Wayfarer on paddling and photography

video clip

books about Pyramid Lake

map/satellite image

"Pyramid Lake" is one of my lost pages that for some reasons has never been posted at Mountain Wayfarer. I've decided to put it on-line with a 4 year delay but with an addition of a Google API map.

I have visited Pyramid Lake several time, always with a camera, but only once I had a chance to paddle there - just a short afternoon trip. It was the end of Septemer 2002. I launched my CLC Patuxent 19.5 kayak from SW shore near Indian Head rock, crossed the lake and spent some time photographing around the Pyramid and Rock Mother, and then return back.

In addition to pictures I was also playing with movie shooting. I shot several 30 second video clips with the Canon PowerShot S40. The camera in a waterproof case was mounted on the deck of my kayak with the aid of the Slik mini tripod. That was one of my first paddling movies.

There is something magical in the Pyramid Lake. I am more attracted to the Pyramid than to the beautiful Lake Tahoe.

Pyramid Lake facts:

• Water Source: Pyramid Lake is a natural body of water fed by the Truckee River, which flows from Lake Tahoe, through the Truckee Meadows, and into Pyramid Lake. There is no outlet, but evaporation amounts to almost four feet per year.
• Pyramid Lake: 27 miles long, 4 to 11 miles wide
• Surface Elevation: 3,817 feet above mean sea level (last updated on Feb. 10, 2000)
• Surface Area: 117,400 acres, or 183 square miles
• Maximum Depth of the Lake: 356 feet
• Volume of Pyramid Lake: 23.66 million acre-feet
• Perimeter of the Lake: 69 miles
• Salinity: 4.3 parts per thousand (about 1/6 as salty as the ocean), total Dissolved Solids: approximately 5,000 mg/L, pH: 9.2
• Average August Air Temperature: 86 degrees
• Average Summer Water Temperature: 75 degrees
• Average January Air Temperature: 45 degrees
• Average Winter Water Temperature: 43 degrees
• Average Annual Precipitation: 7 inches
• Lake Turnover: typically occurs between December and February
• Blue-Green Algae (Nodularia spumigena) Bloom: typically occurs between August and September
• Size of Reservation: 475,000 acres
• Tribal Population: 2,327 enrolled members
• Reservation Capitol: Nixon, Nevada
• Declaration of Reservation: March 23, 1874