Sunrise near Mud Lake, Mt. Rose Wilderness
TRT Summary
In late October 2010, I hiked solo around Lake Tahoe on the Tahoe Rim Trail over the course of ten days. The TRT runs about 165 miles in a loop around Lake Tahoe, keeping mostly to the mountains that ring the lake (hence, the rim), at elevations between about 6,300 feet and 10,300 feet.
The scenery was gorgeous and at this time of year I had it mostly to myself -- surprising considering this is Tahoe! Views of the lake abounded, but there were also many views of the Sierra crest, Carson Valley and the Great Basin beyond, the southern Carson Range peaks, and especially the beautiful granite peaks and glassy lakes of the Desotation Wilderness, plus a few pleasant forest walks, with splashes of fall color here and there. See the photos for a taste. Here is the trail info I carried with me.
The Trail
Two years of hiking and backpacking in the Cascades on the relative superhighways of trails they have out here in the west still have not undone my northeast trail upbringing and I was still slightly amazed at how easy the walking on the TRT is. I can remember only a couple miles of annoying sharp rocky surface (beteween Spooner Summit and Kingsbury) and only a couple short hills that were even remotely rough going. The grades are shallow and the surface is pretty smooth. You hardly have to look at the ground!
On Hiking in October
I hiked from October 22 to October 31. Autumn was the perfect time of year to hike the TRT. Considering how exposed and dry much of the trail is, I would prefer not to hike it in the heat of summer, though it's definitely doable. In October, the summer crowds, heat, and bugs were long gone, but the scary hoards of skiers had not yet arrived.
I started and finished at Echo Summit, heading clockwise. I chose this route for a couple reasons. First, I suspected that if snow came, it would be heaviest in the Desolation Wilderness area, closest to the crest of the northern Sierra here. (For my 10 days, this was a mostly accurate guess.) Second, with the store and post office at Echo Lake closed for the season, the only two on-trail resupply options are in Tahoe City and Kingsbury Grade. Starting at Echo Summit offered the most balanced division of resupplies: 3 nights to Tahoe City, 4 nights to Kingbury Grade, 2 nights to Echo Summit.
While I did get hit by a storm in my first 3 days out, I was treated to mostly sunny skies and occasional snow showers for the rest of the trip. Overnight lows bottomed out in the low 20s one night, but didn't dip below freezing every night. I would estimate that for a quarter to a third of the distance I walked, the trail was covered in snow 1 to 4 inches deep, and occasionally deeper. Most of the snow came with the storm that hit my first few days out. I started on a Friday with partly sunny skies. The next morning it was snowing lightly by daybreak; this continued as snow and rain until the wee hours of Monday morning. The snow I saw was thickest in a few places: Dick's Pass in the Desolation Wilderness (4ish inches of fresh snow on the west slope the morning of my second day), the southern Carson Range (high elevations around Mt. Freel, etc.), higher elevations south of Echo Summit, and in the higher elevations in the Mt. Rose Wilderness.
After meeting three parties of backpackers leaving the Desolation Wilderness as I was heading in on my first day, I only met day hikers and mountain bikers thereafter, and few of them at that. For the most part, I met other hikers and bikers only within a couple miles of the trailheads. Bikers occasionally ventured further. I never saw anyone else camping and only twice saw anyone even passing by near where I camped.
Combined with the snow on trail, the lack of trail traffic (and the resulting lack of tracks) meant I was breaking trail a lot of the time. Most of the time this was not really hard physical work, since the snow was not too deep, but occasionally, there were deeper sections that made for real slogging (though, thankfully, nothing I would call postholing). In some places, the trail was difficult to follow under the snow, but this usually made for some fun "trail sleuthing." From Armstrong Pass to Tucker Flat and from Showers Lake to a mile or two south of Echo Summit, I was breaking trail in a few inches, often having to look hard and sometimes stop, look around, and think carefully, to figure out where the trail went. While I thoroughly enjoyed this detective work, another 6 inches of snow would have made things much harder and would have necessitated some map and compass work, not to mention much more arduous walking, given that I had no snowshoes along. I suspect having the snow pack made the trail even emptier of other hikers than it might have been otherwise -- I'm not complaining!
