Tahoe - Rubicon Trail to Emerald Bay Hike

As expected, it's just glorious up here in Lake Tahoe. We're staying in Incline Village for 5 days with our good friends Greg and Dianna.There is still quite a bit of snow up on the mountaintops making almost every view simply gorgeous. The crisp, clean air just makes the colors seem much more vivid too.Yesterday we took one of our favorite hikes along the Rubicon trail to Emerald Bay.The hike we chose is a little more than 8 miles round trip with simply amazing views every way you looked. Of course, this little guy was ready for the fun too...The hiking trail starts up at a higher elevation in D.L. Bliss State Parkand works it way downto the lakefront at Emerald Bay.Greg couldn't resist a dip into the 48 degree water and tried to entice little Bubbs to come in too.A bit too cold for Bubba though. He said "paw-depth" was enough for him.There were lots of ladybugs roaming around the waterfront. I snapped this shot of two sitting on a piece of wood near where we rested. (I played with the colors a bit too as you can tell).The only thing about hiking down is...eventually, you have to hike back up.Luckily we had stunning views to focus on (and the weather wasn't super hot yet at this time of year).I have a feeling day 2 of this trip might involve a bit of napping...especially for this tired hiker: :)~ Lita