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    Senior Member twentybelow's Avatar
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    Tahoe Rim Trail - Days 10-end (Part 3 of 3)

    Day 10: After breakfast at “Key's Cafe” (another place the locals go to eat), it was back to the trail for me. I got underway at 10:50am. It's normally uphill from any road crossing and this was no exception. Two miles and about an hour later I emerged from the forest on the south end of Echo Lake. From there the trail passes to the east around the lake. Some hikers take a water taxi from this point which eliminates about 4-5 miles of trail. I did not. The southern border of Desolation Wilderness is here, although there was nothing desolate about this particular spot. Tons of cars in the parking lot, and tons of people wandering about. There were signs reminding hikers that a “permission slip” was required to go beyond a certain point on the trail. Or else what, I wondered. How many don't comply, I wondered.

    The trail was immediately much more difficult. It was a good thing my wife opted out of this section. But the views of the area were great. Evidently there is private property around the perimeter of this lake. All kinds of houses exist along the rugged shoreline, everything from cute little cabins to extravagant mansions. I assume the owners all have to keep boats at the marina to access their properties; I didn't see any roads or vehicles once I got past the parking area. There were also lots of dayhikers in this section, some just carrying towels as if they were headed for some secluded beach which I never saw.


    Hobbit house on Echo Lake


    As I left Echo Lake behind me around MM 125, the crowds quickly thinned out. The trail also continued to get even rougher and had now become the exact antithesis of the soft footpath which predominated during the first half of this TRT journey. The surface that was previously 99.5% duff had transformed into rocks, rocks, and more rocks, reminiscent of my experience on the AT in “Rocksylvania” many years ago.


    They weren't kidding about the rocky trail in Desolation Wilderness


    I stopped for lunch and while I was eating, a ranger came by. This was the first one I had seen since starting the trail 10 days prior. He asked if my permit was current. I said yup and that was good enough for him, no need to display it.

    This is truly the land of lakes. After Echo came Aloha, then Heather, Susie, and finally Gillmore at MM 133 where I quit for the day. All of them were gems and worthy of further exploration (on a subsequent visit). I was surprised that there were so many people at Gillmore since I didn't see many hikers on the trail in the hour or two before arriving. The few folks I DID see along the way that afternoon were mostly PCT thru-hikers going the other way who had flip-flopped because of the deep snow in the Sierras in June and were now working on “closing the gap”. They had already been on the trail for about four months and were currently within a few weeks of finishing their 2650-mile trek. And here I was on “day 10” of my own comparatively inconsequential journey. I stood in awe of their accomplishment, astonished that they would even stop to talk to me.


    Lake Aloha



    Heather Lake



    "shards of granite" (aka scree)


    When I first arrived at Gillmore it was difficult to find a spot. How close is too close to your neighbor? I didn't know, but eventually settled on a pair of trees that I felt did not encroach on anyone's territory. Don't get the wrong idea... when I say there were “many” other campers here, I mean maybe a dozen. And from where I hung my hammock I could only see two of them.

    Shortly after I arrived, a tiny twentysomething Asian woman rolled in and was having the same dilemma as me. She eventually found a spot to pitch a tent for herself and her dog. They were a perfect match: she probably weighed all of 80 pounds soaking wet, and her dog was about as small as they come. I wondered how someone as petite as her could carry a full backpacking kit on a trail such as this. And her little dog! That thing might have been 5 pounds max, so it sure as heck wasn't gonna be carrying any additional weight. Which meant its OWNER must have been carrying its food and water and whatever else it needed. And those little 4” legs... could it even keep up on the trail? Could it walk more than a mile in a day? Could it leap tall boulders in a single bound? She said it was 11 years old, not exactly a spring chicken! Again, it was a mystery to me, and remains such. They were gone in the morning before I got up.

    During the night I was awakened by other campers yelling and making a racket trying to scare a bear away. I never saw the bear. To my knowledge, it never came near my hammock, and my canister was undisturbed in the morning. But the yelling persisted for about 30 minutes, possibly longer. I may have slept through some of it.

    I hiked 13.0 miles this day, even with starting so late in the morning and the rugged terrain. The elevation at Gillmore was 8320' and the low temp overnight was 51 degrees. I'd rate this campsite 8.5/10.


