luckily for those in Northern Nevada, several nearby lakes are large enough to provide a season’s worth of shoreline to explore.
Kayakers are a common sight in this area, too. While many in Reno may be familiar with the short maneuverable kayaks typically seen weaving and rolling across the downtown Whitewater Park, the lengthier kayaks you see at the lake provide more stability for a calmer ride.
“The great thing about kayaking in Tahoe is being surrounded by mountains while paddling on incredibly clear water,” said Kevin Hickey, owner of Tahoe Adventure Company, a kayak rental and tour provider who has been based on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore for the past 12 years. “There’s the human-powered adventure element where you’re more in touch with your environment.” In opting to explore the lake in a kayak rather than a boat or a jet ski, Hickey added, “You’re traveling within it rather than over it. You’re breathing the fresh air. You’re only a couple inches above the water. It’s a great workout. Essentially, it’s like riding a bike versus being in a car.”
Kayaks vary in purpose and form, from longer and narrower designs optimal for racing and long-distance paddling to more casual, open-top sit-upon models that are a better fit for a relaxed day at the lake with space to carry towels, food and fishing gear. Hickey points out that along with standard solo kayaks, his rental locations are equipped with tandem models built for two, which can be further modified to carry a young child between the paddlers. He also says difficulty is based on the paddlers’ desire. “We have a lot of people who just lounge around, and there are other people who like to get a lot of miles under their belt,” he said. “It’s just a matter of how aggressively you want to paddle.”
PHOTO/SHAUN HUNTER
What’s s UP?
Standup paddleboard riders (SUP riders for short) are becoming a more common sight on the lake. Relatively new to the world of aquatic sports, the boards offer a large, stable means of travel that allow the rider to stand, obviously, and skim the water with the help of an outrigger paddle.
PHOTOs /sHAUN HUNTER
Clockwise from top: Mother-daughter kayaking duo Jamie and Beyah Delfin visit Independence Lake; Adrift Tahoe store owner Marcus Tingle peddles a variety of standup paddleboards; Jaxon and Trina Olsen, Madeline McGwire and Addison Woelfle get their sea legs on SUPs.
Marcus Tingle, owner of Adrift Tahoe, a SUP rental and retail shop in Kings Beach, was an early fan of the sport.
“Really, it began around 2006,” he said. “I was on the East Shore here in Tahoe, and I’m looking at the crystal-clear water and at the rocks, and I thought it was just a perfect match.” He has operated his shop, which is on Tahoe’s North Shore, since 2010.
The SUP trend was born of Hawaiian surf culture and the big-wave surfers who brought the idea to the mainland, Tingle explained. “I had surfed for 10 years, and I had never had that perspective,” he said, recalling his first experiences with the modified board and paddle. “I had never seen all the critters moving around beneath the surface. I was just amazed. Suddenly, it’s walking on water!”
Lake Tahoe hosts several SUP races and allages events, including Ta-Hoe Nalu, SUP’s original race. However, the young sport is also seeing experimentation and changes in technology that are allowing for more family- and group-friendly outings, too.
“You’ve got people into racing, you’ve got people into just cruising,” Tingle said, expounding upon on the diverse appeal of learning to paddleboard. “You can learn how to catch waves, and you’ve got people into doing huge expeditions and exploring waterways.”
You’ll meet enthusiasts like Trina Olsen, who visited Lake Tahoe on a recent morning with her son, Jaxon, and daughter, Addison. While Addison paddled her own board near the shore, Trina and Jaxon hit the water with an extra-wide board stable enough for both of them.
“It’s absolutely still evolving,” Tingle explained. “We’ve got different widths and shapes for different people. We have boards for the balance-challenged.” Though the thought of trying to remain upright on a floating board may seem a bit intimidating to those who haven’t tried it, Tingle says that after a quick lesson on technique—one his shop provides with every SUP rental—“... if the rider just relaxes, stays with it, and starts to paddle, it takes about five minutes to get the hang of.”
Both Hickey and Tingle’s equipment rentals include all necessary gear and life jackets, along with some instruction for any beginners new to kayaking or paddleboarding.
Apart from Tahoe, rental and retail facilities are also at Donner Lake and the Sparks Marina. The Independence Lake Preserve, which is about 25 minutes north of Truckee and operated by the Nevada Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, offers free kayaks to borrow on a first-come, first-serve basis during summer day-use hours. While most rental locations have the kayaks waiting on the water for you, allowing you to easily show up and get on the water without hauling the bulky crafts across the beach, novices should know that windy conditions may make balance and paddling more difficult. In short, it’s best to plan your trip for a calm day, or early hours before winds pick up.
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Best of the B each
Back at Tahoe, the sun peaked and the shore was full of families spread out with beach towels and umbrellas. A quick scan of the water showed groups casually paddling kayaks across the emerald depths, and others lying down on standup paddleboards in the water a distance out, simply letting the current and the wind pull them across the lake’s smooth surface.
Lest you think being on the water is exclusively a daytime activity, Hickey points out that his rental company encourages paddlers to get out and see more than the standard day-at-the-beach from the water. “We do sunset tours, we do full-moon tours, and we do tours with astronomers on occasion.”
Hickey said his favorite spot on Lake Tahoe to kayak is “Sand Harbor! There is lots of undeveloped coastline, little coves and secret beaches, and especially now with the lake being low, the beaches are larger and there are more places to land. It’s the best paddling on the lake!” Ω
