In the late eighties much of my vacation time went into backpacking sections of the Pacific Crest Trail. Buddy and I had backpacked through CA’s Marble Mountain Wilderness in 1982 and WA’s Alpine Lakes Wilderness in 1986. We were looking for the most scenic sections of the PCT, but also paid some attention to ease of access. I’d lived in Reno in 1983-4, but had only the time for a few day trips to the Lake Tahoe area. Tahoe struck me as National Park caliber scenery. The Lake is a huge, grand centerpiece, with the surrounding wilderness providing a rich backcountry experience. But National Park or not, Tahoe is a major recreation hub with world class skiing in the winter, and top tier hiking, biking, and running in the summer.
Nearby
Reno is a tourist town, which meant convenient access by plane, and a good
transportation network between the airport and the hiking trails around Tahoe.
We planned a weeklong trip to follow the PCT starting near South Lake Tahoe and
finishing up near I-80. Buddy’s friend John Cauthen from Nashville would join
us. Given good public transportation, we planned do the trip without renting a
car. Unfortunately, I did not bring a camera on the trip, so I have only a few
prints from John or Buddy.
Buddy and I in the Desolation Wilderness.
For
this trip I used my copy of the Desolation Wilderness and South Lake Tahoe
Basin guidebook from Wilderness Press. I used the map from the Desolation
Wilderness Guide, and am not sure what resources I had for the northern section.
7-17-87,
Travel Day
I
flew from Rapid City to Salt Lake City on Friday and met John and Buddy at the
airport. We flew the last leg to Reno together. We took a cab from the airport
to Harrah’s, where Buddy had reserved a room. We arrived with enough time to
tour the casino and have a couple beers. I was surprised to discover I’d already
forgotten my way around town, despite having been away only a few years.
7-18-87,
Trailhead Travel and Lake Aloha, 3.3 miles
We
were up at 7AM and took a sightseeing walk around downtown. Breakfast was at
Harrah’s club. John and I then headed for the bus station to get tickets, and
to see about storing some gear there. On other trips we’d stored gear in our
cars, but without a rental car, which wasn’t an option. As it turned out we
couldn’t leave anything for week at the bus terminal, and our bus to Tahoe would
leave from the airport. Apparently the visit Reno/backpack at Tahoe combo
wasn’t all that common for visitors.
As
we checked out of Harrah’s, John talked the bell captain into storing our stuff
until our return. We then caught a taxi to the airport to start the bus ride.
But as we pulled into the airport we saw a cab from a Tahoe company, and talked
the driver into taking us back with him. Our driver was very low key. We
stopped once for beers, and a second time at the USFS office to get our hiking
permit for the Desolation Wilderness. Then he took us to Echo Lake, where the
hike would start.
We’d
arrived in the midst of a cold snap, and the hikers around Echo Lake looked cold
and unhappy. We met a former AT thru hiker named Mac who was through hiking the
PCT. It sounded like our schedules would match, so we might be meeting again on
the trail. Echo Lake had a water taxi, which we rode across the lake to the
start of the hike. It was sleeting a bit when we arrived, so we killed a little
time by getting lunch at the small store at the dock.
Tahoe Sierra south map.
Despite
ominous looking skies, we had a great three mile walk to Aloha Lake through
open pine forests on heavily glaciated granite. We passed a lot of day hikers
returning to Echo Lake. We were happy to see the trail junctions well marked
with engraved posts. We used a short side loop off the PCT to find a campsite
on the southeast side of the lake, at the highwater mark. From our first camp
we now had about seven days to hike only 54 miles. That gave us the flexibility
to climb some of the nearby mountains such as Tallac and Jacks Peak that would
be along our route. 
Lake Aloha.
Camping
was chillier than we expected, but we had no issues with the tent or stove
while cooking and setting up. We’d heard that it had snowed heavily here the
day before, but we only saw a few isolated snow patches. My only complaint was
a lingering buzz from the beer I had during the drive up. Lake Aloha was
created by a dam, and the dead trees poking out of the lake gave the area its
desolate appearance. In the evening we walked out to the spillway.
Lake Aloha sunset.
7-19-87,
Mt Tallac and Dicks Pass, 10.9 mi.
Buddy
and I both slept like rocks, but John had a little more trouble, probably due
to a combination of altitude and cold. He woke up early and borrowed some warm
cloths. We then slept in through the start of the frosty morning, while we let
the tent dry. Morning was crystal clear, so our weather worries from the
previous day disappeared.
