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Echo Chalet is a high-Sierra, summer-only, resort located approximately 10 miles from South Lake Tahoe and 49 miles east of Placerville off U.S. Highway 50. The resort was established in 1939, and is operated under permit of the United States Forest Service-Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Tom and Kathleen ("Kat") Fashinell have owned and managed the Chalet since 1984. The resort operates (weather permitting) from Memorial Day through the Labor Day weekend. Our rental cabins ("Chaletlees") are usually ready for occupancy by mid-June.
The Chalet as viewed from Echo Lakes Road - Lake Tahoe in the background (North)
OCTOBER 19, 2011 THE CHALET IS NOW CLOSED FOR THE SEASON INSPECTION OF ALL WATERCRAFT (INCLUDING CANOES AND KAYAKS) FOR AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES WILL CONTINUE UNTIL WE ARE "SNOWED OUT" LAUNCH RAMP HOURS WILL BE APPROXIMATELY 10:00am - 4:00pm (standard launch and harbor fees will apply) THANK
YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING, SEE YOU NEXT SUMMER
ECHO LAKE 6-15-2011:
SIR DUKE OF ECHO ON CHALET PIER 6-15-2011:
VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 6-8-2011: This
article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle More snow than has ever been recorded this close to
summer is blanketing Donner Summit, creating a potentially dangerous situation
when the snow begins to melt, hydrology experts said Tuesday. A summer heat wave
could cause melting snow in the Sierra to cascade down from the mountains all at
once, overwhelming reservoirs and river channels and causing widespread
flooding, "This year we have more snow than we've ever
had at this time," said Randall Osterhuber, a lead researcher and
hydrologist at UC Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, near Donner Pass,
one of the few places in the Sierra where snow measurements can still be taken
this late in the year. " Osterhuber said 94.09 inches of snow were on the
ground as of Tuesday near the lab, which, at nearly 6,900 feet in elevation, is
close to the Sugar Bowl ski resort. This amount of snow one week into June
"has never occurred before since our station was built" in 1946, he
said. The previous record for June 7 was in 1967 when 79.92 inches were measured
in the area, he said. Preserved ice
The problem, experts say, is not the amount of snow
that fell this winter in the Sierra. The snowpack at its peak was the fourth
deepest at the laboratory and well above normal all across the Sierra, but no
records were broken this year in terms of overall precipitation, snowpack or
water content. The issue, experts say, is how the cold weather has lingered -
some 37 inches of new snow fell in May and another storm blanketed the mountains
last weekend - preserving the ice pack long after it normally would have melted.
Mike Pechner, a longtime Bay Area weatherman who
runs Golden West Meteorology, said monitoring in nearby Soda Springs shows that
it is the deepest snow at this date in the high elevations since records were
begun in 1868 by the folks who built the Transcontinental Railroad. The snow
isn't just lingering around Donner Summit. It is thick in the high elevations -
between 6,000 and 9,000 feet - all across the Sierra, officials said. The
statewide snow database shows the snowpack in Fear the heat
"In a normal winter, you see the entire
snowpack melt in May and there is no snow left on the ground by June 1,"
Pechner said. "In this case, we still have well over 6 feet of snow still
on the ground." The unusually thick snowpack could potentially lead to
catastrophe if the state were to experience a sudden heat wave, a distinct
possibility in the summertime, said Arthur Hinojosa, chief of the hydrology and
flood operations office for the California Department of Water Resources. "The worst-case scenario is we get a good
long, hot, sunny dry spell with temperatures above freezing all night
long," Hinojosa said. "Then everything will just start coming down and
flows could quadruple from what we are seeing now. If the runoff fills the
reservoirs and they have to push the water out faster than they can put it into
irrigation channels, then it would overwhelm the river channels." The Beyond bizarre
"A lot of it depends on the weather, of
course," said Hinojosa, adding that the department had similar concerns in
2006 after heavy snowfall. "It's what we are watching for and consulting
with the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare for." Most meteorologists are
reluctant to ascribe a cause to the unusual weather, but Pechner said there is
only one logical explanation for the record number of tornadoes in the South and
Northeast, the heat waves across the globe and the mercurial conditions
seemingly everywhere. "I think it's climate change," Pechner
said. "It's absolutely bizarre. You could pick any day in the winter and
this weekend's rainfall in the Bay Area would probably beat any of those days.
How weird is that? So it is more than bizarre. It's weird." E-mail Peter Fimrite at pfimrite@sfchronicle.com.
Historical Note: Memorial Day Weekend 2010 Please note: Over a three day period preceding the Memorial Day weekend, we had a snow-blower and a loader working to clear Echo Lakes Road into the Chalet. The snow pack was extensive and the road was single-lane in some portions ( especially around the lower curve - see photo below) requiring occasional back-ups to the nearest wide spot / turn-around. Everyone was cooperative and seemed grateful to be able to access the lake front in these winter-like conditions. Nevertheless, we were criticized for opening the road in such a limited fashion. Given the economic realities of Memorial Day weekends in general, and the frozen status of the lake, we have decided to discontinue plowing Echo Lakes Road in such conditions. In the future, when the lake is thawing we may decide to clear the road of some snow and debris in order to provide safe driving conditions. This will be a very limited, and much more cost-effective approach to starting our summer season(s). PICTURES FROM 5-28-2010:
Fall storm 2010 On Sunday, October 24th we received 7.9 inches of rain accompanied by very strong winds. E.I.D. had previously lowered the lake to about 6 inches depth at the ramp. By 10/26 Lower Echo had risen to almost 4 feet, and, according to observers, Upper Echo had risen over the piers. Boats that were essentially sitting on lake bottom prior to the storm broke their tie lines, filled with water and debris and sustained some damage. Never a dull moment at Echo!
BY REQUEST - ECHO LAKE PATCHES
1917 - 1921 Pictures of Echo from El Dorado Irrigation Archives: The last pack train from "Medley", presumably from dam construction at Aloha Lower Echo and main pier (unfinished) Lower Echo and dam. Notice the cabin on the lower South side of the harbor.
Echo Sunrise 11-5-08
August 2007: We now have three taxis rigged as fire boats!
What happens to all the aluminum cans we collect each summer?
BOMBARDIER - EVINRUDE - E-TEC - JOHNSON - KLAMATH BOATS Great article on Evinrude E-Tec engines from BOATING WORLD
ECHO PEAK SNOWPACK - U.S. GOVERNMENT SITE
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06/07/2011 Last modified: June 07, 2011 Webmaster: Tom Fashinell
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