Horsetail Falls, Lake Tahoe

After our morning hike to Eagle Lake, Levi and I drove about 30 minutes down the road to hike up to Horsetail Falls. I was pretty nervous about this hike because, although it was only about 2.5-3 miles, there were a lot of reviews talking about what a tough hike it was. It starts off fairly easy on a shaded path, but you quickly enter into full sun as you are making your way across these huge chunks of rock/granite/slate. The cool thing about it is that the water runs to the right of the trail the whole time so we made plenty of stops along the way to cool down in the shade.

I sort of felt like the falls were like that "oasis" you see walking through the desert and you never seem to be able to catch up to it. Every time I thought we'd be getting close, they were still so far away. This hike had a big elevation gain and this was still only our first full day at a higher altitude! I was dying. We stopped soo many times. Ended up being like a 4 hour hike for us.

While the hike up was pretty tough towards the top, you had some pretty rewarding views when you turned around.

I told Levi it looked like some faces needed to be carved into these mountains! But you know, nature preservation and all.

The water was ICE cold. Like, I was sweating so much and I still couldn't handle getting in.

The first close up glimpse of the falls! Apparently some Spartan humans can make it all the to the top, but no thank you. We went just a bit further and then I threw in the towel. There is no direct trail going up, so we think it's possible we just weren't on the part of the rock that was easiest to move up. You are literally rock climbing at this point.

This is my direct sunlight for for hours climbing up rocks face:

On our hike back down we encountered a little snake! I was sad we didn't see more wildlife while we were in Tahoe!

Here is the little swimming hole we decided to jump into. Levi jumped in first to test things out and then we both jumped off that rock to the back left. I cannot even explain to you guys how cold it was. We videoed it, but I'm half embarrassed of the video because after the jump I come frantically out of the water thrashing for the shore. IT WAS LIKE ICE.

Post swim:

And there you have it! Horsetail Falls hike! Would I do it again or recommend it? I *think* so. BUT, I don't think the falls are worth it enough to go allll the way. I think you could easily just do the first half of the hike and be just as satisfied!

- Bethany

Floral Romper

Wow, the last time I did an outfit post was in January!! Turns out when the temperatures get over 85 degrees I stop making outfits...another reason I can't live in Texas forever! (But, #texasforever).

I bought this romper at Old Navy a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to wear it somewhere! Well, cue an impromptu engagement party for my step-sister-in-law (that's a mouthful!). Kelsey and Seth got engaged and I got to wear my new romper! Yay! Typically rompers do not work for us girls above the 5'10" range, but this one has us covered!

Of course I forced my animals into a photo shoot.

Romper: Old Navy, Shoes: Target, Watch: Michael Kors

Romper twins! Congrats, Kelsey! May you romp your way into marriage well!

- B

Eagle Lake Hike

For the first full day of our trip, Levi and I wanted to go ahead and tackle the most popular hike in the area. Eagle Lake and Eagle Falls are both located right above Emerald Bay, which is a gorgeous cove of Lake Tahoe that gets SUPER crowded as the day goes on. We knew this would be the most crowded hike so we planned it for a week day and we got there at 8am! Our timing could not have been more perfect; for one thing, the morning light was THEBEST for pictures and secondly, we almost had the trail to ourselves! The first half mile of the trail I was second guessing our entire trip plan because: ALTITUDE. Seriously, I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it for another mile to Eagle Lake! I was huffing and puffing like I hadn't worked out a day in my life. Dang altitude. Thankfully Levi is the world's most patient and easy going person so I was allowed many stops to catch my breath. After the first day I started to get more used to the altitude but it was still tough!

On the road up to the trailhead (coming from South Lake Tahoe), you have Cascade Lake on your left, and Emerald Bay on your right. We parked on the edge of the road and took a bunch of pictures. The sun rises at like 5:45 here; these pictures were taken at 7:30am and it was this bright!

Can you see me in those pink pants? I jumped in the shot for frame of reference on how big every thing was!

Narrowest road ever! Also fun fact if you are geography illiterate like me...Lake Tahoe is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains ;)

It looks glamorous but really I was catching my breath after climbing another 50 feet...

Texas definitely needs to step up it's tree game.

We probably encountered 10 other people during our hike up but it never got bunched up or crowded.

To the right of this view is Eagle Lake. It's literally a lake in a bowl of Mountains.

Ta da! The first view of Eagle Lake. We ended up hiking along the edge about half way around it and then turned around.

The water was sooo clear and sooo cold. There were about 4 other people there at this time, but all spread out. Can you tell I focus on what the crowds are like in my recommendation of places?

For you photography people...we took our 20mm along on this trip and I'm SO glad we did! It was a good selfie lens and good for landscapes!

After our hike we had lunch at The Burger Lounge. We actually ended up going here twice during our trip because their menu was so big! We definitely recommend the chili cheese dog ;)

Ok so there you have it! Eagle Lake in a nutshell! As we were leaving the lake for our hike back down, we started encountering a lot more people. That was around 10am. In the parking lot we had people stalking us for our spot- it was like a theme park down there! So many people by that point! Definitely go early :) Later on this day we went to Horsetail Falls and that's what I'll post about next!

- B