Waning daylight and the occasional slog through deeper snow meant that the pace I took (around 17 miles per day on average) was comfortable without needing to rush, but it didn't leave much extra daylight to play with. It got light around 7 each morning and I typically left camp around 8; in the afternoon I made camp before 5:30 most days and darkness was closing in by 6:45 or so. This meant I was basically in bed 12 hours a night!
Day 0: Getting to Tahoe
Rode the South Tahoe Express from Reno airport to Stateline, NV in the evening, then rode the local BlueGo bus to Motel 6 in South Lake Tahoe, CA. Stayed at Motel 6, which was inexpensive ($35 rate, I think), but quite clean and functional. Theoretically, it's possible to string together public transit all the way for a total of $6, I think, but the timing was going to be tight for me at the Reno end, so I opted for the $26 STE shuttle.
Heather Lake, Desolation Wilderness
Day 1: Echo Summit to Susie Lake
Breakfast at Denny's (really!?!?!? There was a discount with Motel 6 and I had to walk by it to the Forest Service office anyway), then picked up permits at the USFS office. Returning to the motel, I saddled up and walked down to the Y transit center (the Y of US 50, and CA 89, but there's another major road there...). After trying for 20-30 minutes to hitch a ride up US 50 to Echo Summit, I finally called a shuttle service recommended by the folks at the USFS (ShuttleIt!) as much less expensive than a taxi. He showed up within 15 minutes and gave me a ride up to Echo Summit for $20 (apparently the usual rate is $30, but he said he'd do $20 because it was just one). According to him the aspen are late this year, so I'll get a better show than I would most years at this time.
Hit the trail at Echo Summit at noon under sunny skies with a few clouds. Easy walking, good local views around Echo Lake. Lunch above Tamarack Lake in the distance. Lake Aloha is spectacular; each of the smaller lakes is baeutiful too. The combination of granite and water is stunning. It was blustery all day, must be weather coming. Good views at Heather and Susie Lakes. Camp below Susie Lake. (Bear warning for Gilmore Lake, my original plan, the later start meant dark is approaching, and the clouds have been closing in all afternoon.) Showers from 7pm. I saw a few pairs and threes of backpackers today, all exiting Desolation Wilderness. Nobody else from Aloha to here.
Pool near Fontanillis Lake, Desolation Wilderness
Day 2: Susie Lake to Richardson Lake
Showers turned to snow overnight around 4:30am. There was a dusting of wet snow by the time I got up, but my water had not frozen. The climb up to Dick's Pass was pretty. The wind was stiff and occasionally blasting, but this helped moderate excess heat generate from my brisk climbing pace. Even without the major views this point is known for, due to the low visibility in the blowing snow, the local details were very pretty in a light snow. The top of the pass was very windy, with 3-4 inches of snow on the ground, drifts on top, and an inch or two more on the other side. The trail was almost totally hidden, but followable down -- very easy walking in the snow with nice cushioned plunge steps. I saw two pairs of footprints headed down a side trail from Dicks Lake. (This was the only evidence of humans nearby today.) My shoes and feet stayed fairly dry in the snow, but when puddles showed up as I descended, things got wet, wet, wet! The precipitation changed back to rain at lower elevation later in the day, but there was a brief break midday at Middle Velma Lake, with lessened precip and a few peeks from the sun. I took the opportunity to have lunch, wring my shoes and socks, and tank up water for the "dry" stretch to Richardson Lake. The rest of the afternoon brought flat or rolling forest walking over smooth, but often wet, trail to Richardson Lake. By the time I made camp a half-mile past the lake around 3:45, the Rain and wind had picked up again and I -- and everything else around -- was pretty wet.
Day 3: Richardson Lake to Barker Pass/Tahoe City
I rose around 7am. It rained hard and blew hard all night and continued to do so. Cold and miserable. My rain gear, socks, shoes, etc. were still wet despite my best attempts to let them air dry under my shelter overnight. The forecast I got at the USFS indicated today would be quite windy and precip-y. Looks like they're right. It was not as cold overnight as the previous night (no snow, just rain), but it's not warm either, and the rain and wind only seem to have picked up. I made my first goal of the day (after dressing and packing) the Barker Pass vault toilet, where I can get out of the wind and rain for a bit and consider options beyond there. It's miserable enough out there that I even postponed breakfast until then (about 6 miles away). I could have eaten in the tarptent, but that would have meant going out to get the food bag, then coming back in, which would entail getting more stuff inside wet, plus an extra raingear on/off cycle... no way!
