Tahoe Rim Trail Hike - Day 1

Our journey begins at Tahoe Meadows Trailhead off of Mount Rose Highway, the closest part of the trail to Reno. From left to right (in the photo)we have Carl, Chris, Colleen, Cara, Holly, myself, and Chester. Within a half mile we were already getting excellent views, plus we had an absolutely blue bird day. Everyone started off in good spirits. Chris decided to join us for a day hike for the first half of the day. The rest of us continued on to Marlette Peak Campground that night. The first part of the Tahoe Rim Trail is extremely well-traveled. The trail tends to be wide and easy to follow winding its way through subalpine forest and decomposing granite outcrops. For the most part the views tend to be of the lake, however there are some areas with excellent views of Washoe Lake and environs.

This section of trail has some interesting regulations. While parts of the trail are closed to mountain bikes (along the PCT, Mt. Rose Wilderness, Snow Valley Peak area) this section of trail is closed to mountain bikes on odd days and open to biking on even days. We started on June 27, making it an odd day, however we got passed by several mountain bikers. While most are friendly I found that it really changed the dynamic of the trail. Portions of trail that didn't have bikes tended to have an almost wilderness-like feel with low numbers of users, while areas with bikers had a fairly steady stream of traffic. Although I don't know of any formal study on the number of bikers that choose to ignore the regulations based on two back-to-back weekends I estimate that about 50% of bikers go right past the sign with large lettering and ignore it. Personally, I find it appalling that 50% of bikers would choose to disregard the regulations and ignore the wishes of hikers. Despite this annoyance I really did enjoy this part of the hike.


One of the highlights of the hike is Christopher's Loop, a 1.5 mile spur trail that offers outstanding views and Sand Harbor (photo to the right) and the rest of Lake Tahoe. In addition to views of Tahoe there are also some nice views of Marlette Lake to the south. While enjoying the views at Christopher's Loop we spotted a couple of mule deer. There were also a few snow patches for Chester to role around in (his favorite hiking pastime). From here the trail climbs up into the alpine near Marlette Peak before dropping back down into the forest. Right before the campground we encountered the first major stream since leaving Tahoe Meadows and took the opportunity to filter some water and get water for cooking. This water was a welcomed relief because we were completely dry by the time we arrived here. Anyone who is thinking about hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail should know that water is especially scarce along the eastern portion of the trail. I typically carry two liters of water when hiking, however, for dry parts of the hike and long days it seemed like three liters was a more appropriate amount. Of course I needed to carry extra water for Chester as well so in total I ended up going though nearly five liters on the first day!


Marlette Peak Campground is a pretty nice spot. Granted it is no wilderness setting, with pit toilets, picnic tables, fire pits, and plenty of other campers, but the amenities were pretty nice for our first night of camping on the trail. There is a giant stockpile of wood from forest thinning operations all around the camp too! We truly enjoyed our first night here after such a long and hard day. We sat around the camp fire that night, but it wasn't too long before everybody was ready to go to bed.

Photo on the left: Holly and I at Christopher's Loop with Marlette Lake in the background