Kepnutz's coverage of Tomales Bay inspired me to post another one of my favorite kayaking spots, Lake Tahoe. Sugar Pine State Park is a very nice place for kayaking when the winds are strong from the southwest. The pictures were taken on a Sunday in late June of 2007, the day the big fire burned much of South Lake Tahoe. We started our day on the north shore, however, we decided not to launch there because of strong southwest winds creating 4-6 foot waves that were crashing hard the beach.
Here is a link to the park brochure
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/510/files ... ochure.pdfLink to a google map
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... Tahoe+City),+96142&sll=39.045902,-120.138041&sspn=0.396224,0.617981&ie=UTF8&ll=39.058878,-120.144325&spn=0.792299,1.235962&z=10
Parking is convenient, however, there isn't a ramp, but you can easily cart your boat down the bike path to the old boat house that is part of the park.
Picture below looks towards the point of launching
Peddling north, looking up towards the Ehrman Mansion, which is also one of the attractions of the park.
Heading back south, after peddling north. Looking south towards Sugar Pine Point. This point created nice protection from the southwest wind.
Looking south after rounding the point. Lake Tahoe fire is probably in its first hour.