Tahoe Toba Blue

What Shades of Blue?

                                                            Shades of Tahoe Blue ;

Marine Blue = Tahoe Blue

                                                            Emmerald Green = Tahoe Blue

                                                            Brown = Tahoe Blue

                                                            Yellow =Tahoe Blue

                                                            White = Tahoe Blue

                                                            Black = Tahoe Blue

                                                            Other shades= Tahoe Blue

That’s what I personally like to call the ever-changing shades of the clear pure blue water of Lake Tahoe. I don’t mind if people say I am color blind…I know I am not. Or people call me crazy blue tahoe-er.                                                

Watch my short video showing the many “shades of Tahoe blue.” 

My dear friends,

 

Before my last week’s post: World Youth Day, I wrote about our trip to Yosemite National Park (posted 9-2) where we went with our guests, my nephew and relatives from Holland. Where else did we go? Of course Lake Tahoe, another “must see” destination for our visitors.

Every time I went to Lake Tahoe, is it in the winter, spring, summer or fall, I am always fascinated and in awe with the beauty of Tahoe, a beauty that is sometimes indescribable, that had inspired so many writers and poets to praise Tahoe. And for me, seeing Lake Tahoe always reminds me of a similar lake in Indonesia, Lake Toba in North Sumatra. I think that Indonesia's Lake Toba is as beautiful as Lake Tahoe. The big difference is that Lake Tahoe is considered an Alpine lake while Indonesia's Lake Toba is a Volcanic lake.

Here is a comparison table of those two lakes:   

	Tahoe	Toba
	Alpine Lake	Volcanic/Crater Lake
	Largest in North America	Largest in the world
Elevation:	6,229 feet	2, 969 ft. (905 m)
Length	22 miles	Max. 62 mi. max. (100 km)
Width	12 miles	max. 19 miles (30 km)
Depth	Average 989 feet	Max. 1,657 ft. (505 meter)
Shoreline	72 miles
Surface area	193 sq. mi or 122,200 acres
Volume	39 trillion gallons or	240 km3 (58 cu mi)
	122 million acre ft. of water
Surface water	Maximum - 68 degrees F,
temperature	Minimum - 41 degrees F
Temperatures	Maximum - 47 degrees F,
at 200 feet	Minimum - 41 degrees F

The Toba caldera is the only super volcano in existence that can be described as Yellowstone's “bigger” sister.

Here are some photo comparisons of those two lakes:

  Tahoe

 

 

Toba

Now let's watch my 2:44 minutes slideshow, strolling along the beach of Nevada Sand Harbor State Park with the breathtaking views of Tahoe. 

And You Tube video Tao Toba Natio:

My dear friends,

Maybe some of you do not know or don't remember why the name Tahoe (by the way, Tahoe, or new spelling in Indonesia Tahu, means Tofu or soybean cake). There is an interesting history about the name. At Sand Harbor beach I found the information board with the heading: What's In A Name? That reminded me of my post on July 19th with the same title, quoted from Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet:
 

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Let me quote for easier reading:

Modern interpretations are many: “big water,” “high water,” and “lake of the sky.” One scholar, the Reverend Thomas Starr King insisted the correct pronunciation was “Tache (much water) Dao (blue water).” Other versions common in the late 1800s  included Taw-who, Tay-how, Tay-ho-ee, Ta-joe. Even Pah-hoe and Da-au.

Nearly one hundred years (bold by me) of debate over a suitable name followed the first Anglo discovery of the lake in 1844, before the California Legislature convened in 1945 to rescind an earlier name in favor of Lake Tahoe.

This action reinforced the opinion of one early settler regarding Indian place-names in the region, “Their names are on the waters and the land, and we may not wash them out.”

Interesting, isn't it? 100 years without a definitive or official name!

So many other interesting things around Lake Tahoe that I love to share with you. For now, just remember this: Keep Tahoe Blue, Keep Indonesia's Toba Blue.
 

And I would like to emphasize the message from the Tao Toba video: Save Toba!