- This time on "Wild Nevada," it's all about lakes.

Come find a few with me right now.

- [Announcer] Support for PBS Reno and "Wild Nevada" comes in part from the William N. Pennington Foundation.

Bill Pennington was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and gaming pioneer who built a legacy of community service in Nevada.

(light gentle music) This program is brought to you in part by the Konner Kent Robison Giving Fund.

100 years of living in 28 years of life.

To give is life's real gift.

- [Announcer] And by Millie Hopper and Millard Reed, Kristine Perry, Thelma B.

& Thomas P. Hart Foundation, Margaret Burback.

In memory of Sue McDowell, Mark and Susan Herron, and by individual members.

(bright upbeat music) (lively upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Chris Orr, and I'm at the beach at Sand Harbor State Park in Lake Tahoe.

Now, in my mind, Lake Tahoe is one of the prettiest places in the country, and clearly, I'm not the only person who thinks so.

And Sand Harbor State Park has now instituted a day-use reservation system to help make sure that when you come to visit, you've got a place on the beach and are ensured a good day.

But the Sierras also offer a variety of other lakes, reservoirs, and bodies of water.

And that's really what I want to explore and enjoy this time.

And the first lake is actually just up the road a little bit.

(water splashing) From Sand Harbor, we take Highway 28 south to Spooner Lake State Park.

(light upbeat music) Spooner Lake is a great place to visit on its own with a newly renovated visitor center and accessible amphitheater and picnic areas.

It's popular for fishing and offers access to the Spooner Backcountry with miles and miles of trail.

But Spooner is only the starting point for our next destination, which is actually Marlette Lake.

To get to Marlette Lake, you can either hike, bike, or horseback ride.

The roads that do access the lake are only available to vehicles working on or servicing the dam.

There are a couple of different trails to access Marlette, so at the Spooner Lake Trailhead, I head out taking the North Canyon Trail.

This route is about a 5 1/2-mile hike with an elevation gain of about 1,700 feet.

After enjoying the scenic hike in, I arrive at Marlette Lake and meet Ed James of the Carson Waters Subconservancy District.

Nice to see you, Ed.

Thanks for meeting me out here.

- It's a pleasure.

I'm glad you could make it out here.

- [Chris] It is beautiful up here.

Such a little gem hidden up here.

- Oh, it's a gorgeous area.

It's a beautiful lake.

The history of it's very interesting because this is not a natural lake.

It was originally built back in the late 1800s to move logs from this area.

They were doing a lot of loggings and bringing it over, going south to Spooner.

- Oh, okay.

- And then from Spooner, they brought it down to Carson City, then Virginia City for the mining.

And then, in the late 1800s, they realized it needed more water, and Virginia City was growing.

At one time, Virginia City was the second largest city west of the Mississippi.

And so it had a need for the water, so they actually upgraded the dam, and then they put a new system in.

They ran a flume from this reservoir, ran it around.

They dug a tunnel through the mountain, and that water then flows all the way from here by gravity over to Virginia City.

- Does that flume still work?

Does that water still move?

- The water still goes out.

The flumes are no longer there.

They were all wooden flumes originally, and they came through.

Actually, if you're a mountain biker, you'll know about the Flume Trail.

And that is where the old wooden flumes were.

And so they would go out that way and it follows the old flume trail to the tunnels.

Now, to get the water through Washoe Valley, they needed to put an inverted siphon because water would be moving through there.

And so they would divert this water, go through the flumes all the way, they get to the top of the hill.

The water would go through an inverted siphon, go up on the other side of the hill to Virginia City, and then flows into Virginia City itself.

But it's a beautiful lake and is an important water supply for Carson City and for Virginia City.

- So now, the water, is it all snowmelt?

- Yes, it's all snowmelt.

Depending on the years.

Some years, it doesn't get a whole lot.

Other years, they can get so much snow.

In 2017, we had so much snow, they had to bring a helicopter in with a crew to dig out the spillway 'cause the water was coming out, they couldn't get out the spillway.

So there's a lot of snow that comes into this area.

We're over 7,000 feet here.

To get the water back in the 1800s here, they had caretakers who would live up here year-round, and, by a telegraph, they would actually go back and forth telling people how much water they would need over in Virginia City.

