![]() In winter, the surface temperatures can hover just a few degrees above freezing.ĭue to its surface elevation of 6,377 feet, scuba diving here is complicated with reduced dive times, slower ascent rates, and an increased risk of decompression sickness. Like its larger cousin to the north, Fallen Leaf Lake doesn’t freeze over in the winter, but its water temperature at depth is very cold, hovering at 39 degrees below the thermocline – the temperature at which water is most dense. Through underground springs and Glen Alpine Creek at its southern end, the water in the lake is naturally exchanged every eight years, compared to the much deeper Lake Tahoe which exchanges its water every 700 years. The water in Fallen Leaf is clear and potable, and visibility underwater averages 40 feet. If the glacier had continued instead of stopping, Fallen Leaf Lake would be a bay similar to nearby Emerald Bay, which is located just 3 miles north of Fallen Leaf Lake. The lake is 152 feet higher in elevation and separated from its larger cousin by a terminal moraine that is visible at the north end of the lake, where the receding glacier that formed the lake ended its run and deposited its debris. Scott Cassell in the Undersea Voyager Submarine “Spots” at Fallen Leaf Lakeįallen Leaf Lake is located just 1.3 miles south of Lake Tahoe. Through dozens of scuba dives and dives in the Undersea Voyager Project’s 2-person submarine, they are collecting almost certain proof that their theory best describes how the trees got to the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake. This summer, Tom is out to prove what he believes really happened, with the help of citizen scientists and the Undersea Voyager Project, a non-profit organization located in Napa, California. “I’ve been diving on these ancient trees for decades and from what I’ve seen firsthand, it’s obvious that there is a different explanation.” “The theory that the trees grew there during a megadrought sounds good on paper, but the evidence just doesn’t add up”, Tom explains. Based on evidence seen in the local terrain and found underwater during hundreds of dives on the ancient trees, he believes there’s a completely different answer. Tom owns a cabin on Fallen Leaf Lake, grew up hiking and snowmobiling the mountains around it, and has spent decades scuba diving in the waters below it. That theory doesn’t seem right according to some, including Tom Loomis, a third-generation resident and avid outdoorsman. ![]() Once the drought was over, the lake level quickly rose 150-200 feet, they theorized, quickly submerged the trees and preserved them in the frigid water that hovers just above freezing. In 1997, some researchers who studied the trees came to the conclusion that the submerged ancient mature conifer trees grew during a medieval megadrought that lasted 150-200 years. Like nearby Lake Tahoe, much of the deep lake bed still remains unseen by any humans. Carbon dating tests have shown that some of these trees lived between the 9th and 12th centuries, and at least three older trees have been dated to between 18 and 35 centuries ago. There are 96 trees found so far, standing up to 77 feet tall, with some fallen trees measuring over 100 feet in length. Protected from runoff and commercial development, its clear, cold water is home to Lahontan cutthroat trout (the only trout species native to Fallen Leaf Lake) and dozens of ancient trees, many still standing upright. At 6,300 feet in elevation, Fallen Leaf Lake was carved out of granite by two massive glaciers that traveled northward down the Glen Alpine Valley, leaving behind a lake that is now 3 miles long, just under a mile wide, and 410 feet deep at its deepest point. High up in the Sierra, one mile south of Lake Tahoe, lies one of California’s most unique and beautiful alpine lakes.
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