    "Ginger" the wonder dog



    camp 8 at Gillmore Lake


    Day 11: Woke up at 8:10 and broke camp at 9:45. The trail headed uphill almost immediately and passed to the east of Half Moon Lake which is nestled in a bowl and looked like an interesting place to explore someday. I had heard that Di ck's Pass was grueling, and that was where I was headed next. Actually, I didn't find it all that difficult a climb, probably because there was a lot of uphill on the way to Gillmore the previous day. I got to the top of the pass right at 11:00am and paused for a snack while enjoying the amazing view. Next it was down to "Di ck's Lake, and then on to Fontanillis Lake where I replenished my water supply.


    I don't know how much more of this i can take...



    "Di ck's Pass"


    Many backpackers stop along the way to swim in these secluded lakes and I came upon a pair of young women who were preparing to do just that in Fontanillis. It was midday, sunny, and very warm, so there was no better time to take a dip. Personally, I found the lake water too cold to be enticing. If I jumped in, it would only be for a moment and just to be able to say I did... hardly worth the trouble. To be honest, I DID wonder if the girls were planning on skinny dipping, but to be gentlemanly I didn't stick around to find out.

    Next were Upper and Middle Velma Lakes. This was supposed to be one of the places where bears were having a heyday stealing camper's food. I made it a point to pause often and scan the area for movement hoping to catch a glimpse of one of them, but it was not to be. A few miles later I reached the northern border of the Desolation Wilderness. I had read somewhere that DW is one of the most popular hiking areas in the country. While I certainly see the appeal, I think the eastern side of Lake Tahoe is prettier. Just my opinion.

    While solo hiking, one has lots of time to ponder various things. Long stretches of trail without any human interaction will inevitably produce random and sometimes wild thoughts. Consider this example: At the time of this backpacking trip, there were thousands, probably millions, of grasshoppers flying about, especially in the meadows. As I was plodding along one day looking down at the trail, I watched as grasshopper after grasshopper made way for my passage. But not all of them reacted the same to my approach. After observing this for quite some time, I came to the following conclusion, which may or may not have some application to humans. The smart grasshoppers (which were the vast majority) would hop-fly perpendicular to the trail, thereby minimizing the amount of energy required to avoid being squashed by this relative giant in their midst. One quick motion and they were completely out of danger and free to go back to whatever they were doing before the intrusion. The “smarter” grasshoppers on the other hand would instead fly about five feet ahead of me and land directly on the trail again, pause for a second or two, and then repeat the process over and over again as I continued to walk in their direction. Sometimes the same grasshopper would perform this action a dozen times or more before finally moving to the side to catch his (or her) breath. [I consider it a safe assumption that all grasshoppers are either male or female and therefore don't mind me using those pronouns]. I could only guess that these smarter grasshoppers were (at great personal risk to themselves) studying human behavior and hoped to one day have their findings published in some prestigious scientific journal which might ultimately lead to them eventually being recognized by grasshoppers worldwide as an expert in their field. They could then command a large salary by teaching at a well-respected grasshopper university, appear on GTV as an expert on how to best avoid being attacked and killed by those vicious, bloodthirsty humans, and maybe even secure a multi-million-dollar government grant to do even more in-depth studies of humans walking on backcountry trails in the western United States. Finally, there were some grasshoppers that neither flew perpendicular to nor along the trail ahead of me. In fact, they did not move at all. I surmised that THESE grasshoppers were the smartest of all because they had learned, probably through simple observation, that humans on the trail were no threat whatsoever and they didn't need to fret about their approach or waste any time or effort moving out of the way. Indeed, they had seen with their own compound eyes that humans walking on the trail would, without exception, alter their stride as required in order to AVOID stomping on any grasshopper that was “in the way”. They never read this in any book, or learned it in any classroom, but nevertheless it was true. Unfortunately, most of their peers could not accept this idea, it was simply too radical a concept. My conclusion? All grasshoppers are smart in their own way.

