For those who might be inclined to follow Robert Stewart’s
instructions to visit a beach at Lake Tahoe, you might consider
visiting the SLC/MT 1861 sites at Lake Tahoe while you are there. Our
research and professional peer review (see: goo.gl/dclU1U) showed that
the beach did not exist until the mid-20th century. Now is the
shoulder season at Lake Tahoe with few tourists, great values on
lodging and restaurants, and fine fall weather.

Hike or bike the Tunnel Creek Road from Incline Village, NV to the
location where Twain was inspired to declare Lake Tahoe the “fairest
picture the whole earth affords.” This is the only such location where
it is possible for the surprise “the Lake burst upon us” and the
reflection of “the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed
upon its still surface.”

Stop by Hidden Beach at the outlet of Tunnel Creek, just south of
Incline Village, where Clemens and Kinney found the row boat that took
them “across a deep bend of the lake” (Crystal Bay) “toward the
landmarks that signified the locality of the camp” (prominent
Stateline Point). Here, you are “on the north shore”, at “upper camp,”
now known as Speedboat Beach, where they dined and played cards on one
of the many flat rocks and caught a Lahontan cutthroat trout for
breakfast one morning.

You can rent a kayak and paddle “out a hundred yards or so” from
Speedboat Beach, as Clemens and Kinney did, and drift over the massive
boulders, gazing down at an example of the rock that Twain recalled
was “as large as a village church.” Paddling three miles west along
the shore you can visit “lower camp” on a beach now known as Sandy
Beach at Tahoe Vista, CA where nearby stumps and existing live trees
testify to the forest of trees “from one to five feet through at the
butt” that Twain saw. On your way, you will see the very same gray
volcanic and white granitic rocks on the bottom that Twain described
as “sometimes gray, sometimes white.” For experienced paddlers, you
can cruise out to ‘"blue water," a mile or two from shore,’ as Twain
observed. This is the only area where these unique geologic and
limnological characteristics coincide at Lake Tahoe.

(Above quotes are from Roughing It and SLC letters.)

We did not reject without cause Twain’s own words in painting incisive
descriptions of his surroundings during his first visit to Lake Tahoe
in 1861. The elements of his descriptions are in near-perfect
congruence with the existing and known historical conditions in the
Tahoe Basin.
We suggest you review arguments from both sides of the issue and visit
the sites in question. You can reach your own conclusions as we have,
using logic, science and critical thinking to understand Twain’s own
words and relate them to the specific and unique locations at Lake
Tahoe.

For those interested in learning more about Lake Tahoe, you may
download a complimentary copy of the Natural World of Lake Tahoe at
http://goo.gl/DdtIrV. The booklet is sold widely around the Tahoe
Basin and explains the natural history and natural science of Lake
Tahoe. Only instructors, teachers and professors may redistribute this
file for use by their students.