- That had to be a hard way to live come wintertime.

(laughs) - I mean, it's amazing when you think about it.

They dug this tunnel through the mountain.

With our technology today, there's not another tunnel that goes through this mountain.

We can't do it.

- That's incredible to think.

So would there have been just a spring up here or a creek?

Is that what they probably started out with?

- Well, there is the Marlette Creek.

So there was probably a creek that came down through there.

This might have been some meadows out here.

You look at the old pictures of how much the flumes were up in the trees.

What we don't realize back then is they basically clear-cut all the trees off this area.

It was a huge environmental impact to this area.

They didn't know better at that time.

But this is something as they start developing these new water supplies.

But they had the flumes, and if you walk on the Flume Trail, you can actually see some of the old wooden planks.

(bright thoughtful music) It's amazing when you figure that all the pipes that were put in the '50s here have been replaced, but that 1875 pipe is still functioning today.

- So not only is the lake really a thing of beauty, but it's a historic treasure in some ways.

- Engineering marvel when you think about it, to get water there and then how the whole development of the gold.

If they didn't have this water, they couldn't have mined the gold and the silver because they didn't have the water supplies.

This is still the only source of water in Virginia City, Gold Hill get.

- [Chris] Oh, really?

- Yep.

- Is Marlette?

- [Ed] Yep.

They don't have any other water sources.

- Well, then it's a good thing it's as pretty and as clear as it is.

(both laughing) Ed introduces me to Blake Gudmundson, the Marlette Lake Water System manager.

This is your territory?

- This is my territory.

I've been here for 22 years.

I look at it as if it's my own.

- You know, it's a beautiful office, I have to say.

(laughs) - I'm very lucky to work here.

- [Chris] So is there any part of Marlette after 22 years you don't feel you know yet?

- No, I believe I know it all.

We're old friends.

(group laughs) - So where does Marlette get its name from?

- Marlette gets its name from Seneca Marlette, who was the surveyor general for the state of California, and then, I believe, came over to Nevada.

- And it's just so beautiful.

It's amazing to think of the beauty of this lake as the result of all of that engineering and hard work.

- The engineering itself was a modern marvel, and the inverted siphon that feeds Virginia City was the highest-pressure pipeline in the world at its time.

So, the things that they did to get water from here, 27 miles over to Virginia City, was unbelievable with hand tools and human labor.

- And so not only did it allow all of that mining that was so important to the development of the state, it still keeps that community alive.

- It's still their sole source of water.

In its heyday, they were getting upwards of 10 million gallons of water a day into Virginia City.

- Marlette Lake is not only beautiful but still vitally important for domestic water use to residents in Virginia City and Carson City.

Since it's so valued as a water source, the state of Nevada purchased Marlette Lake and the surrounding land in 1963.

The area is available for backcountry recreation, but there are no services or overnight camping at the lake.

Nevada State Parks does allow backcountry camping at nearby Marlette Peak.

So, what is your favorite part of the lake?

Do you each have, like, a favorite part?

- My favorite part actually is driving up and over the summit and seeing the lake with Lake Tahoe in the background.

It's a breathtaking view, and I never ever get tired of seeing it.

- [Chris] So is this an office that you have to maintain year-round?

Are you up here monitoring snowpack in the winter?

- [Blake] Yes, we are.

We monitor lake levels so that we don't overtop the dam, for a catastrophic failure.

Lake Tahoe is right down below us.

If there was anything to happen to this dam, it would ruin that lake as well.

So we're constantly monitoring.

If we have to open our valves to change the water levels, we can do that in the summer.

In the wintertime, we have to fly in, but we're doing that constantly.

- And I'm guessing you're not getting telegraph messages that you need to let water out anymore, right?

- Modern technology gives us the ability to watch those water levels and know whether we're at the top or at the bottom of our threshold.

- And is the fishing good?

Do you enjoy fishing up here?

- Moby Dick lives in this lake.

(group laughing) - And you haven't caught him yet?

- I haven't caught him, no.

(Chris laughs) - [Chris] This is such a beautiful place.

It would be easy to spend the entire day here, but there are more lakes to explore.