Man it rained hard! The trail was a minor watercourse most of the time and the real streams were rushing -- some thigh-deep and not on the map. One crossing used stepping stones 6 inches underwater that I'd imagine are usually a foot or two above water. I couldn't really see them that well -- just a blurry apparition under the brownness of the water and something I could feel with my poles and my feet. For another crossing, I had to bushwhack up the steep hill about a quarter mile to a tamer spot where I wouldn't wash down a waterfall if the crossing went awry. That one was still knee-deep.
When I finally slogged out to Barker Pass about 10am, the wind and rain were biting and numbing up there. I was soaked. I huddled in the welcome shelter of the vault toilet for snacks and thought about what to do, deciding pretty quickly to head down, since I was too soaked to be comfortable (in any sense of the word, but mostly worried about safety/hypothermia) heading out in these conditions, I was genuinely worried about what water crossings might lie ahead, and considered the fact that as cold as it was, it could well drop those precious 2 degrees and turn to snow. With this volume of water, that could put me in a bind! I also didn't fancy spending the rest of the day plus the night in the toilet, pleasant as it was compared to the outside. As I was starting to brace myself for the long walk down the Barker Pass Road, a pickup drove by and I ran out, catching them on their way back down. Lucky for me, a couple had decided today would be a good day to drive up the pass today and take a look. (Apparently, yesterday, snow had made the road too dicy.) They were happy to give me a ride down to Tahoe City. I must have looked pretty miserable. I got a room at America's Best Value Inn (hiker discount) which was soon covered in wet gear with the heater and fans turned up high. The 6:30 news showed that 4 inches of rain had fallen in Tahoe City in the last 12 hours. Another inch or more was expected by evening. Glad I bailed!
After considering the options, I decided not to go back and do the Barker Pass to Tahoe City stretch, but just continue from Tahoe City. Mostly, I wanted to avoid the logistics and possible expense of finding a ride back up to Barker Pass, especially since there could be significant snow up there for all I knew. With the trail passing right through Tahoe City, continuing from there was easy, even though I would miss out on the Granite Chief Wilderness and end up 16.7 TRT miles short of a "real" thru-hike.
Lake Tahoe from shoulder of Mt. Watson, north of Tahoe City
Day 4: Tahoe City to Watson Lake
Rain turned to snow in the wee hours and deposited a thin layer. Soon after sunrise, the sun broke through the clouds. I was slightly sluggish starting from the motel. I picked up my food drop from the Post Office right as it opened, then headed back to pack up. Rather than ditching my extra day's food, I kept it, now a little gunshy about the weather so the pack was a little heavier.
It took a long time to find the trail headed north. I followed a dirt Forest Service 4x4 road for a while, since the turn-off appeared to be in the right spot by my map, but the actual trailhead was just a little farther up the paved road. (Once on the right trail, I ended up crossing a branch of the dirt road that I had followed -- I'd turned around in view of the trail not knowing it was there...) The sun continued to break out through clouds, turning things magic and sparkly. My mood was that much better given the contrast with this time yesterday!
Once up out of Tahoe City, the trail was under and inch or two of fresh wet snow. The trail along the rim of Truckee Canyon had plenty of nice views and lots of black bear tracks in the snow! I took up singing, humming, and talking to myself. Once the trail hooked east, there were excellent lake views, and some great wide open panoramas. So this is Lake Tahoe! So glad to be in the sun again.
Met a couple mountain bikers, all courteous. Beautiful snow and frost on trees. I made Watson Lake around 5pm and filled up my water bag. The sun was just about to dip below the trees. I thought I heard a dog bark once and saw a collapsed (abandoned?) tent and some footprints in the area, but no humans. Something irked me just a little though, so I headed on for another half mile or so before camping. It's going to be a cold night. Hopefully without rain...!
