A week of hiking near Tahoe (coming down from Oregon)

[brvoyles]

I'm not a Granite Chief fan. I would recommend Twin Peaks over it.

What's wrong with GC?

I don't care for hiking through a major ski area.

[Brookies1]

I will be headed in to Showers Lake, Meiss meadows this Sunday afternoon coming back out Tuesday. Going in from the Carson pass trailhead and I will report back when I get back. Brookies

[jimandluba]

Adam: Your initial lists and the subsequent reply suggestions are all fine - except for the Frog Lake hike. The mosquitos there this time of year should be quite bad. If you like long hikes and wildflowers and climbing, the Carson Pass south to past Frog Lake to Winnemucca to Round Top Lake, then up Round Top (a Class 2 climb at the top) hike is ideal. A CP Visitor Center volunteer told me today that the trail from the pass to Round Top Lake is now "clear."

The only hike I would add to the ones already mentioned is rated as the second most scenic stretch of the Pacfic Crest Trail: start at Echo Lakes resort, at the south end of Lower Echo Lake, then head north past Lower and Upper Echo Lakes and Tamarack Lake, over a c 8,250 ft. pass, then down to Lake Aloha, at 8,116 feet. The view across the lake to the snow-capped Crystal Range is stunning! My wife and I hike there every year.

BTW, I grew up in Eugene, OR. Have a safe trip. - Jim

[adamschneider]

I have arrived!

I spent the night in the forest below Glass Mountain (near Tulelake) and checked into my South Lake Tahoe motel today, then went over to the USFS Visitor's Center at Taylor Creek to chat with the rangers right before they closed at 4:30. One of them said that if I was looking for a quick 'n' easy hike that I could still do yet this afternoon/evening, I should do Bayview to Maggie's Peaks. I'd been considering a Bayview/Eagle Lake loop, but the ranger said that walking on the road above Emerald Bay wasn't a good idea. (And having been out there now, I agree.)

So I got on the trail at about 5:00, hiked up to Granite Lake, bushwhacked straight up to Maggie's Peak South, found a semi-normal trail back down to Maggie's Saddle, and got back to my car at about 7:45. The big news from the trail was that I saw a bear — my first one ever, actually! It was golden-colored and was clawing at a stump and eating bugs about 50 yards below the trail, maybe 1/4 mile from the trailhead.

Wildflower report: as expected, it's pretty early and awfully dry. Lots of hot pink penstemon above Granite Lake; small-flowered manzanita and some kind of white ceanothus all over the place; quite a few bright red snow plants popping up just above the unofficial vista point between the trailhead and the lake. I followed Granite Lake's outlet stream a little ways below the lake and didn't find much (except for mosquitoes): a few cinquefoil, some labrabor tea, and a lot of corn lily that's just getting started. Very little water in the creek.

[Brookies1]

Back from meiss meadows area and the wild flowers are not as good as normal. The skeeters are really bad from about Four lakes all the way to Showers lake. It was real windy last night all night Long which did keep the bugs down. Brookies

[adamschneider]

Well, I'm back home in Portland now, but in case anyone's curious as to what I was able to fit into my trip, here was my itinerary:

Sunday 6/22: Bayview Trail to Granite Lake and Maggies Peaks South (6 miles, out and back, 1800').

Monday 6/23: Squaw Valley's Shirley Canyon Trail to Shirley Lake, then counterclockwise around Emigrant Peak to the Watson Monument and High Camp; rode down on the aerial tram (6 miles, partial loop, 2500').

Tuesday 6/24: Carson Pass to Winnemucca Lake and the summit of Round Top; descended to Woods Lake, walked out to the highway, hitchhiked 3/4 mile back to Carson Pass (11 miles, loop, 2200').

Wednesday 6/25: Pyramid Creek to the top of Horsetail Falls; visited Avalanche Lake & Pitt Lake in Desolation Wilderness (6 miles, out and back, 1500').

Wednesday 6/25: Explored Chimney Beach and Secret Cove Beach on the east side of Lake Tahoe (2 miles, out and back, 200').

Thursday 6/26: Glen Alpine Trailhead to Lake Aloha via the Tamarack Trail; returned via Heather Lake, Susie Lake, and Glen Alpine Springs (15 miles, loop, 2000').

Friday 6/27: No hiking, I felt wobbly and my feet hurt. Instead I did a little driving tour down to Ebbetts Pass (CA-4) and the Mokelumne River, and then back across Monitor Pass (CA-89) on my way to Reno.

[giantbrookie]

Now that's a nice sampling of the Tahoe area Sierra. You mentioned somewhat muted wildflowers in your earlier post. How were they on your Carson Pass area trip? The Carson Pass to Winnemucca stretch is usually one of the nicer wildflower displays in the Sierra.

[adamschneider]

You mentioned somewhat muted wildflowers in your earlier post. How were they on your Carson Pass area trip?

They were nice, in spots, but certainly not at any sort of "Sound of Music" level. And the few people I stopped and chatted with all said it was a disappointing year... same as the people on this forum have said.

[Tom_H]

Wednesday 6/25: Explored Chimney Beach and Secret Cove Beach on the east side of Lake Tahoe (2 miles, out and back, 200').

Ahem!! You just revealed a lot about your interests in, um, natural beauty shall we say.

If you ever get back, do the climb of Mt. Tallac. It is an incredible view. And BTW, how was the Tamarack Trail?

[adamschneider]

Wednesday 6/25: Explored Chimney Beach and Secret Cove Beach on the east side of Lake Tahoe (2 miles, out and back, 200').

Ahem!! You just revealed a lot about your interests in, um, natural beauty shall we say.

Settle down... it was chilly and no one was naked. The best beaches, anywhere, are usually the ones you have to hike down to... and because they're secluded, they often end up as nude beaches. Secret Cove was beautiful, and I can only imagine what it'd look like on a calm sunny day. This was my view last Wednesday:

Secret Cove Beach.jpg

SO much nicer than the boring (and sometimes gated!) sandy stretches in South Lake Tahoe, and definitely worth a visit, whether your clothes are optional or not. Kudos to the USFS for maintaining these beaches on public land.

If you ever get back, do the climb of Mt. Tallac. It is an incredible view.

I thought about doing Tallac, but it looked like a long hard slog up a relatively uninteresting trail. I'm sure the view is nice, but I can do hikes like that in Oregon!

And BTW, how was the Tamarack Trail?

The Tamarack Trail was pretty overgrown and jungly in parts:

Tamarack Trail.jpg

Normally that wouldn't bother me, but it had rained all night, so I got completely soaked from the waist down. There were a few sections where I lost the trail, but before heading out I'd loaded up some other people's past GPS tracks, so I never got too far off before finding it again. Once I was at the top of the cliffs (about 8000'), it was just a normal trail. Despite the wetness, I enjoyed it a lot more than boring ol' Glen Alpine Road, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to do a loop from the Glen Alpine trailhead.

But here's the silver lining of hiking in the rain and fog:

raindrops on lupines.jpg