Lake Tahoe is the gem of the Sierra Nevada. Those who visit this beautiful Lake of the Sky may share Mark Twain s impression of the place as he camped on its shore in 1861: As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords. Twain s quote, from Roughing It, includes the trinity of Tahoe s landscape sky, mountains, and lake that people still find inspiring. This explains, in large part, why the man-made environment around the lake is predominantly rustic, a style of...