    OK, back to reality. My ultimate goal for the day was Richardson Lake at MM 148.3 and I arrived there at 5:15pm. There were a few other campers already settled, so I found a nice spot on the lakeshore for myself and hung the hammock. After taking care of the usual camp chores and cooking some dinner, I set out to explore the rest of the lake and perhaps meet some of my temporary neighbors. I ended up chatting for a while with “Trish”, a solo backpacker who was section-hiking the TRT and headed in the same direction as me. We talked about gear for a bit... she owned some of the best, including a Z-packs Duplex Tent. Interestingly, when I got around to telling her the story of my wife's unfortunate injury, she already knew all about it from Facebook. HA! Evidently my wife had posted something on there while hanging out at the motel so that our family back home would know what was happening with us, and this complete stranger camped next to me had already stumbled upon it. What a hoot!

    It was a pleasant night. I had traveled 15.3 miles this day. I would rate this campsite 9/10.


    camp 9 at Richardson Lake


    Day 12: While brushing my teeth after breakfast, a deer quietly strolled up about 20' away, looked right at me, then moseyed along down the trail as if this was a petting zoo. I've encountered plenty of deer before while hiking, but this was the first one I had seen on this trip and was glad it was at close range and that it didn't feel the need to bolt from my presence.


    deer at Richardson Lake


    I broke camp at 9:45am and continued north on the trail. The updated plan for today was to meet my wife at Barker Pass (MM 154.7) which has road access and a trailhead. The original plan had the two of us ubering (is that a word?) from the pass into Tahoe City (and back) to retrieve our last re-supply box, but instead she just brought some fresh fruit to hold me over for one more day. She was already waiting for me when I got to the pass a little after noon and we shared a leisurely lunch at a picnic table in the shade. While there, Trish caught up and the three of us visited for awhile. Trish's car was parked at the pass so this was the end of the line for her. It was very nice meeting such a friendly person along the way.

    An update on my wife's story: When she and I shared the AirBnB at Randy's place a few days ago, she was unsure where to stay next while I continued hiking the trail. It was now closing in on the Labor Day holiday, and all the rooms in the Lake Tahoe vicinity were either already reserved or way too expensive for our budget. I told her about the car-camping campground I saw down near Big Meadow, and not knowing anything about it (it was not even visible from the trail), I suggested she check it out asap. Whatever she ended up doing, time was of the essence. We had plenty of car-camping gear with us, and how much could it cost to stay at a campground per night, $20? Well... she headed there the next morning to find out if that was even an option. It turned out that Luther Campground was free. Unfortunately though, all the sites were already taken. However... as my wife drove through, another camper noticed her searching for an unoccupied site and told her that the site next to hers (which already had a tent on it) MIGHT be available. Wait... what? The woman explained that the tent that was on the site had been put up by another woman “quite a while ago”, and that she had not been there for at least a full week. Also, there was no registration ticket on the numbered post reserving the site, so this stranger suggested that my wife stake her claim (the sites were big enough for several tents to occupy them simultaneously) and see what happened. So my wife did just that and put up our own two-person tent on that site and made herself at home.

    Luther turned out to be a very nice and clean campground with pit toilets, fire rings, picnic tables, bear boxes, and there was even a good-sized creek flowing through it right behind the sites. All for free! What a find!

    The next day, the mystery woman who owned the vacant tent showed up. My wife approached her to apologize for commandeering the campsite, but the woman said she was only there to get a few of her belongings and wouldn't be staying. The woman then explained to my wife that she had been homeless for a while, but now had a place to stay and was done camping on this site. She grabbed a few items from the tent and then told my wife that she could have the tent and everything left in it if she wanted, and then drove away. Wow.

    So what was in the tent? A crockpot. Some cookware and utensils. Ski gloves, pants, and goggles. Some miscellaneous clothing, all in good condition. A few pairs of shoes, and a nice blanket. Some of the stuff we will keep and in fact have already used. The balance of it will go to goodwill. My wife left the tent up to make the campsite look more “occupied” when she wasn't around, but had already made friends with some of the neighbors and felt completely safe there by herself.

