Bonsai Rock (Washoe County, Nevada)

As I was headed down to El Dorado County again this weekend (for a beer-themed 5k run this time), I was hoping to hike up to Horsetail Fails, but when I had driven through last week the trail head looked to have too much snow. Instead, I decided a much less strenuous adventure. Just south of Sand Harbor on Lake Tahoe, an often photographed rock was my destination. 

Bonsai Rock is a large granite boulder rising from the clear blue waters of Lake Tahoe. The rock gets its name for the miniature pines growing out of it's cracks. The small trees can't be more than 18 inches tall, but with the snow-covered mountains as a back drop and the blue waters of the lake in the foreground, this little boulder makes for quite the picture and is very popular among local photographers.

As the rock can't be seen from the highway, I punched the coordinates (listed in the picture below) into my phone and let Siri's voice take me to the proper pull off. My first trail down to the lake was the wrong one and while, it's not more than a few dozen yards, it is quite steep. I was able to see Bonsai Rock though and realized, I went slightly too far. Coming back to the road, I head back north just a few yards and quickly find another trail heading generally in the right direction. Again it's a steep trail, but within five or so minutes, I'm standing atop another granite boulder, the neighbor of Bonsai Rock, snapping pictures. 

Really not much of a hike, as it is probably less than a quarter of a mile in total, but certainly a very pretty photographic subject.