Having recently arrived in California, we made an eager trip up to Lake Tahoe to see the place which would act as our winter playground in the coming ski season. Of course, the area is home to many spring / summer / autumn activities also such as hiking, mountain biking, golf, boat trips on the lake, and general sightseeing of the towns on the shoreline.

I can imagine that the Lake Tahoe vista is stunning at any time of year. With its deep blue lake water, rugged crown of surrounding mountains, and the dark green of the many resident pine trees, Tahoe has the perfect alpine formula.

During our couple of days here, we did some mountain biking in the north western corner of the lakeside terrain which was fun. Lots of pine forest smells as you bike along, and some huge acorns that acted as props for our stupid photographs.

Also we couldn't resist a trip up on the Heavenly gondola to get an elevated lake view, but more importantly, to have a look at the pistes and ski lifts that would entertain us during the winter months. Back then for me, it was like torture ... walking around a ski resort with 3 months to go until the major powder dumps arrive ... eeeeEEEKKK!