“Tahoe Chalice,” and “Tahoe Reflections”

Yes, that really is Lake Tahoe! Greg photographed “Tahoe Chalice,” (above) and “Tahoe Reflections,” (below) journeying between Flagstaff, Arizona and Truckee, California, two high-mountain “sky islands” separated by 500 miles of desert.  (See “Sky Islands,” Greg’s November, 2010, Flying Carpet column.)

Those who’ve visited sparkling Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada at the crook of California’s elbow, and even many who haven’t, carry a clear vision of the place—cobalt water ringed by glistening snow-covered mountains. Tahoe is the nation’s second deepest lake, and one readily imagines it plunging deep underground.

But approach by air from the east, and you’re in for a surprise. For unlike most lakes, groundbound in deep valleys, Tahoe levitates in a crystal chalice 2,000 feet above the Nevada desert, buttressed by the Carson Range of mountains. Only from an airplane can one fathom the magic of the huge elevated lake, not to mention the resulting distinct and disparate climate zones in such close proximity to each other. No wonder this is one of Greg’s favorite photographs.