Tahoe Rim Trail Hike - Day 6

Photo above - cabins a Meiss Meadow. Below - Carl making his way across a stream at Meiss Meadow.

After having a really long day the previous day we were relieved to have a shorter hiking day. This was also the day where we got two opportunities to go swimming in one day, once in Round Lake and once in Showers Lake. The trail started out at the Big Meadows trailhead above the campground. It turned out that this hike was quite popular at this time of the year, as there were many parties all around us. Perhaps it was the fact that a short hike brings you to a beautiful meadow or that a slightly longer, but still pretty short hike brings you to Round Lake. Whatever it was this was a very popular hike, and rightly so. At Round Lake we all junped in the lake and went for a swim. It felt great to clean off and cool off, and our swim ended right in time. Not long after swimming storm clouds were building and before we knew it there was thunder (although I don't remember seeing any lightning). Fortunately we dodged the worst of the weather, because I guess that rain was falling north of here. We continued our hike trudging farther into mosquito country, and before we knew it we were at the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail. This junction has one of the prettiest meadows along the entire TRT and is flanked by some really nice mountains. The meadow has two little cowboy cabins in it.

From these meadows we traveled north along the PCT/TRT and started to climb gradually. Eventually we came upon a lovely little alpine lake known as Showers Lake where we set up a camp high above the lake where we could look out across the lake. We didn't go for a swim because the air was chilly, but we did wade out into the lake a little after filtering water. From our filtering spot we were able to gaze across the lake toward the alder covered avalanche slopes which still had just a little bit of snow remaining. I took the opportunity to wander around the area and check things out and discovered that there were terrific views of the Upper Truckee watershed (flows into Lake Tahoe near the town of South Lake Tahoe). Strangely there is small dam stone dam at the outlet of the lake. Carl also spotted the largest fish that we saw on the entire trip in this lake.

Photo below - Chester loved to roll around in the snow whenever he got the chance.

Tahoe Rim Trail Hike - Day 5

Photo - Views from alongside the trail near Freel Peak.

Our fifth day of hiking was one of the longest days we encountered, but also one of the most beautiful. We started at Star Lake and went over the shoulder of Freel Peak. From the TRT it is only a mile or so to the summit of Freel, but requires extra hiking on a spur trail. At the crest of the trail there were some glorious views and lots of snow patches. Rolling around in the snow was Chester's favorite pasttime on the hike. He always seemed a little disappointed to leave the snow patches. At this point the trail descends pretty much all of the way to Armstrong Pass, which is at the intersection of four trails. Along the way we start picking up a few small streams, some beautiful granite outcrops and, best of all, beautiful displays of wildflowers.

From Armstrong Pass the trail really does become a "rim trail" because it literally runs along top of the watershed divide. The trail is also quite dry along this section consisting largely of decomposed granite. After going along the watershed divide it drops down to Freel Meadow, our first real meadow along the hike since leaving Tahoe Meadows on day one. We also encountered our first real run-in with lots of mosquitoes. Then we continued along where we passed the infamous "Mr. Toad's wild ride" where mountain bikers decked out in some serious protective gear hurl themselves down the mountain. From there we dropped down into thick forest with frequent streams, more meadows, and more wildflower displays. At 14.5 miles we showed up at the Big Meadows trailhead realizing the bug spray had fallen out of Holly's pack somewhere back up a few miles and that we had just entered mosquito country. Not knowing how long it would take I volunteered to hitchhike into the town of Meyers some 5 or so miles away. Fortunately for me I got a ride from a friendly Forest Service employee/UC Davis botany student down into town, and even more fortunately he offered to give me a ride back up to the campground. I ended up returning to the camp site bearing bug dope plus some treats, bananas and pudding, which made everybody happy. That night we learned from a camper that a bear had ripped through a tent the previous night. I made sure that nothing with even the slightest scent was out of the bear box, and fortunately we didn't have any incidents.

Tahoe Rim Trail Hike - Day 4

After three fairly long hiking days we were treated to our first moderate day, a nine mile hike from Kingsbury Grade to Star Lake. The hike started off under the Stagecoach Lift at Heavenly and then winds it way around and traverses a mountainside overlooking Carson Valley. Along the way there are some gorgeous views looking out across the Great Basin. The route crosses Monument Pass where it enters back into the Tahoe Basin. Along the way there are some beautiful old junipers (photo below) and eventually some nice lake views. After refreshing at our pit stop at the rental house at Kingsbury Grade we were all feeling pretty good. Carl had dropped about 10 pounds of his pack weight. Holly was starting to get used to the altitude.

Star Lake turned out to be a beautiful lake. In fact, it is probably one of the nicest lakes along the entire TRT. However, it was also very popular and kind of noisy. We had the unfortunate experience of camping next to some sort of "hoods in the woods" type of group. They were quite noisy for much of the evening but eventually quieted down before going to sleep. Colleen and I took the opportunity to go for an evening hike up Freel Peak, which at 10,886 feet is the highest peak in the Tahoe Basin. Needless to say the views are quite spectacular and include expansive views of Lake Tahoe, Carson Valley, and the sierra peaks to the south. Carl had his first opportunity to set up his tent-fly shelter which we began to refer to as "the homeless shelter" because of its ad hoc appearance. Nonetheless, the homeless shelter turned out to be a great weight savings, so I think that Carl felt that it was a better option than lugging a heavy tent around the entire lake.