The Reluctant Alpinist

The Trans Tahoe Relay starts at Sand Harbor and ends 11.5 miles later at Skylandia, near Tahoe City. In between is a whole lot of very cold, very deep, very blue water, and on this particular day, six of my friends took turns swimming through it while I captained the boat alongside them. No wetsuits allowed. The format: each swimmer does a 30 minute swim followed by 10-minute legs, tagging in and out until the team reaches the finish. We had a cowbell on board to ring at each

We kicked off Maddy and Tim's wedding weekend at the Noyo Center Marine Field Station, and honestly, it was the perfect spot for it. A marine station, right on the water, feels completely different from a typical event venue. No big ballroom, nothing too fancy. Just the California coast doing what it does best, and everyone gathered right up against it as the evening light went soft. That setting ended up shaping the whole weekend. With the water so close and the crowd small