We
started with a beautiful hike around Lake Aloha back to the PCT, then past
Heather and Susie lakes. Even the areas where our map showed forest were open
enough for great vistas. We were watching Pyramid Peak all morning to keep our
bearings. The area was so pretty we didn’t want to miss any views.
We
stopped for lunch at Gilmore Lake where the warmth had brought out the first
mosquitos of the trip. John was suffering a bit from the altitude, but we still
decided to make the side trip to climb Mt Tallac. Tallac was one of the few places
I’d managed to visit during my brief time in Reno, and I remembered how
wonderful the views were from the top.
Buddy & John on Mt Tallac.
We
went a little too far along the shore of Lake Gilmore and had to cut back to
the Tallac Trail, but otherwise the one hour climb went well. The view was as
amazing as I remembered. Tallac looks down into the southwest portion of Tahoe,
but you can still see almost the entire basin.
Lake Tahoe from Mt Tallac.
Back
on the PCT, we still had a 2.3 mile climb to Dicks Pass. We camped at the
highpoint of the trail, just a bit east of the pass. There was a surprisingly
level meadow with a few conifers for shelter. There was a spring about a half
mile back on the trail. I hiked down after dinner to refill, and found another
party camped at the pass. We’d seen a lot of other hikers, but the area was not
as crowded as I expected for a weekend.
When
I finished my water trip, Buddy and John had a fire going. We sat around the
fire, sipped a little Jack Daniels, and enjoyed one of the prettiest sunsets
I’d ever seen.
Sunset from Dicks Pass.
7-20-87,
Dicks Peak and Crag Lake, 13.5 mi.
Buddy
had been sick overnight, but had recovered by morning. We ate a quick
breakfast, and then Buddy and I walked back to Dicks Pass, then climbed up
Dicks Peak. It was still cold enough for us to wear long pants and jackets. We
crossed over two saddles on the way, one was a geologic contact and the other a
fault. Some of the basalts on the west side of Dicks Pass had been loaded with
what looked like xenoliths of peridotite. Much of the granite around Lake Aloha
had been similarly rich in diorite xenoliths.
The
summit had a register book, and a circular stone wind break. The view was
outstanding. We could see back to Pyramid Peak, Mt Tallac, and Lake Tahoe. I
noted that a good future hike would be to hike the ridgeline from Jacks Peak to
Dicks Peak and then stay on the ridge all the way to Mt Tallac. This day I was
better applying sunscreen, I’d gotten fried the previous day without it.
While
we climbed, John had headed down to Middle Velma Lake to fish. Buddy and I
caught up after the long descent, but his fishing had been unsuccessful. Even
worse it was compounded by a wrong turn on the trail, adding an extra mile to
his travel. But he was feeling much better, his only lingering problem being
blisters on both feet.
We
ate lunch at Middle Velma where we made the decision to leave the PCT
temporarily to follow the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail through the Tallant Lakes basin.
That longer route gave us a long climb up Phipps Pass. The pass lacked the
grand views we were becoming accustomed to, and the spring just south of it was
dry. But beyond the pass, the trail followed a string of lakes along Meeks
Creek. The corresponding section of the PCT had looked bland, the detour
allowed us to follow the lakes.
I
couldn’t have been happier with the hike up to that point, we’d seen so many
beautiful lakes that we were getting spoiled. Our first walk in thick trees was
around Middle Velma Lake. We decided to camp near Crag Lake, near the lower end
of the valley. We tried to swim in it, but the water was too cold for anything
but a quick wash up.
Campsite at Crag Lake.
It
was my turn to cook, so I made a dinner of Lipton fettuccine alfredo, with
extra noodles. Then we boiled up extra drinking water for the next day when we
would leave the Desolation Wilderness and enter the checkerboard lands of the
Tahoe NF. This was another cool campsite, but even so we had to swat a few
mosquitos.
Tahoe Sierra North Map.
7-21-87,
Sloping Meadow, 11.3 mi.
We
had a quick breakfast under an overcast sky, and then it was off to Lake
Genevieve. There was a group camped there, and one of their leaders warned us
that we might have trouble finding the trail back to the PCT. It was obvious
the connector wasn’t as well used as the other trail that we had been on. We
found some of the old PCT, then headed southwest up a short steep ridge. Then
we hiked south on the ridge until we realized we crossed the PCT. Turning
around we found it about ten minutes back. A tree had fallen at the junction
and lay directly in the trail. We had seen a blue flag there but assumed it
marked a shortcut rather than the main trail.
