21.4 to 42.7 for 21.3 trail miles plus 1.3 miles to Sand Harbor overlook.
Late last night, three trail runners passed by my camp. I heard them first and then saw their lights. I don't think they noticed I was there; I didn't here them say anything about me or my camp. Then this morning when I was breaking camp, a woman backpacker walked by. I don't think she noticed me or my camp either. It always surprises me how often people walk by and don't notice me. I think I notice most people but then, if I didn't notice them, I wouldn't know. It's a quandary.
I was on the trail at half past seven. There were some great views of Lake Tahoe as I went below Snow Valley Peak towards Marlette Lake. The view of Marlette Lake is pretty spectacular too. Then there were great views to the east towards the valley where Carson City is.
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| Marlette Lake |
I stopped for water and an early lunch at the Marlette Peak campground. There's a well with a hand pump to get the water. It took several pumps to get the water flowing and I couldn't wait too long between pumps to fill the next bottle. I didn't see anybody at the campground except for a couple of Mt. bikers that passed by. I took advantage of a picnic table and ate some lunch. Tables are nice to use when available.
I saw two other backpackers today. They were out for the weekend and were heading out at Spooner Summit. I saw them a bit past the Snow Valley Peak junction. I did see several people day hiking, especially between Marlette Peak and Tunnel Creek road. There was a fair number of cyclists out too, but nothing compared to the numbers I saw yesterday.
I heard the side trip to Sand Harbor Overlook was a must. I read about it before the hike and then the three backpackers I talked to above Spooner Summit yesterday mentioned it too. So when I reached Christopher's Loop, the trail to the overlook, I dropped my pack and headed up. Oh man, the view was incredible. It's the best view of Lake Tahoe I've seen so far and I bet it will be the best of the trip. It's truly spectacular! There was a geocache nearby too, so I went and found that since I was there. I also had phone service so I posted a picture on Instagram. It was really great up there.
From there the trail dropped to Tunnel Creek road. After crossing the road, mountain bikes are only allowed on even numbered days. Today is the fifth so no more bicycles today. There really was nobody from there until I neared Tahoe Meadows. The trail basically ascends a ridge to a ski area, then drops to Tahoe Meadows. As I was getting close to Tahoe Meadows, I was thinking how nice it had been to not have to worry about cyclists when one came up the trail. When he came by, I snidely asked, "You're not supposed to be here are you?" He commented about just going until there was no more up. I'm not sure how that made it okay for to be on the trail. Maybe he was just clueless. I don't know.
It was getting late in the day when I neared Tahoe Meadows. My left foot was getting a bit of a hot spot so I figured I better stop and see what was up. I took my shoes and socks off and wiped my feet off then got all the sand and dust off of my shoes and socks. Everything seemed fine, so I put them back on and continued hiking. No more problems.
Tahoe meadows is pretty nice and there was a good view of it when I crossed Ophir Creek. From there the trail crosses the meadow and then follows a highway to the Mt. Rose campground where I filled up on water. I left the campground with over four liters of water. I didn't need so much but I wasn't sure of the water situation coming up and I knew I'd be dry camping tonight.
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| Tahoe Meadows |
From there, I went to the Mt. Rose Summit trailhead/rest stop and dumped my garbage and used TP. It's nice to be able to do that. The place I planned to camp was about a half mile uphill from there. I was running out of light and worried what the camping area would be like. Well I made it there fine and there was actually several nice places to camp. I was real happy with my campsite and had a nice view of the sunset over Lake Tahoe. There's also a nice view of city lights off to the east. I had phone service too, so I posted a picture and gave Barbara a call. It was a great way to end the day.
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| Sunset Near Camp |
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