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.