So I returned to Highway 28 and then head north around Lake Tahoe to Highway 267.

Then it's on to Interstate 80 and west to Donner Lake.

(bright upbeat pop-rock music) The Donner Memorial State Park features the famous Pioneer Monument, built to commemorate the California immigrants traveling west during the mid-1800s, and a visitor center featuring exhibits about the lake and the community's rich and layered history.

It also serves as a great place to recreate and enjoy the lake itself.

At Donner Memorial State Park, I meet Bill Bowness.

Bill, thanks for meeting me out here.

- Oh, my pleasure, Chris.

We're enjoying having you guys out and enjoying our park.

- What is available here at Donner Memorial State Park?

- Oh, goodness.

A plethora of things.

From the water sports, the paddling, kayaking, stand-up paddle boards.

We have a huge trail network system.

You know, Donner's probably known for its historical values.

So we have historical tours and camping, and just the list goes on and on and on.

The very first stewards, the very first caretakers of this beautiful land that we enjoy today, were the Washoe people.

And they referred to this lake as Behe•zib wi•giya which means "Little Eye."

And if you see Donner Lake, Behe•zib wi•giya, from above, you can see why it's named that.

It looks like a little eye.

- [Chris] It is.

It's a kind of an oval-shaped little lake.

- Exactly.

And the northern band of the Washoe particularly made this their summer homes.

So they spent a tremendous amount of time right here in the lands we're utilizing right now.

This is just an epicenter of spiritual and cultural existence for Washoe, particularly the big lake known as Da ow a ga. And Da ow being "lake," in the colonials' infinite stupidity, named Lake Tahoe Lake Lake because they were taking Da ow, meaning Tahoe, and they've completely messed that one up.

- [Chris] So that's the root of the name of Lake Tahoe?

- Lake Tahoe - Yeah, Lake Lake.

- [Chris] Lake Lake.

I didn't know that.

That's funny.

- In Washoe, Da ow a ga means "the lake's edge."

Very literal.

Well, I can't be speaking from the middle of the lake, but I can be speaking from the lake's edge- - [Chris] Because it's such a big lake, right?

- Da ow a ga. - And so, of course, it's interesting then that as the immigration happened, we, of course, renamed things and Donner became named for the party, of course.

- And actually, for years and years and years, this was known as Truckee Lake, named after a whole nother story.

We can talk about Stephens-Townsend-Murphy befriended or became friends with a Paiute individual that was telling everybody, "All is well," in Paiute: "Truckee.

Truckee.

Truckee."

And they thought they were announcing his name, so that morphed into Truckee.

He liked the name, kept it, and as a way of honoring their new best friend, they started naming things.

- Truckee?

- Although Washoe had had it named for thousands of years, they started naming things after their new friend, Truckee.

Truckee Lake.

Truckee Pass.

Both of which got renamed in memorial of the Donner incident years after the Donners were here.

- [Chris] Well, see, now, every time I say Truckee River or Truckee, I'm gonna think, "All's okay.

All's okay."

(laughs) - Truckee.

Truckee.

Yeah.

- [Chris] How big is the park?

How big a part of the lake is Donner?

- Yeah, we've grown over the years to over 3,600 acres.

I think most people just think about our lakefront here in just the 30 or 40 acres here on the bottom.

But it goes way up almost to the crest and to the west end of Donner Lake.

- [Chris] So, really, if you're gonna do anything at Donner Lake, the park is a great place to either start or just even spend the whole day.

- [Bill] Absolutely.

- [Chris] If a person wants to come to the park and camp so they can spend more time at the lake, how do they make the arrangements to do that?

- Through ReserveCalifornia.com.

It's an online reservation process, and that's statewide for all of the camping in the California State Park system.

- [Chris] And I see a lot of people using the trails.

So the trails are open for bikes and walkers?

- Yeah, so different trails have different designations.

The trail behind us is a multipurpose trail.

So you're gonna see cyclists, walkers, and runners.

Other trails are closed to bikes.

So it depends.

And we have trail maps that show you all those designations.

- [Chris] So is Donner Memorial State Park open year-round?

Is it also a winter park?

- Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

So in the wintertime, we have cross-country skiing.

