Ranger: Crowds, traffic at Lake Tahoe gem are ‘worst he has ever seen’



If you're willing to get up early, you might be able to capture a tranquil sunrise shot of Emerald Bay, one of Lake Tahoe's brightest jewels, from Emerald Bay State Park's Inspiration Point. During the day, however, the bay bustles with aquatic activity. (Click or swipe for more photos of Emerald Bay, its state park, and Eagle Falls.) less If you're willing to get up early, you might be able to capture a tranquil sunrise shot of Emerald Bay, one of Lake Tahoe's brightest jewels, from Emerald Bay State Park's Inspiration Point. During the day, however, the bay bustles with aquatic activity.

If you're willing to get up early, you might be able to capture a tranquil sunrise shot of Emerald Bay, one of Lake Tahoe's brightest jewels, from Emerald Bay State Park's Inspiration Point. During the day, If you're willing to get up early, you might be able to capture a tranquil sunrise shot of Emerald Bay, one of Lake Tahoe's brightest jewels, from Emerald Bay State Park's Inspiration Point. During the day, ... more Photo: George Rose, Getty Images Photo: George Rose, Getty Images Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Ranger: Crowds, traffic at Lake Tahoe gem are ‘worst he has ever seen’ 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

It wasn't the black bear who crept into camp just before dawn and sniffed our tent that unnerved us while camping at Lake Tahoe. It was the yellow jackets.

A few yellow jackets is no big deal; you just brush them away. But these came in swarms, like locusts zeroing in on a cornfield. Breakfast, lunch, dinner — whenever we prepared a meal at Emerald Bay State Park's Eagle Point Campground, the pesky wasps buzzed the feast. Once, as I was about to bite into a chicken salad sandwich, I counted four yellow jackets burrowing under the bread.

The problem has gotten so bad Emerald Bay State Park has issued an alert on its website:

"Please note that there have been high concentrations of yellow jackets in the Lake Tahoe area. ... Yellow jackets will eat almost anything. The odors of meat, fish, and sweet substances are particularly attractive to the wasps."

Yellow jackets will also sting almost anything. For example, when one flies up the leg of a reporter's shorts and can't find its way out.

Wasp infestation is one of the downsides of late summer camping trips to Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay, one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the United States, if not the world. The bay and its surrounding state park offer stunning scenery, but don't expect a quiet, back-to-nature experience. At least not during the summer.

On Sunday, the party boats started arriving about 10 a.m. They moored off the beach by Vikingsholm, the Scandinavian-styled castle-mansion built in 1929. Two tiki boats with thatched decks, sliding boards and umbrella drinks dropped anchor. A cabin cruiser with multiple American flags and a megaphone-wielding bro in star-spangled shorts informed everyone in a quarter-mile radius of the availability of beer. Even from the shore you could see the bikini-clad sailors snapping selfies.

Almost every large boat had its own sound system. One with particularly powerful speakers blasted "Baby Got Back (I Like Big Butts)" across the water. The ospreys nesting along the shore went about their business of hunting fish and feeding their young, unperturbed by Sir Mix-a-Lot's fixation.

If spring break in August isn't your idea of communing with the great outdoors, you can always try hiking. The Eagle Lake Trail is a moderate, two-mile roundtrip that takes you past Eagle Falls and offers spectacular views of Emerald Bay and Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake is chilly, but with temperatures in the high 80s last weekend, many tourists decided to take the plunge.

For something more challenging, try the connecting 11.7-mile loop through the Desolation Wilderness and past several lakes in addition to Eagle, including Granite Lake, Dick's Lake, Velma Lake and Fontanillis Lake.

The Eagle Lake Trail is one of the heaviest traveled walks in the South Lake Tahoe, and you'll see fellow hikers along almost every stretch of trail. The biggest bottleneck occurs at Eagle Falls Bridge. Finding parking near the trailhead after 9 a.m. is extremely difficult.

Veteran Park Ranger Mike Rominger, who was working the Vikingsholm beach Sunday, said the traffic this season at Emerald Bay State Park and South Lake Tahoe in general is the "worst he has ever seen." And that's not only vehicle traffic — but boat activity as well.

What about the yellow jackets? Are they the worst-ever too?

"Nah, they were much worse during the (2011-16) drought," Rominger said.

Maybe so, but the swarm at Eagle Point Campground site 33 was giving those drought wasps a run for the money.

Supposedly one way to keep yellow jackets at bay is to place sliced fresh cucumber in a single layer on tinfoil. The cucumber reacts with the aluminum, giving off a chemical scent, undetectable to humans, that makes the wasps flee. Peppermint oil and essential oils also allegedly have the same effect.

Sadly, we did not come equipped with cucumbers. We did have a citronella candle. Squadrons of yellow jacket squadrons would land on it before assaulting bowls of marinated chicken.

So if you happen to be camping in South Lake Tahoe this Labor Day Weekend, arm yourself with peppermint and pickles. You'll need them.

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate.