I've spent a lot of time over the weekend studying for some upcoming certification tests. With all of that staring at the computer screen and at reference books, I figured some fresh air would do me some good. As the clouds have cleared and a nice breeze is blowing in from the west, I thought I would take the opportunity to visit Chimney Beach on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe. It's only thirty-ish minute drive up the mountain.
The trail head is marked by a doughnut shaped parking lot a few miles south of Sand Harbor. The trail leads steadily down towards the lake, with only a single switchback to break up the elevation. While the trail is relatively easy to follow, there are a couple of forks leading to other nearby destinations.
Chimney Beach itself is named for a stone hearth and chimney that mark what was most likely a wealthy residence in years past. Many Californians built homes on the eastern side of the lake as secluded get-aways. Yet, all that remains of those times are mostly ruins. Even without the abode though, this quiet beach is peaceful. As the sun moves low in the sky and the cool wind blows in endless waves of the blue alpine waters, I feel relaxed here. The hike itself is just over a mile round trip; not much of a hike, but still a nice way to spend an hour or so.
While in the area of Emerald Bay, I thought I would take the opportunity to get a few miles in. Though the season is getting a little late, the snows have yet to take hold of the peaks around Lake Tahoe and so, a hiking I shall go.
Maggie's Peak rises above Emerald Bay and Cascade Lake, offering spectacular of views of both, as well as into Desolation Wilderness. The trail starts at the Bayview Campground and traverses the southeastern slope of the mountain. The going is a little steep at first, as it bobs and weaves around a number of the large granite boulders that define the landscape of the Sierra Nevada.
Following a tiny sliver of a creek into the forest, the trail eventually reaches Granite Lake, a small alpine lake sunken in a small valley above and between Emerald Bay and Cascade Lake. I take a few minutes to wander out onto some rocks and logs to take in the whole experience of the lake. I love these little secluded spectacles; so peaceful, so tranquil.
Hitting the trail again, I make my way towards the saddle between Maggie's Peaks. The trail is even steeper here, but it feels good to stretch my legs a bit. Switchbacks make the grade a bit more manageable, but it's still slow going. I finally reach the saddle and have to decide where to go first. The northern peak of the two is more interesting to me, as it should afford me great views of Emerald Bay and Fanette Island Below.
There is no trail, but that won't deter me. I start bouldering over the large slabs of granite that are between me and the peak, about a third of a mile ahead. The way is treacherous and the going is slow, but I keep trying to see my next steps. Eventually though, I loose site of any safe path to the peak and decide to turn back. I make my way back the way I came, climbing and pulling myself of the granite.
Reaching the saddle again, I decide to attempt to climb up the southern of the two peaks. The trail wraps around the peak and eventually, I go off-trail and head straight up the slope towards the summit. The going is steep, but less littered with boulders. Finally reaching the top, I am forced to do a little more boulder, but it's not nearly as dangerous as the path to the other peak. I take a few minutes to take in the majestic vista from the top. To the south, I can see the sun beams shimmering off of Azure Lake.
The view of Lake Tahoe and the city of South Lake Tahoe, CA is spectacular from up here. It's also obvious that Lake Tahoe is low, as the sandy beaches extend much further than normal. After a little stay, I begin making my way back down the mountain. As expected the way down is much faster than the way up, though my knee does start bothering me slightly. Luckily, the trail is short. In total, I put in about 5.3 miles on this trail, including all of the bouldering and bushwhacking, but the views make it well worth the effort.
Each year in the early fall, the kokanee salmon start their spawning run from the cold waters of Lake Tahoe and make their way up Taylor Creek. Normally, this happens around the first week of October, but for some reason the salmon have been delayed this year. Over the past few weeks, I have made a couple of stops to see the run, but found either no or very few fish. Today, their numbers were a little better, but still not in the vast quantities I have seen in some previous years. Taylor Creek is a bastion for wildlife, even with the salmon being so late.
From the visitor center, the Rainbow Trail weaves in and around the creek and offers some spectacular views of the creek, the wooded marsh surrounding the area, and of course, the wildlife that makes their home here. From the salmon, to a plethora of water fowl, to bears, to beavers, this area has a rich population.
On my stroll down the short trail, I see a few salmon schools in the clear water of the creek. There are also a number of ducks and other birds swimming and soaring on and around the cool flowing waters. While I don't see any bears this trip (probably due to the low salmon numbers at present), I do see sign of beaver constructions. The busy creatures have constructed a dam at some point, but the waters have broken through, possibly with intervention of the rangers. There area also a number of trees that have obviously been gnawed down by the mammalian engineers.
It's a little disappointing to see so few fish, but a nice stroll through the woods and the opportunity to see so much wild life makes the trip a success.
High above lake Aloha in the Desolation Wilderness area, rises Pyramid Peak. My backpacking trip through the wilderness area earlier this summer offered some amazing views from below, but when my friend Van inquired about hiking to the summit today, I had to take advantage of seeing the vistas from the top.
Pyramid Peak sits at 9,985 feet above sea level and the approach from Rocky Canyon is brutal with 4100 feet of elevation gain over a short 3.3 miles. A guide that Van sends me indicates 'The Rocky Canyon route to the summit of Pyramid Peak is probably the greatest vertical climb in the Tahoe Sierra.' Not being ones to shy away from a challenge, this is the route we decided to take of course. We met at a small pull off on highway 50 right about 7:00 AM. It was Van, myself and Van's friend Mark, whom I was meeting for the first time. Not finding a clear trail head, we bushwhacked up a steep hill through manzanitas for the first half-mile or so before finally stumbling across the actual trail.
The trail is fairly well maintained, but obviously does not see a lot of traffic. However, the steepness of the trail is harsh and it doesn't ever seem to let up. We make our up the trail, occasionally loosing it, only to re-find it a short time later. As the trail passes through a number of rock out-croppings and in some cases, through dense growth it continues it's drive up the mountainside.
Finally, reaching an area with much less vegetation, we begin what was probably the steepest part of the journey, and with the sun now well overhead, it made for a pretty warm day. We push on though, until finally reaching the base of what has to be one of the largest piles of granite boulders I have ever seen. This essentially what makes up the highest part of the mountain and to get to the top, we must scramble up 500 feet or so of these large stones.
Van and I carefully make our way up, while Mark lags a bit behind. He says he's a little out of his element and so, we try to give him plenty of time and guidance to make it up at his own pace. The climb itself is fun, but a bit tiring. Finally though, we reach the summit and discover what may be some of the best views in all of Tahoe. From up here we can see so many of the lakes in or near Desolation Wilderness. Lake Aloha is directly below us, but in the distance we can see Gilmore Lake, Lake of the Woods, Upper Echo Lake, Tamarack Lake, Heather Lake, Susie Lake and that's just looking North.
In addition to the amazing views, we discover an ammunition box chained to a large boulder with a collection of journal entries from those that have climbed the mountain before us. Van and I each leave a word of wisdom and sign the book. My own thought was that 'Whatever your problem, this is the solution!', which I believe to be true for myself and many others. Being out here among the mountains gives me a since of clarity that I struggle to find most other places. This is my sanctuary; this is my church.
The climb down is equally challenging and as I hop from boulder to boulder, my bad knee starts feeling each and every impact. We make it down and start our way down the mountain, taking in some amazing views along the way, including Lover's Leap in the distance. Eventually, we reach a fork in the trail and learn where we went wrong on the way in. The trail does actually go all the way to highway and literally drops one out only about 50 yards from where we started bushwhacking. That said though, it is unmarked and probably impossible to see from below. All in all, it was a great hike of roughly 7.4 miles, but that elevation gain on the way up and the impact of that same elevation loss on the way down made it an extremely challenging adventure.
