Caples Lake

A reservoir on Caples Creek, which flows westward off California's Sierra Nevada, eventually joining the Silver Fork of the American River. The American in turn is a tributary of the Sacramento, the northern river of California's Central Valley. The creek, and now the lake, are named for Dr. James Caples, an early emigrant who ran a way station here in the 1800s.
The pass visible on the skyline to the right is Carson Pass (8574 ft/2613 m), a major emigrant route into California (and route back into Nevada after the discovery of the Comstock Lode.) The route is now followed by California State Route 88, "the Carson Pass highway," one of the handful of year-round routes across the Sierra. The highway is barely visible in the clear area just above the lake to right of center. The pass is named for the famed scout Kit Carson, but of course had long been known to the local Native Americans.