I took a weekend trip with the family to Lake Tahoe a couple of weekends ago. It’s been awhile since we have gone on an outdoorsy trip, so we were all pretty excited about it. It turned out to be an awesome weekend away and I came back with some pretty fantastic shots.

For our first full day at Tahoe, we headed out for some day hikes on the west side of the lake. After our morning cup of coffee, we grabbed our gear and was out the door by 8:00am. The main destinations were Emerald Bay and Eagle Lake. On the way there, we pulled over by a viewpoint overlooking Emerald Bay.

We arrived at the parking lot of Eagle Lake shortly after and began our hike.

The hike turned out to be shorter than we thought. After two miles and forty-five minutes, we arrived at this beautiful view. It was absolutely stunning.

After a short rest, we trekked back to the car and proceeded on to Emerald Bay. Emerald Bay was probably one of the most popular destinations for all the Tahoe visitors.

We winded down the night with an early dinner back by the hotel. Everyone was quite tired after a full day of hiking in the sun. It actually worked out well for we wanted to head out for some sunset shots.

Finally, the sun set and we were met with this amazing display of colors.

After walking away with such great shots of the sunset at Sand Harbor, Wilson and I decided we could not leave Tahoe without capturing a sunrise. We were leaving the day after, so why not take the last chance? Wake up at 4:30am for the sunrise? Ok.

4:30am    -    Wake up.

4:45am    -    Out the door.

5:15am    -    Pull over to the side of the road.

5:30am    -    This view.

Yea. It was totally worth it.

Click here to view the album.