14-MAR-06; LAKE TAHOE New Mexico; -- Gas-powered 'sleds' can take you to new heights ; By ALLEN O. PIERLEONI; Sacramento Bee

ABOVE LAKE TAHOE Our single-file group of 14 snowmobilers _ some riding tandem, some solo _ followed the guide's hand signal and pulled over to the far right of the 10-foot-wide groomed track. Elevation: 9,000 feet.

We shut down our engines, climbed off the sleds and crunched through the fresh snow to a dramatic overlook. Visible about 3,000 feet below was most of vivid-blue Lake Tahoe. In the distance lay Emerald Bay, and to the left Genoa Peak, looking like a gigantic, dark jewel. We were at the top of the world, silenced by the natural wonders before us. For a few moments, only the wind made a sound.

That was one of the highlights of our two-hour, 25-mile snowmobile tour, which took us through parts of the Tahoe and the Toiyabe national forests, up around Spooner and Daggett summits and along parts of the Tahoe Rim Trail.

Another incredible scene had appeared a few minutes earlier, when our snowmobile pack wound through a heavily forested landscape that could have been the backdrop for a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The towering, snow-and-ice-laden conifers hid the sun and sky, leaving a dim glow that cast a bluish color onto the rolling mini-hills of fresh snow.

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