We
returned to a much different PCT than we’d had in the Desolation Wilderness.
The trail was much less used, and mostly forested with fewer vistas. We had a
long downhill cruise to Richardson Lake where we stopped for lunch. We saw a
party who had driven in at our first road crossing of the trip.
At Richardson Lake.
North
of Richardson Lake we hiked past a few logged areas and crossed a number of
minor roads. We decided to camp about ¾ mile past the crossing of the Bear
Creek Road, There is a small ridge above the meadow where we found a good flat
spot in the trees. Setting up camp we spotted Mac, the PCT hiker we’d met at
Echo Lake. Mac decided to camp with us, and based on how talkative he was, he
likely needed the company. This middle section of the trip was less scenic than
the incredible Desolation Wilderness, but we expected better ridgeline hiking
to come as we would pass above Squaw Valley and the edge of the Granite Chief
Wilderness. We were still on track to finish the hike on schedule on Friday.
7-22-87,
Twin Peaks, Ward Peak, and Last Col, 12.5 mi.
Another
cool clear morning. John cooked up pancakes for breakfast and had one left over
for Buddy and I to split. It was a real treat compared to our usual breakfast
bars. Once on the way, we heard a chainsaw running at a nearby logging
operation, and had to listen to that noise all the way to Barker Pass.
At
the pass there was a helpful sign and a map of the newly (1984) created Granite
Chief Wilderness. From the pass it was a nice woods walk until we reached the
campsites along Blackwood Creek. Despite the name “Granite Chief”, we walked
through volcanic terrain most of the rest of the day. Most of the rest of the
day’s walk would follow a beautiful ridge crest. We were planning again to
sleep out on the crest, so I filled the water bag, and carried it from the
campsites. We’d met another group whose leader told us there was no water until
Five Lakes, near Squaw Valley.
The
ridgeline walking was awesome, there were views east to Lake Tahoe, and west
into the Granite Chief Wilderness. Most of the hike was just a little west of
the crest to avoid private land. The trail was again heavily used, and we saw a
mountain biker and two women runners. Just after passing Twin Peaks, we made a
belated decision to climb them, and ended up going up both. There was a
register on top that was signed by a lot of mountain bikers, and the prior year
by Jeffrey Schaeffer, the author of our guidebook. Besides Lake Tahoe, we could
see our route along the PCT north to Tinker Knob.
From
Twin Peaks it was 3 ½ miles of fairly level crest walking to the base of Wards
Knob. We saw some very interesting volcanic formations including some platy
andesite, basaltic dikes, lahars, and some altered volcanics. Despite poor
exposure away from the ridgelines, this would be an awesome place to do geologic
field work.
Ward
Peak was the upper part of the Alpine Meadows Ski Area. The summit was covered
with equipment, but we headed up anyway for the views. We then headed about a
mile past Ward to the last col before the trail drops down to Five Lakes. We
found a good spot to bivouac with a warm
calm evening coming up. The sunset was fine, but it was too clear to provide a
lot of color, but that just made the stars more incredible.
Buddy
and I talked some about next year’s trip and narrowed it down to either the
Wind Rivers or the Southwest (it would be the Highline Trail in the Wind Rivers
1988 Wind Rivers). We also agreed that
we needed to come back to the Sierras and hike some of the southern part (which
we would do in 1990 1990 Sierras). Just before sunset a
lone hiker climbed up from Five Lakes and camped nearby.
7-23-87,
Granite Chief, Tinker Knob, and Tinker
Saddle, 12.2 mi.
We
enjoyed our ridgetop view of Tahoe so much that we slept in, just enjoying the
scenery. The first part of the hike switchbacked down to Five Lakes, we could
see where mountains bikes had ridden up the trail. There was a small trail
relocation at the outlet of the lakes. We then had a woods walk to the junction
with the Tevis Cup Trail, after which we climbed up a saddle on the shoulder of
Granite Chief. I was a trail runner at this time, but it would be a few more
years before I’d graduate to ultramarathons. Even so, I had heard of the
Western States Endurance Run, which presumably comes up the Tevis Cup Trail
from its start at the Squaw Valley Ski Area.
At
the saddle on Granite Chief was a guy drilling holes in boulders, I assumed
this was part of a trail work effort. I put on my daypack and headed up the
summit. The peaks on the Tahoe Rim aren’t especially high, ranging in the high
8,000’s to 9,000’s, but they have great views, and are really fun walk ups.
