Jay H
New member
Had to go to Reno for w*rk so some last minute planning, decided to head out early and check out Lake Tahoe. Seems to be real quiet (and real nice!) in Lake Tahoe since all the ski resorts were closed, I really felt I had the north shore to myself. Not very often does one get to be in such a major resort destination yet feel like one of the locals. Highly recommended to visit if one wants quiet trails and quiet towns, if you can deal with the off-season hours and perhaps questionable hiking conditions. But I'm sure we're all used to that up here in the northeast as well.
Anyway, got to Tahoe Vista mid friday afternoon and spent the rest of the day walking around the boat launch on a very quiet lake and checking out the civilization of King's Beach, Tahoe Vista, etc.
Saturday took a leisurely stroll up the Martis Peak fire lookout tower which is off Rt 267, which connects Tahoe Vista, CA with Truckee, CA. I took the Tahoe Rim Trail out and then back via the logging road to do like a 9-10mile loop.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104827043392670889977/20111112MartisPeakFiretower
Great views and just as it got cool/cold, I was able to go inside and have a nice lunch with views. Apparently, one can drive there as I saw fresh car tracks but didn't see a soul all day and had the lookout to myself. After the lookout, I checked out the actual summit, just a 100yds if that from the tower where I found a geocache.
Carried snowshoes and microspikes and never used either... The day was predicted to have snow flurries and it did get overcast and threatening on my return but it pretty much didn't do anything. I did see some XC ski tracks on the road but the road was bare in many places as I got back down in elevation. Martis Peak is at 8742ft and is a good precurser to sunday's hike up Mt Rose which starts at about 8900ft..
Sunday, the predicted better day surely turned out that way, got an early start just so I can lounge and leisurely stroll up from the apex of the Mt Rose highway which connects Reno to Incline Village and Lake Tahoe.
Really pretty hike through the high brush, looks like some nice bushwacking up here, things are open up here, did not find any nettles..
Pretty much took the trail to Galena Falls and then the 2.7 mile spur trail up to the summit. Was going to take the longer way back via the relay peak road but on the way back from the summit, I decided to check out Church Peak, which is really close and not much more than 200-300ft drop between the two. I hung out at the summit for like an hour, before finally a group of 5 came strolling up to the summit. Winds were calm and calm enough that my sister called me on my cell phone up there...
https://picasaweb.google.com/104827043392670889977/20111113MtRose
uneventful trip back but like most of my hikes, I saw nobody on the way up and a bunch of small parties on the way down. Never used snowshoes, never used microspikes or crampons though I carried all three on this trip.
Jay
Anyway, got to Tahoe Vista mid friday afternoon and spent the rest of the day walking around the boat launch on a very quiet lake and checking out the civilization of King's Beach, Tahoe Vista, etc.
Saturday took a leisurely stroll up the Martis Peak fire lookout tower which is off Rt 267, which connects Tahoe Vista, CA with Truckee, CA. I took the Tahoe Rim Trail out and then back via the logging road to do like a 9-10mile loop.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104827043392670889977/20111112MartisPeakFiretower
Great views and just as it got cool/cold, I was able to go inside and have a nice lunch with views. Apparently, one can drive there as I saw fresh car tracks but didn't see a soul all day and had the lookout to myself. After the lookout, I checked out the actual summit, just a 100yds if that from the tower where I found a geocache.
Carried snowshoes and microspikes and never used either... The day was predicted to have snow flurries and it did get overcast and threatening on my return but it pretty much didn't do anything. I did see some XC ski tracks on the road but the road was bare in many places as I got back down in elevation. Martis Peak is at 8742ft and is a good precurser to sunday's hike up Mt Rose which starts at about 8900ft..
Sunday, the predicted better day surely turned out that way, got an early start just so I can lounge and leisurely stroll up from the apex of the Mt Rose highway which connects Reno to Incline Village and Lake Tahoe.
Really pretty hike through the high brush, looks like some nice bushwacking up here, things are open up here, did not find any nettles..
Pretty much took the trail to Galena Falls and then the 2.7 mile spur trail up to the summit. Was going to take the longer way back via the relay peak road but on the way back from the summit, I decided to check out Church Peak, which is really close and not much more than 200-300ft drop between the two. I hung out at the summit for like an hour, before finally a group of 5 came strolling up to the summit. Winds were calm and calm enough that my sister called me on my cell phone up there...
https://picasaweb.google.com/104827043392670889977/20111113MtRose
uneventful trip back but like most of my hikes, I saw nobody on the way up and a bunch of small parties on the way down. Never used snowshoes, never used microspikes or crampons though I carried all three on this trip.
Jay