    Later that second day, my wife noticed a car driving around, its occupants obviously hoping to find an available site (there were none). Seizing the opportunity to “pay it forward”, my wife flagged down the car and offered to share her site with them. They turned out to be a nice young couple, Olivia and Bryan, from Salt Lake City who had come to Tahoe for a few days to kayak and explore the lake. That evening, as appreciation for offering to share the campsite, they cooked up an incredible salmon dinner with fresh organic vegetables and invited my wife to share the meal with them. When they headed home a couple of days later, they left a very nice note of thanks with their phone numbers and an invitation to visit them if we were ever in the SLC area. It's incredible how things work out sometimes. Kinda reminds me of this old song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6DLsf8VG5Y

    At 3:00pm my wife and I reluctantly parted at the Barker Pass intersection and I continued on the trail toward Tahoe City. At MM 159.5, the TRT once again became its own trail when the PCT split off to the left. I was intending to camp a short way past that at “Twin Peaks Saddle” (MM 160.0) where there was supposed to be a nice site. The TRT runs along the shoulder of the two peaks (not the ridgeline), so on the map it appeared that in order to get to the saddle I'd have to go off-trail. The side of the mountain was pretty steep, and I kept watching for any evidence of a spur trail that would bring me up to the saddle, but never saw any. At the spot where the TRT was closest to the saddle, I left the trail in an attempt to bushwhack my way up there, but it was very difficult terrain, and it didn't look like there were any trees up there anyway, so I quickly abandoned that idea. I'm sure there's a way up there, I just couldn't find it. Maybe next time.

    I continued onward for another ¾ mile and found some nice sites with a view at around MM 160.7. I picked one and set up. I hadn't seen any other people in hours and it was already late afternoon, so it looked like I'd have the place all to myself, which is how it turned out. I had traveled 12.4 miles this day. The elevation here was 8120'. The low temp overnight was 53 degrees. I'd rate this spot 8.5/10.


    camp 10 near Twin Peaks


    Day 13: Broke camp at 7:35am. It was going to be a long descent into Ward Canyon, so I chose to eat breakfast on-the-go. Can't do that on the uphills, but it's no problem on the down! I was meeting my wife again today, this time in Tahoe City. I got there (MM 171.0) around 11:15 and was immediately surrounded by hordes of people getting ready to raft on the Truckee River. There were already wall-to-wall boats floating by with several more being added every minute. The river is only maybe 30' wide at this location and there were so many boats floating in it that you could probably make it across from one bank to the other without getting wet by hopping from raft to raft. Literally hundreds of people hooting and hollering and having a good old time. This is fun? I love to kayak and enjoy river camping immensely (the boat carries all the gear!), but this was not my idea of a good time. But hey, they probably feel the same way about those crazy backpackers who climb mountains with 30 pounds on their backs and call it fun. To each their own!

    Unsurprisingly for Labor Day weekend, the city was very busy with lots of stop-and-go traffic creeping along. It took a little while for my wife to make her way to where I emerged from the trail, but we eventually hooked up. We retrieved the last re-supply box from Alpenglow Sports in town and then headed back to her campsite at Luther to spend the night together. Along the way we stopped in Incline Village and had lunch at Lupita's Mexican Grill. When we later got back to the campground, it had been a while since my last shower so I took one in the woods near the campground using a 5-gallon solar shower that we brought with us from home. It was too late in the afternoon to benefit from the solar heating feature, so we used one of the pots abandoned by the no-longer-homeless woman to warm some water on the campstove. First time out of the box, the shower worked like a charm! Later that evening we had dinner at Tep's Villa Roma in SLT. Both they and Lupita's had good food at decent prices.

    I had walked 10.3 miles this morning. Not quite a “10 before 10” day, but close enough for me!



    Day 14: We left Luther campground around 7am to avoid holiday traffic and ate at Rosie's in Tahoe City (again). What were we thinking? Like I said previously, it's slim pickins in TC at 8am. Sounds like a good opportunity for someone in the restaurant business to cash in. Just sayin.

    After breakfast we walked the boulevard for a bit, then went down to the beach for a while. I was only planning on doing around 8 miles today so was in no rush to hit the trail. We lingered on the beach for over an hour, soaking up the early morning rays and listening to the little waves lap the shoreline... very pleasant. Eventually more and more people started coming and claiming their 100 square foot piece of real-estate for the day, so we left.


    the beach at Tahoe City


    I got back on the trail at 11:45am and started the long, steep climb out of TC. Stopped for lunch between 2-3pm at an overlook. Ahhh... I will miss these incredible views! The campsite I had planned to use that night at MM 7.9 was very nice, but it was too early to stop when I got there so I kept going. Besides, there was supposed to be a “dependable” stream at 7.0 but it was dry. I had carried two liters from town, but what was left of that was not going to be enough for a dry camp. After consulting the map, I realized that the next for-sure water was at Watson Lake. I never intended to go that far today, but I checked the time and decided that it was doable, so made the decision to go for it. A while later I texted the wife to tell her the change of plans and to give her a heads-up that I would be done earlier than expected the next day.


