Week 5 ~ Sep 17th 2006

I woke up early making plans for the day. I took out all the brochures in my possession and ploughed through them looking for some adventure sports. Most of these were expensive costing anywhere between 90 to 120$. But one particular sport caught my eye. It was Parasailing. I could view from the advertisements that Parasailing was about sailing by a parachute over the beautiful lake. I had no idea how one sailed by parachute over a lake without the parachute being secured and what happens if the chute snapped. Still I decided to test the waters and go for it. I called the company to learn that they were 3 miles from the Stateline which meant I could walk all the way. While walking towards Timber Cove Marina where the watersport company Action Watersports was located, I called another company LakeTahoeTours to arrange a adventure jeep ride to Genoa peak. The jeep tour was to start in another 2 hours and I would be picked up from Mont Blanc casino's parking lot. 3 Miles is a hell a lot of distance for even a casual walk. I found that after walking on and on and numerous phone calls later still couldn't locate Timber Cove Marina. I was beginning to lose patience. Why did I have to undertake such a long walk when I could have cosied under the bed covers for a few more hours? I finally located Timber Cove Marina. It is a serene place with a shore where water laps against just like a beach. Action Watersports looked deserted and after a chance encounter with someone nearby, I was directed towards the shop. The cost of parasailing is directly dependent on the height that the chute would take a person. For a height of 600 feet, the cost worked to $55 while a height of 1200 feet costs $85. I opted for 600 feet to minimise the cost. I was directed towards a speed boat that had a parachute attached to the hull. The parachute is secured by a rope which rolls over a pulley. The pulley is hand operated and can be used to secure the height at which the parachute flies. There were 2 guys who introduced themselves as the captain and the first mate. I asked them plenty of questions as to what happens if the chord snaps or if there is a strong wind. They were patient enough to explain to me the safety mechanism that was built in the pulley. I was surprised to hear from them that there were no accidents reported (though it was hard to believe)

Our boat began to gain speed and we were cruisng along when I was asked to wear a life jacket. My body was secured to waterproof vests with the parachute protruding out. I was slowly pulled upwards with the release of the ropes and there I was sailing over the lake. As the parachute began to ascend, I felt the thrill of sailing 600 feet above the lake. The Lake looked gorgeous from the surrounding. There was a steady breeze which kept me off balance for a while but my hands were tightly gripping the ropes that secured the parachute. After sometime I began to feel the nagging pain in my hands as I began to grip the ropes tightly afraid that I would fall. It was an experience that brought fear as well as thrill. My palms became sweaty and I was afraid I would loose the grip. After 30 minutes, the boat slowed down and I was slowly pulled back. The final landing was as smooth as the ascent. I was thrilled and was beaming all over. I gave a thumbs up to the boat guys and thanked them (they were clicking snaps with my camera when I was sailing). With the thrill slowly fading, I walked toward Mont Blanc resort for the jeep ride.

Even as I was midway there were frantic calls from the LakeTahoeTours company to know my whereabouts as the jeep was waiting. I never realised that 2 hours had passed since I left the hotel. I started walking fast and met the jeep at Harvey's parking lot instead of Mont Blanc's as Harvey's was nearer. Our Jeep driver was Collins and there was 3 of us on tour. Myself in the front and a couple at the back. Our ride was towards Genoa's peak, a inhospitable terrain for travel. But for a 4 wheel drive and probably a mountain bike, it is impssoible to travel along the terrain. Collins explained to us about the history of the place as we embarked on our tour. Genoa's peak is in the Nevada side and was less picturesque. We stopped at a couple of places for Photo-op where we could see the glaring differences between a green and scenic California to desert like Nevada. We stopped at a place where Collins showed us Bear marks. Yes, this place has plenty of bears (not the grisly ones). These bears enter houses and have a particular liking for trash receptacles (infact the trash has been designed for Bear friendliness). Collins gave a personla glimpse into his won life. He was born and brought up in San Francisco, worked there for 10 years but had given up and came to Lake Tahoe for a living. He used to double up as a store manager cum guide. He explained to us that winter in Lake Tahoe was special because of the snow (which sometimes is over 6 feet) and the adventure sports on snow. He himself was a snowmobile guide. All along the route we could see snow measuring PVP sticks embedded along the ground. Since the travel was along a dusty terrain, Collins had given me a bandana for protection. But bandana or no bandana, it was a dust bowl and I couldn't help but see dust settling all over my attire. We arrived at Genoa's peak in an hour. The peak had no special signifance except a earth station and couple of big steel pipes. We walked around and clicked snaps from near the peak (The peak itself is closed to public with barbed fencing). After a while we started the descent. The ride was bumpy but adventurous. We were dropped at the Mont Blanc parking lot and I took leave of Collins with a small tip...

It was already 3:00 PM and my bus to Sacramento leaves at 3:20 PM. I made my way to Stateline Transit Center for the journey back home. Overall it was a fascinating trip and the blue lake still glints in my eyes. I vowed to return to Lake Tahoe someday in the future...