Some trouble with my relatively new Salomon shoes (XA Pro 3D Ultra or whatever they're called) has developed. I tried them out on a overnight trip in the Olympics earlier in the month and had no issues then, but extended use always brings out the little things. The thinner SmartWool crew socks were a little old to begin with and have now worn through at the Achilles, which now gets rubbed raw directly on the shoe, particularly on the right foot. The 20 miles of wet feet this weekend no doubt exacerbated this issue. Also, the two-piece insole is odd. The differential padding is nice I suppose, but, the place where the two parts meet pinches the foot and causes a blister under the heel. Swapping out some other insoles would fix this, but for now I can hopefully conrtol it with some taping.
Mt. Rose Wilderness
Day 5: Watson Lake to Mud Lake
"Half done," so to speak. It was quite cold this morning! Lesson: don't leave water out if there's snow on ground -- the vessels are half-frozen this morning. Lesson: keep gaiters inside if they're wet so they don't freeze stiff... Lesson: getting up wasn't so bad. It's not much below freezing and clothes, movement, and food make the cold leave quickly.
The hiking today was a long rolling traverse with occasional views, which broke out to big panoramas late in the day. The latter part of Brockway to Mud Lake is wide open, traversing the sides of 9000+ foot knobs along the north shore. Excellent views of the whole basin. Plenty of trudging through snow here at higher elevations -- it's kind of hard work even through it's only 2-3 inches deep.
Made camp at Mud Lake around 4:30. It is getting cold fast! Here there's 2-4 inches of snow everywhere, and though there's water in the (small and sometimes dry) lake, it's very little and it's all frozen over. I doubt things got much above freezing in here today. Rather than see if I can break the ice without going in, melt some snow, or walk a mile or so off-TRT to Gray Lake for the same, so I decided to just ration water until tomorrow. There are plenty of bear tracks right around here too, and I was not warm enough to sit around cooking unless in my sleeping bag... I don't consider bear tracks and sleeping bag cooking compatible, so a quick non-cooked (nuts, dried fruit, bars) dinner was on the menu before hanging food and diving in the sleeping bag for the night. Too bad, looks like there would be a good sunset if I scrambled up a little ways. Had cell reception, so talked to parents for a weather forecast and temp reading. Looks like low 20s tonight. I hope my 15-degree bag holds up, especially because I wasn't able to clear all the snow so I'm camped on a bit of snow too with only my Z-rest for a pad.
Marlette Lake
Day 6: Mud Lake to Marlette Peak Campground
Stayed mostly warm enough last night, wearing most clothing and deploying emergency blanket to bolster the insulation of my sleeping pad against the snow. Even though I already know better -- don't camp on snow if you can avoid it! It saps so much more heat than plain cold ground. On bare ground, the sleeping bag and usual sleeping base layer would have cut it.
Rose at 6:30 or so for a cold breakfast while watching the sunrise -- gorgeous color over the whole basin! Frozen shoes, socks, and gaiters this morning, so I wore my sleep socks; the shoes and gaiters thawed quickly enough. Despite the early rise, I didn't pull out of camp until 8:13am. A short wrong turn, following the only foot tracks here, introduce a short detour to my traverse over to the climb up Relay Peak (turns out the [illegal in Mt. Rose Wilderness] bike track was the one going the right way, though once I got to the climb up Relay, neither track was following the trail). Climbing Relay was hard work with the snow ranging from 2-10 inches deep, sometimes consolidated, sometimes loose and shifty. But the view was totally worth it, and all mine this morning! Oh my, happy to be alive. Could see the whole Tahoe Basin, the Sierra crest south and north, a few ranges into the Great Basin, Sierra Buttes, and Mount Lassen in the distance! The hike down was super easy, following a giant service road, and I started to meet day users there. I got too much sun here in the wide open space with bright snow and it was pretty warm too.
Almost lost my maps at Mt. Rose Summit, then half-lunched and tanked up at the Mt. Rose Campground across the highway. This place is currently getting a facelift with some of the federal economic recovery funding. Tahoe Meadows was neat, but muddy. Had rest of lunch on the other side.