With our loose schedule it was a real pleasure to be able to take the time out
for some extra climbing. On the way I ran into a lady who was carrying a newer
Tahoe Sierra guidebook and stopped to copy the relocation information out of
her guide. Buddy and John soon joined me at the top and we spent some time
enjoying the views and reading the register. Besides Squaw Valley we could see
north to Mt Lassen and south to Pyramid Peak, near where we had camped at Lake
Aloha.
The
relocations took us north of Mountain Meadows Lake, which we visited on a side
trip for a swim. The lake was muddy, but warm enough that we could do a good
job with our washing up. Though we weren’t sweating much on the hike, it felt
great to get the trail dust and old sunscreen off. The trail was following the
west side of the divide so we couldn’t see Tahoe but could look into the
Granite Chief Wilderness.
We
filled up with water at the next stream and headed north toward Tinker Knob.
Buddy volunteered to carry the extra water this time, so of course the small
spring mentioned in the guidebook turned out to be flowing, and the climb up to
the next saddle was tougher than we had planned on. In addition, John had
though that he’d pulled a muscle in his leg.
We’d
spent a little time on Tinkers Knob, and took the final nip of our Jack
Daniels. Tinkers would be our last summit of the trip. I felt that Tallac had
the best views of Tahoe, but Twins, Granite Chief, and Tinkers had better views
of the surrounding peaks.
We
found a nice campsite below the ridge in the trees. Previous campers had
sheltered it from the wind, and we were grateful for their effort. We built
another fire to celebrate our final trail night. The trip had gone superbly,
and the scenery was as good as it gets. We’d been lucky with the weather. We’d
had plenty of food and would be down to just our emergency stash at the end. On
long hikes I was used to changing in and out of socks as each pair got wet and
slowly dried, but on this trip I was still in my first pair, with a precious,
clean pair in reserve.
7-24-87,
Hike out to Donner Pass, 7.6 mi.
This
was probably our warmest morning yet. I’m usually a cold breakfast person,
since it gets you out on the trail in the cool of the morning. But this day I
was outvoted and ate oatmeal. We started with a beautiful ridgeline walk past
Anderson Peak to Mt Lincoln. Along the way I met another former AT thru hiker
who was finishing up the PCT. He told us that Mac had left Donner Pass that
morning.
Mt
Lincoln is at the top of another ski area, and after that point we were in relative
civilization. It was only Friday, but there was already a crowd of day hikers.
Both Mt Judah and Lincoln had side trails to their summits The trail was in
great shape down to Donner Summit.
Our
plan was to split up and hitchhike to Truckee, but John quickly flagged down a
ride that would take all three of us. We checked our packs at the bus station,
then played tourist in Truckee. I got a copy of the USFS Tahoe NF map at the
bus station, and also bought a “map pocket” like the one John had been carrying
all trip. The weather was back to its sunny self, but we stayed covered up,
each having gotten sunburned somewhere along the way.
It
was a quick one hour bus ride down to Reno. We couldn’t get a room at Harrah’s,
and finally ended up at the Holiday Inn. We had a quick dinner, then went back to
Harrah’s, where we met Dennis, Bob, and Larry, old roommates and work buddies
from my time in Reno.
7-25-87,
Reno
On
Saturday we rented a car and drove to Virginia City. We visited a few shops and
then took a tour of an adit at the Best and Belcher Mine to give John and Buddy
a taste of life underground. Next we drove out to Pyramid Lake, a new
destination for me. The drive reminded me of how desolate the Nevada desert can
be. Its bizarre that there are no trees around the lake, and the water has a
peculiar blue-green color. Though the lake looks barren, I’d heard the world
record cutthroat trout was caught there. We found an isolated stretch of beach
and took our final swim of the trip. The water tasted a little salty, but was
much warmer than the small lakes in the Sierra. Back in Reno we ate at the
Hacienda del Sol, and then went to the Peppermill for a few drinks.
7-26-87
Buddy
and John left early for their flight back to Nashville. I slept in and barely
got the rental car back on time. I then called Larry and he gave me a lift to
the house he was sharing with Bob and his wife. The four of us drove to
Virginia City to visit the Flowery Mine, which Alahambra was starting up, with
Bob as mine engineer. I met their mine geologist, and we got tours of the
processing facility and the mine. We then visited Russ in Carson City where he
was building a house. Then Larry took me to the airport for the flight back to
Rapid City.
