Two-Heel Drive reader Brian needs your advice, according to this comment he left on my post about great trails near Lake Tahoe:
I’m looking for the perfect scenic spot to propose in july. Heavenly gondola? Is there a place more private/ less commercial? We’re not going to be prepared to do any serious hikes but we’re certainly able to [get] around. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks.
I’d just take her to the Marin Headlands at sunset but it sounds like you’ve got your High Sierra trip planned already.
Here’s a thought: Take her somewhere high to watch the sunrise and pop the Q when the sun clears the ridge.
Let your arrows of love fly in the comments, folks.
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Previously: Romantic hikes in the Bay Area.
Oh, for proposing, if you’re up to it, you have to do it at the top of Mt. Tallac. No better place, and you won’t regret it.
But if you’re not up for such a hike, then maybe somewhere on the shores of Fallen Leaf Lake (with a view of Mt. Tallac above). I also like Sand Harbor, near the rocks; you’d probably want to go early in the day to avoid people, and make sure to avoid the Shakespeare Festival (or maybe not, depending on how you want to plan it). I like the late afternoon light there, though.
http://www.kevingong.com/Hiking/2001TahoeTrip2.html
http://www.laketahoeshakespeare.com/
I’m not sure what Brian counts as “serious hiking” but things that come to mind are:
– Sand Point (?) on the east shore of the lake. No there’s no real hiking – it’s right by the visitor center for heaven’s sake – but I recall there being granite boulders right up to and into the water, which would be a great place to watch the sun set and pop the question.
-Eagle Falls. Again, super popular.
If you want to avoid Tahoe proper, there could be somewhere around Echo Lakes or even down by Carson Pass. (Winnemucca Lake? Round Top?)
For what it’s worth, I proposed to my wife at Granite Lake, near the Blue Lakes Road/Hope Valley off Highway 88 — it was a <3 mile hike in and we spent the night: I made her dinner and asked at sunset, up on a ridgeline above the lake. (From the phrasing of the question, I suspect that’s more hiking than what Brian was asking for, but I have to suggest it.)
I think the really important part here is to make getting there — wherever it is — as easy as possible so that you aren’t adding any more stress to yourself and/or putting your partner in a bad mood. (Granite Lake, for example, is easily 60 minutes+ from South Lake Tahoe, with a bumpy dirt road segment, which might not place your intended in the best frame of mind — I was/am lucky.)
Good luck, Brian, and have fun!
I’ve only snow showed there not hiked but Matrimony Ridge seems like it would be a great place. http://marionvermazen.blogs.com/marions_blog/2008/02/sierra-canyon-s.html
I believe it got it’s name because people get married under the tree in this picture
http://marionvermazen.blogs.com/marions_blog/2009/01/snowshoeing-to-matrimony-ridge.html