The afternoon brought big easy miles heading south. This side is strikingly different: dry, big round granite boulders, Jeffrey (?) pines. Once the trail attains the true ridge, you can tell that's what it is: the ridge. It is very narrow and you can see both east and west at once, or at least by walking 10 yards one direction or the other. Views of Tahoe and especially Carson Valley, Lake Washoe, Carson City, and beyond were cool. Smoke/haze/clouds closed in over the Tahoe basin over the afternoon.
Aimed to camp in Twin lakes area, arrived at lakes around 4 so I pushed on. Near Christopher's Loop I came across a small black bear which scared off immediately, though I decided not to camp nearby like I'd been considering. I skipped the famed loop because it was getting late and the haze meant my view would be limited. I pushed on for Marlette and had very nice views over Marlette Lake, with Marlette Peak and the southern Carson Range. Back to the northeast, the Reno-Sparks area became visible as a mass of lights -- could even pick out landmarks. Arrived at the Marlette Campground just as it was getting dark. Campground has luxuries: bear lockers, picnic tables, vault toilet. Swanky living! But did not find the advertised water tonight. No matter, I had enough for dinner and the evening. Also, the area has just been re-done and looks like a bunch of big trucks drove circles in the mud for a couple days. Windy tonight, hope there's no precip involved, given the slate skies this earlier evening.
Ridge north of Snow Valley Peak
Day 7: Marlette Campground to north of Kingsbury
I've been out a week now.
Had my Tarptent Contrail blow down partially last night. A crosswind pulled out one of the foot stakes, the second time this happened on this trip (first was Richardson Lake... sleeping bag got a little wet from condensation then -- fortunately dry as a bone tonight). The soil around here just doesn't seem interested in holding these stakes. I've had to pile rocks on each one to keep a sturdy pitch.
Turns out Marlette campground had a potable well with pump! Just missed the signs to it in the dark last night. Made a big breakfast this morning (lots of backlogged oatmeal). Clever stove innovation: boil water inside the food locker! It serves as a great wind break. Late start (9:something?). Great panoramic views from windswept grassy Snow Valley Peak. Saw a herd of mule deer, including some respectable antlers.
Long hot descent to Spooner Summit -- much drier and warmer around here. Met many day hikers coming up from Spooner Summit, including own who offered me a ride over the Kingsbury road-walk section tomorrow! Spooner Lake made a pleasant lunch stop but the water tasted kind of yechy (filtered, of course...). Oh well, that's the only water until Kingsbury.
The stretch south of Spooner was rather miserable trail -- intense sun, logged over, rough trail with sharp rocky surface. South Camp Peak was great, but an exception in this part. The last few miles into Kingsbury are much more pleasant than the northern part of this section. Camped a couple miles out of Kingsbury Grade North. Met an out-and-back evening biker righ around camp time (out) and then as I was surveying the site (back). My lips are sunburnt. Blah. Feet are in bad shape after today's rough trail (and tired attitude), plus toenails a little long... some stabbing. But the sunset tonight was nice and I'm ahead of "schedule" with a relatively short day ahead of me tomorrow.
Freel Peak from Monument Pass
Day 8: north of Kingsbury to Star Lake
Slow start knowing I had lower miles to do. Nice views over to Desolation along the trail this morning. Fork in trail near Kingsbury North is very confusing. From info at the trailhead kiosk (which I reach after the fork, of course), it looks like they're adding trails around the area to provide a better connection here. That's great (less roadwalking in the future), but it doesn't show up in online info and multiple trails are blazed as the TRT with no explanation for southbound hikers -- confusing! Road walk through suburban outpost, then skiburbia. Yuck. (Ended up not calling for a ride because I was at the TH before I realized it -- might as well just walk.) Saw "No Benjamin" road. (No for North) Should have taken a photo. Also "So Benjamin" road. The guy at Tramway Market was really nice, got my package, chatted weather, and let me fill up on water, though kind of clueless about hikers (they get very few, apparently).
