[Illustration:  Angora Lakes, Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe ]

[Illustration:  White Cloud Falls, Cascade Lake]

[Illustration:  Upper Eagle Falls, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe]

The Little Rubicon river flows into Buck Island Lake and out again, and about two miles below Rubicon Springs the Georgetown road crosses the river at the foot of the lake.

With these two lakes, and others not far away, fine hunting and fishing, with several mountains nearby for climbing, the hotsprings, a fine table and good horses to ride it can well be understood that Rubicon Springs makes a delightful summer stopping-place.  One great advantage that it possesses, under its present proprietorship is that guests may alternate between Moana Villa and the Springs and thus spend part of their time on the Lake and the other part in the heart of the mountains.  The Colwells are hearty and homelike hosts, and are devoted to giving their many guests the greatest possible enjoyment, pleasure and health that a summer’s vacation can contain.

CHAPTER XXI

EMERALD BAY AND CAMP

Situated near the southwest corner of Lake Tahoe is Emerald Bay, by many thousands regarded as the choicest portion of Lake Tahoe.  Surrounded by so many wonderful scenes, as one is at Tahoe, it is difficult to decide which possesses surpassing power, but few there are who see Emerald Bay without at once succumbing to its allurement.  Its geological history has already been given in Chapter VIII, in which it is clearly shown by Dr. Joseph Le Conte that it was once a glacial lake, and that the entrance to the main lake used to be the terminal moraine that separated the two bodies of water.  As a natural consequence, therefore, visitors may expect to find evidences of glacial action on every hand.  They are not disappointed.  The walls of the Bay, on both north and south, are composed of glacial detritus, that of the south being a pure moraine, separating the once glacial lake of Emerald Bay from Cascade Lake.

Emerald Bay is about three miles in length, with a southwesterly trend, and half a mile wide.  The entrance is perhaps a quarter of a mile wide and is formed by a triangular spit of sand, on which grows a lone pine, on the one side, and a green chaparral-clad slope, known as Eagle Point, on the other.  The Bay opens and widens a little immediately the entrance is joined.  The mountains at the head of the Bay form a majestic background.  To the southwest (the left) is Mount Tallac, with a rugged, jagged and irregular ridge leading to the west, disappearing behind two tree-clad sister peaks, which dominate the southern side of the Bay’s head.  These are known as Maggie’s Peaks (8540 and 8725 feet respectively, that to the south being the higher), though originally their name, like that of so many rounded, shapely, twin peaks in the western world gained by the white