    Pop Quiz: This location and these two trees look perfect for _______


    I rolled into Watson (MM 13.6) at 6:15pm. I had read somewhere that this is sometimes a party spot because it has road access. Not tonight. It was peaceful and quiet. There were a couple of car-campers and a small RV here before me, but as far as I know I was the only backpacker. They call Watson a lake, but it's really just a pond; it looked pretty shallow and I saw no inlet or outlet. Curiously, they have bear boxes and fire rings here, but no picnic tables. The pond was clear enough to draw water from. There were lots of good trees for hammockers, and it was a nice place to spend the night. Speaking of which, this was to be my last night on the trail and I hadn't seen even one other hammock camper in all two weeks. Before coming to Tahoe I was uncertain if hammocks were a good choice for this area and even carried a CCF pad for a while in addition to my underquilt in case I had to “go to ground” in the absence of trees. But I'm here to tell you that you will have no problem finding places to hang along the trail, regardless of elevation. One important side note though... I use 15'-long straps as my standard hanging setup. Many of the trees here are HUGE. There were times I had very little extra strapping left after running it around a large trunk. If you want to maximize your hanging options on this trail, be sure to account for those large-diameter monsters when deciding what suspension to bring with your hammock.


    size matters


    As noted, it was a 13.6 mile day. Low temp was 51 overnight, elevation 7805'. I would rate Watson Campground 8/10.


    no picnic tables at Watson... good thing I packed in my chainsaw! (j/k)



    camp 11 at Watson Lake (last night on the trail)


    By the way, in regard to my campsite rating system... keep in mind that it is just my personal opinion and your mileage may (and probably will) vary. I am partial to high, secluded, ridgetop campsites with long-range views, and my ratings reflect that. If you prefer lakeside camping, you would likely find most of the lakes I camped at a perfect 10. Not one of the places I camped was bad; all were good, and most were actually great. Several of the trip reports I read before coming here talked about mosquitoes being a problem in some areas, including a person that described one of their camping locations as “mosquito hell”. I did not find those pests to be a problem at all on this visit, but I'm sure the bug population swells and shrinks with weather patterns. That kind of evaluation is hit-or-miss, luck-of-the-draw, and skeeters can easily make even the best camping location sheer misery if you hit it on a bad night.

    Day 15: Broke camp at 8:40am and finished the last 6.4 miles to the Brockway Trailhead (MM 20) by 11:40am. Wife was there waiting. Like all long backpacking trips, the finish line is always a bittersweet affair... glad it's done, but sad it's over. Even more so this time because I didn't get to share the whole journey with my sweetie. Oh, well... we'll just have to come back next year and try it again!


    one last long look before the end



    Epilogue:

    The trip back to Missouri was fairly uneventful and, of course, anti-climactic, so my descriptions will be brief. As soon as I completed the trail, we headed toward home, sort of. We opted to take “the southern route” back just so we weren't retracing our steps, although that would have been fine too. From Brockway we headed north a short way and hopped on I-80 east to US 95 south. By the end of the day we made it as far as Beatty, NV, which happened to be the gateway to Death Valley National Park. We got a cheap motel room for the night so we could take showers.

    The next day we continued south on US 95 to I-40 and then headed east, making it all the way through Arizona to Gallup, NM which is about 20 miles from the AZ border. We had planned to stay at a free campground that night called “Quaking Aspen CG” which is another 13 miles past Gallup, plus about 8 miles south of the interstate on NM 400, but due to a time miscalculation it was already dark when we got to Gallup and we didn't want to try to find this place and set up at night, so we just got another motel room in Gallup. The motel we stayed at there was the Royal Holiday, cheap but clean and safe. I only mention this place because they offer a free continental breakfast. But... doesn't everyone? I need a full breakfast in the morning and continentals don't cut it. But... the owner of this motel, a very nice woman (Ms. Patel) will personally make you Belgian waffles in her own kitchen if you ask. Now we're talking! So, as far as I'm concerned, this is the best deal for overnight accommodations in Gallup.