The climb up out of Heavenly is tough. Later, there were very cool views to the east dropping straight down into the Carson Valley and beyond. I met one hiker, one biker within a couple miles of the trailhead. Monument Pass brought the return of views of Freel Peak and the others. Camped at Star Lake. Early arrival meant leisurely camp. A couple bikers passed by after I'd set up -- first people I've seen this far from roads, or (other than yesterday's biker only a couple miles out from the TH) near where I'm camping. I haven't camped with anyone yet (or seen anyone camping, for that matter). Most people I see near the trailheads or road crossings. I guess this is the right time of year to hike here! Nice views over Star Lake to Jobs Sister (or a shoulder thereof). This is my second-to-last night on the trail, which brings on the "get it done!" and "you mean it's almost over?!" notalgia contradiction. The solitude also has me thinking of home and family more, just like on the last long trip.
Star Lake
Day 9: Star Lake to south of Round Lake
Today was the last full day on the trail. Snow pellet showers started before dawn, lasting to around 7. Clouds with peeks of sun and blue sky blew through all day, making for cool lighting and moody landscapes. Tried to capture this in photos, but I'm not so great. Cool but limited views up to Freel Saddle. At the saddle, decided it was too windy and cloudy (no view likely) to bother summiting Freel (highest thing in the basin). Icy on back side of the saddle, where the sun had not hit yet. Met 3 skiers headed up towards Freel from Armstrong Pass, where a side trail provides shorter access than the TRT proper.
Beyond Armstrong Pass, the trail on the ridge was completely obscured by snow and I (and the tracks of at least one biker before me) totally lost the trail. I eventually found it again (the biker's tracks didn't) and followed it all the way down to Tucker Flat, for a few miles of breaking trail. Soon after finding the trail, little snow squalls started up and came back on and off all afternoon. Had lunch just past Tucker Flat intersection, where others had broken the other two forks of trail. The sleuthing was a lot of fun. Saw a few mountain bikers in groups plus some nice aspen in the flurries.
Big Meadow was very cool! Flurries and sun moving in and out gave quite a mood to the place. Underbrush/fuel wood removal was in progress just south of here -- pretty ugly, with piles of brush all over. Further on, the trail starts following a few hundred feet below a big conglomerate ridge. The forest floor is littered with car-sized boulders of conglomerate containing pieces up to soccer ball size, some bigger. Looks like pieces might fall off from above regularly, though there's not much evidence of that recency on the forest floor. Round Lake appears overused and not so exciting, plus the camp spots were mostly in the wind. I headed another half mile south to a boring stealth site near an inlet/outlet (?) of the lake. It's now cloudy and raw, flurries continue on and off. This is the last night on trail for this trip. Last night felt more like that -- tonight is kind of anticlimactic. Looking forward to the end in both ways.
Upper Truckee River
Day 10: Round Lake to Echo Summit
Snow showers dissipated overnight. Clearish this morning, with small view of meadow and beyond from camp. (Didn't see this last night!) Just up the trail, we enter continuous meadows... should have come a little farther to camp here! The meadows are gorgeous -- golden and rusty this time of year, dusted with snow, and with snow-dusted peaks beyond. The area around the Upper Truckee, where the TRT rejoins the PCT, is especially pretty. I spent a long while here getting water and enjoying the scenery.
Heading north to Showers Lake is easy, but beyond, the trail sleuthing gets interesting again for several miles of trail-finding and trail-breaking to around Benwood Meadows. (Alas, no sign for photos.) Saw no one on trail today. Several gorgeous spots. Perhaps the best day on trail.
The return to Echo Summit was a little anticlimactic -- emerging into a hot and dry open ski area, then walking a mile of trail that runs parallel to the highway to return to my starting point. Hitched a ride with the first car to pass, down to Meyers with a couple of ski dudes my age just relocated from Massachusetts, then another hop into South Lake Tahoe. Ate too much not-so-great Chinese buffet food at a discount next to the Motel 6, watched sunshine drop on the Heavenly area.
Trip is over. Though I skipped a 16 mile section, I still feel like I got the taste of the full loop. I probably won't come back with the sole purpose of completing the loop, though I'll definitely finish it if I'm in the area again. (Say, on a PCT thruhike...?) It's been a great quiet solo trip and this was the perfect season to find that solitude here in busy Tahoe.