TR: Freeel the burn 11/12/16

[SNOOOOW]

Panorama from top of Freel

So after being shut down at Sonora Pass on 11/11 because of the amount of snow I decided to just hike local and take the Wife (Ingrid) up to the highest peak in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Freel Peak 10,881'. So Saturday 11/12 we ate breakfast, loaded the daypacks and headed down 88 to the Armstrong Pass parking area off 89. When we arrived there was 3 other cars total, 2 of which had just arrived and were getting their gear ready. The weather has been amazing and today looked to be no different except for possibly windy but no big deal. We hit the trail and started the climb up to the Tahoe Rim trail where we ran into a coworker who was also heading up to Freel...small world. As they are faster hikers than my Wife they decided to head up ahead of us and we said our goodbye's. Now my original hope was to do Freel, Jobs Sister and Jobs but I wasn't sure if Ingrid was up to this task so I figured I would get on top of Freel and see how things are going. I feel obligated to climb those 3 every year since I am staring at them everyday at work or riding my bike thru town etc. After getting to the saddle where you start the final climb up to Freel I realized that Ingrid was most likely not interested in going any further than the top of Freel (in fact I don't think there was much interest in even getting up on top of Freel lol) and that was fine with me. In total it took us about 3 hours 20 minutes to hike the 4 miles and roughly 2200' (I am guessing) up there. Very nice day and the views up on top are always killer. As I suspected when we arrived at the peak Ingrid had no interest in going even over to Jobs Sister and that was fine with me. There was a little snow towards the very top that you had to go thru but overall the trail is fairly snow free. The top was very windy and cold and we only stayed long enough to take photos, sign the register and snack. Probably were only on top for about 25 minutes. We took our time on the way back down and when we got back towards the bottom ran into a couple from Reno who were out at Star Lake for 2 nights and were just finishing up their trip. We chatted with them for a bit and were on our way home for food and hot showers. Overall it was a good day and it was the highest peak I have gotten my Wife to climb with me although not the highest elevation she has been on trail as I took her up Kearsarge Pass last Spring.

View towards Desolation. Pyramid, Agassiz, Price, Jack's, Dick's, Tallac

Ingrid on the final push to the summit on the "frozen tundra" lol

Ingrid and I on the summit of Freel

[paula53]

I enjoyed reading about your hike, and the pictures. I keep telling myself, someday I want to hike up Jobs Peak.

[SNOOOOW]

You should. There is a trail going up the back side from basically the same parking area where I started.

[maverick]

Thanks for the TR and pictures. Ingrid looks quite cold in that last pictures.

[cefire]

Great TR SNOOOOW, love the title


Paula - that backside trail that SNOW mentions is a very pleasant trip. I prefer the backside trail to Jobs to the "frontside" trail to Freel. Less crowded (but not empty by any means), pretty forest, and nice views of Freel front as you climb!

[gplhiker]

I found the Freel, Job's Sister and Job's Peak triple loop to be a pretty spectacular dayhike when a group of us tackled it a few years back. It ends up being about 12 miles in all, but the views are spectacular. Especially from Job's Sister, which not only overlooks Star Lake but I think has an even better view of Lake Tahoe and Desolation than Freel. Job's is also a worthy peak to finish the three, with the views into the Carson Valley being pretty amazing from there. The only downside of this loop is that going from Job's Sister to Job's you have to drop down about 1000 feet only to head back up it again right afterward! However, the sandy backside of Freel heading over to Job's Sister is fun, and almost "skiable" as you head down it. I have an elevation graph on my hiking site listed in my profile if interested.
Doing the Tahoe Rim Trail last year and going over Armstrong Pass with the peak just a mile away was tempting, but I the weather wasn't good that day (thunderstorms) so I decided NOT to journey to the highest spot in the area during the electrical activity! Thanks for posting the pics and I'll just have to add it to my ever expanding list of places to head back to next spring.

[Jason]

Sweet report, thanks for taking the time to post it. I love the big, zoomable photos.