    The next day after leaving the motel, we did go check out that free Quaking Aspen Campground to see what we missed (if anything). Turns out it would have been perfect and saved us fifty bucks, but then we would have missed out on Ms. Patel's free waffles. Anyway, now we know that the free campground is a winner if we're ever in that area again.

    At the end of this travel day we made it to exit 128 near McLean, TX and drove north on FM 2477 a few miles to McClellan Creek National Grasslands. There's a campground there with pit toilets, picnic tables, fire rings, and water hydrants. It costs $10 per night, but you can use your “America the Beautiful” pass (or equivalent) if you got one. We do, so our cost was $5, remitted via an honor system envelope. There were only two other campers there on the night we stayed and room for lots more, so we had plenty of privacy. There were good trees for hanging, and we had a nice, quiet night's rest. No complaints!

    From there it was only one more day's drive home, so that's the end of the story. Except...


    A few final thoughts:

    Neither of us needed to use our tarps on this whole trip, and in fact we never even took them out of our packs. The weather was idyllic the entire time we were in the Tahoe area. Brilliant sunshine and mid 70's to around 80 during the days and right around 50 every night. Extremely low humidity too, which makes summer hiking very enjoyable and also means no morning dew on your stuff! I wouldn't be surprised if the people who live around there don't even know what dew is.

    Surprisingly, neither my wife nor I got even one tick on us the whole trip and neither of us used any type of insect repellent at all. In addition to normal, frequent contact with various types of vegetation along the trail each day, the time when I went searching for water at Marlette I walked off-trail through dense undergrowth for about a mile total, brushing against tall grass and weeds the entire time. No ticks, no chiggers. This is quite a contrast to what we experience here in the Ozarks. I have also lived in southern NJ and it was the same there... you simply don't go into the woods in summer without slathering on the bug juice, which I am not willing to do, so I just restrict my local hiking to the colder months. In fact, I thru-hiked the Ozark Trail two years ago in February and still got several ticks on me! (That trip report is also posted here on hammockforums if you want to read it) The only risk you might have from insects in Tahoe as far as I can tell is being stung by a bee. The wildflowers are abundant along the trail, and naturally the bees are attracted to them. There were a few spots where the plants were shoulder high and draped over the trail. There was no way to pass through these areas without walking through a gauntlet of bees, thousands of them. I am somewhat allergic and the possibility of getting stung multiple times was indeed a concern, but all I could do to minimize the danger was use my hands to close up the pant legs of my shorts so no bees would get trapped under my clothing. I guess it worked, but I was still surprised each time when I didn't get even one sting on my exposed arms and legs. This danger is probably far less most of the time. It seemed like we were hiking during the peak of wildflower season, which apparently changes each year based on the previous winter's snowfall accumulation.

    The sun is very strong here. Not only because it shines brightly just about all day every day, but because of the higher altitude there is less atmosphere to filter the UV rays. You will probably want to wear a good pair of sunglasses most of the day, and you will definitely need sunscreen. I was not diligent about applying it during the first couple of days on the trail and almost burned to a crisp. I quickly learned to put some on in the morning before setting out and again after lunch. Of course everyone is different and YMMV depending on your skin type, but make sure you have some in your kit.

    As for my gear... I ditched a few items along the way:

    1. Once I saw that I could count on there being trees to hang from pretty much everywhere along the trail, I stopped carrying the CCF pad. Savings: 9 ounces.
    2. I started out with a pair of long johns for sleeping in. Not needed for this trip, especially with the 0-degree top quilt. Savings: 6.2 ounces.
    3. I started with two short-sleeved t-shirts. I ditched the black one because it was soaking up too much solar energy. The light gray one was much more comfortable in the strong sun, and because of the low humidity, my shirt never got soaked with sweat so carrying two was unnecessary. Savings: 5.9 ounces.

    Stuff I didn't ditch but never used and wouldn't bring next time: gaiters, gloves, mosquito headnet, wristwatch. Savings: 4.2 ounces (total).