We have cross-country skiing tours, snowshoe tours, you know, just walking when it doesn't get too deep.

But we get a lot of snow.

As our namesake, the Donners know about this; we get a ton of snow, and that can happen as early as October, and we can be getting snow through April and into May even.

A whole second set of sport-related activities comes out in the wintertime.

(lively upbeat music) - [Chris] Tell me a little bit about the lake itself.

Is it a reservoir or a natural lake?

- [Bill] This is actually a natural lake that does have about 10 feet of artificial surface area that the Truckee Meadows Water Authority has.

There's a dam backed by the inlet that controls that top surface area.

(bright gentle folk music) - [Chris] The park also offers water tours, right?

- [Bill] We do.

Nick, this is Chris from "Wild Nevada."

- Great to meet you.

Thanks for coming out.

- Nick Potter.

- [Chris] So tell me about what you're doing.

What are you getting prepped for?

- Yeah, so these are our paddling tours.

They last about an hour long.

We do them twice a week on Thursdays.

Bring people out for about, you know, an hour or so, bring them a couple miles down the shoreline.

Talk about our local fish species, our local wildlife species, local plant species.

Once we get out to the big lake, we talk about some of the ice companies that came through here after the Transcontinental Railroad was built.

And then also the Chinese railroad workers, who are the unsung heroes of the area.

(bright gentle folk music continues) Truckee's so full of history; you know, there's so many different avenues that we could go on, and I always like to kind of say, you know, there's no better way to learn about Donner Lake than being actually on the water.

We had one tour last year where we had a one-year-old baby with her 99-year-old great-grandmother.

So talk about accessible, right?

(laughs) - [Chris] And too, you kind of create a sense of community, right?

'Cause you're exploring the lake and the river together, right?

- [Nick] Exactly.

Yeah.

I've met a whole bunch of locals.

Whole bunch of visitors, tourists.

It's just been a total blast the last couple years running these.

- It's time for my next lake experience.

So I follow Interstate 80 east to Highway 89 and into Sierra County, where I turn off onto a dirt road that leads me to Independence Lake.

(lively folk music) At Independence Lake Preserve I meet David Mandrella to learn more about the area.

Thank you for letting me come out to visit.

This is a beautiful spot.

Tell me a little bit about Independence Lake Preserve.

- Independence Lake Preserve is 3,000 acres.

Independence Lake is 600 acres, and we are surrounded by Tahoe National Forest.

It's a fairly remote, a fairly pristine ecosystem.

The Nature Conservancy purchased it in 2010 from NV Energy.

Our objective is protection, conservation.

We have threatening and endangered fish species here, the Lahontan cutthroat trout.

It's the genetically pure lake strain.

And there's only two lakes left that have this particular strain of the Lahontan cutthroat trout.

So this species has been around for 10,000 years.

And also we have what they call the Lahontan fish assemblage.

So that, including the Lahontan cutthroat trout, is six other native species.

We did realize in 2005 that the population of Lahontan cutthroat trout was kind of declining.

There was a competition between some non-native trout species, especially brook trout and brown trout.

So we've kind of made an effort to reduce the populations of brook trout and brown trout to try to leave food and forage for the Lahontan cutthroat trout.

So that's been fairly successful over the year.

Back in 2005, we had maybe 25 spawning fish.

And in the last 15 years, the population has been between 100 and 250 spawning fish.

So it's still threatened and endangered species, and we're always working different management strategies to improve the habitat and the population.

Being a fairly pristine lake, we have, you know, deer, of course, and bear, mountain lion, coyote, bobcat.

- [Chris] (laughs) The list goes on and on.

- And the bird life is, yeah, eagles, ospreys.

You see those every day almost.

And then we saw otters yesterday.

So it's a very healthy ecosystem with all these different species, and the food chain is definitely evident.

(bright upbeat music) - [Chris] To help maintain the clarity of the water and protect the wilderness areas around it, Independence Lake is closed to outside watercraft, but during the spring and the summer, the preserve offers a watercraft program with kayaks and even motorboats for visitors to use and enjoy.

They're available on a first-come, first-served basis.

So be sure to check on schedules before you head out to visit and plan to arrive early for the best chance at using available watercraft.