    Stuff I never used but would still bring next time: tarp, rain jacket.


    Finally, if you are looking for a scenic trail to hike, the TRT is truly worth a trip from anywhere. You will not be disappointed. If you can't hike the whole trail in one shot, I would recommend doing the eastern portion first. Just be prepared to carry extra water. If the extra water weight is a concern and/or you prefer lakeside camping, then do the western portion first. I hope you found this report helpful in some way, but keep in mind that everything I have written here is merely my own subjective opinion. Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who have left much-appreciated comments.
    Last edited by twentybelow; 09-21-2019 at 08:55.

  2. #2
    New Member TyRod's Avatar
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    Congratulations, what an awesome adventure in such a beautiful place!! Great write up and pictures!
    Hopefully my wife and I could get out there and do that sometime. We had our honeymoon in Tahoe 22yrs ago and have only been out there one time afterwards in like 2002.

  3. #3
    Senior Member NOBOZax's Avatar
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    Congrats on what appeared to be a stunning thru hike! Thank you for posting and sharing your trail information, very detailed and fun read. This is not a trail I had ever thought about before and will go on my list of many to hike once my kids are grown and I have more time, thanks again!

    What are your thoughts on the Bear canister?.... Was the peace of mind worth the extra weight or do you feel like that was something you could have ditched for a lighter Bear hang?

    Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    Never used your tarp = awesome trip

    I like your thinking about grasshoppers

    thanks for the detailed and entertaining report

  5. #5
    Senior Member Red Cinema's Avatar
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    Most excellent trip report; readable, amazing pictures, includes all needed cautions for those apt to jump to conclusions. Many thanks!
    //
    “Stories set in the Culture in which Things Went Wrong tended to start with humans losing or forgetting or deliberately leaving behind their terminal. It was a conventional opening, the equivalent of straying off the path in the wild woods in one age, or a car breaking down at night on a lonely road in another.”
    ― Iain M. Banks, The Player of Games

  6. #6
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    That looks like a walk to remember for sure.
    Whoooooo Buddy))))
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  7. #7
    Senior Member Dublinlin's Avatar
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    Awesome trip report and pictures! Sure would be nice hiking where there aren’t any ticks or chiggers!...or humidity!

  8. #8
    Senior Member twentybelow's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NOBOZax View Post
    Congrats on what appeared to be a stunning thru hike! Thank you for posting and sharing your trail information, very detailed and fun read. This is not a trail I had ever thought about before and will go on my list of many to hike once my kids are grown and I have more time, thanks again!

    What are your thoughts on the Bear canister?.... Was the peace of mind worth the extra weight or do you feel like that was something you could have ditched for a lighter Bear hang?

    Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
    To all that commented, thanks for the kind words! To NOBOZax: As far as the bear canister is concerned, that is a tough question and one which I'm sure I will struggle with on future trips. It was great not having to worry about any critters getting into the food, but 2.5 pounds of extra weight is quite a price to pay for that peace of mind. Fortunately, the canister has other uses besides food storage. As mentioned in the trip report, we used it as a makeshift washing machine to launder our clothes, and it also serves as a decent seat when there are no rocks or logs around. Also on the plus side, it was very nice not having to find a suitable branch to hang a bear bag from, especially in an area like Tahoe where there are only pine trees. Another benefit I discovered along the way was, if you like to carry delicate food like fresh fruit, the canister will keep it from getting bruised or worse. A ripe banana or avocado getting smashed inside your pack can ruin your day. Would I use the canister again if I hiked in that same area? An important consideration would be whether I was solo or with others. My wife felt like the weight penalty was definitely worth it, so if I was hiking with her I would probably use a canister too. If I was hiking with a group and all of the others had canisters, I wouldn't want to be the "weak link" in the food security department. But if I was traveling solo, I might be more inclined to roll the dice and just hang my food. I know there are lighter canisters available than the BV-500, but it's hard to justify spending so much more money for the meager weight savings. If a company came out with a bomb-proof container that weighed one pound for $100, well that would become a permanent fixture in my pack on ALL future trips regardless of location. Until then, I'll probably lean towards only using the canister in areas like the Sierras, and the bear bag everywhere else.

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