- Ready, set... (kayak scraping) (both speaking faintly) (wind gusting) (water splashing) - [Chris] Getting out onto the water is a great way to enjoy this beautiful lake.

Afternoon winds are frequent in the area, so it's often best to enjoy the kayaks and the boats early in the day before the water gets choppy.

(water splashing) - [David] How'd you like it?

- That was fun.

(laughs) That's a good time right there.

There's time for just one more lake experience.

I returned to Highway 89 and then head north through the Sierra Valley, to Beckwourth, California, and the Plumas County Nervino Airport to get a new perspective of nearby Lake Davis.

(upbeat rock music) On the tarmac, I meet pilot Daniel Turner.

Dan, thanks for meeting me out here.

- Glad to do it, Chris.

- So what are we gonna fly in today?

- This is called a powered hang glider.

That's what most people call it.

That's the best description.

It's actually, in FAA terms, called a weight-shifter aircraft.

That's its technical name.

And then we pilots just call them trikes.

So we're going flying in a trike today.

- So it doesn't look very big.

So when you say "a trike," it's like a motorcycle that flies?

- It's my Harley with wings.

(Chris laughs) Yes, it is.

- So have you always flown trikes?

- No.

They are a late addition.

I started flying fixed-wing aircraft up in Alaska years ago, last century.

Got my commercial pilot's license in '83, and then this just came along later as just fun flying.

- So what do you like about flying in this area?

- Oh, this area is beautiful.

I love this little airport of Beckwourth, and it's just got the valley; it's got everything.

It's scenic; it's got lakes in the neighborhood.

- So what's your favorite part of flying?

- I like the open cockpit, wind in your face.

Driving fixed-wing is like driving a car, and so this is real flying.

You feel the wind; you're actually holding the wings.

I don't have rudders; I don't have mechanical mechanisms.

All I have is the wing to work with.

So that makes it unique and why I like it.

- So do you feel like you get a bird's view of the terrain?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And you can follow the ridgelines, which are spectacular.

- So do you enjoy introducing people to the trike?

- Oh, I love it.

I love it.

Yeah.

I tell people that when we take off as a copilot, you have three jobs: watch out for other things in the air, birds, aircraft, whatever; wave to the crowds as we go by at 15 feet; and on takeoff, please, don't scream in my ear.

(Chris laughs) So those are the three things I request of a copilot.

- Well, I'll try to do all three, and I'll try not to scream in your ear.

I might giggle.

I might giggle.

- Yeah.

Yeah, we get all kinds of reactions.

I know you love hiking, and this is how I hike.

- (laughs) Well, I know that there are a couple lakes in the area you wanna go take a look at.

- Absolutely.

Let's go see them.

(upbeat rock music continues) (trike engine whirring) - Riding in the ultralight is a fun and exciting way to experience the freedom of flight.

There's so little between us and the 360-degree views of the beautiful landscape all around us.

As beautiful as the views are and as easy as it is to enjoy this unique and fun way to tour the area, it's time for Dan to head the ultralight back toward the airport and get us back on the ground safely.

Back at lake level, the day and the trip is just about over.

But I know I will look back on this adventure and remember not only the beauty of these lakes but also how unique and distinct each one is.

That's all I've got time for in this episode.

And I've barely dipped my toe into the variety of bodies of water that are available to explore in the Eastern Sierra.

I could do this trip 100 times over and not visit the same lakes or reservoirs.

If you wanna learn more about this episode or any of the "Wild Nevada" series, visit our website at PBSReno.org and stream us with the PBS app.

Until my next "Wild Nevada," I hope you get to have some adventures of your own.

- [Announcer] Support for PBS Reno and "Wild Nevada" comes in part from the William N. Pennington Foundation.

Bill Pennington was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and gaming pioneer who built a legacy of community service in Nevada.

(light gentle music) This program is brought to you in part by the Konner Kent Robison Giving Fund.

100 years of living in 28 years of life.

To give is life's real gift.

- [Announcer] And by Millie Hopper and Millard Reed, Kristine Perry, Thelma B.

& Thomas P. Hart Foundation, Margaret Burback.

In memory of Sue McDowell, Mark and Susan Herron, and by individual members.

(bright upbeat music)