Round Top Lake Snowshoe Trek (Alpine County, California)

 

The last couple of weeks I've been pretty busy and unable to get out too much, but with a three-day weekend, I couldn't stay in any longer. Seeing one of the meetup groups post a snowshoe trek to Round Top Lake was just the opportunity I was looking for and it would give me a chance to get out in some of the massive snowfall we have had over the last few days. The group met at the Park and Ride south of town and the twelve members of our group headed down through Carson City and Minden and made our way up highway 88. Finally, reaching the parking area, we parked the vehicles and strapped on our snowshoes.

The trails were pretty well marked, but with loose powdery snow and some good wind gusts, some areas had no sign of human travel. As the twelve of us head up into the hills, I spend slightly too much time watching my feet and to little time watching the tree branches overhanging the trail and smack my forehead on a tree limb hanging down over the trail. I check for blood, but find none.

Eventually, we reach an area overlooking Lake Winnemucca, which is completely frozen over and covered with snow. We chat with a group of cross-country skiers who are intending to climb up Round Top Mountain and ski down. The avalanche danger looks pretty severe and we warm them accordingly, but they intent on their plan and we leave them to it. As we wait for the rest of our group to catch up, we find a number of rocks to rest on. As the group reaches the rocks, we discuss how we want to proceed given the loose snow and wind conditions. We take a quick break in a group of trees that have been wind/snow formed and iced over with the latest storm. We decide to move on towards Round Top Lake despite the avalanche danger.

As we make our way uphill to the ridge overlooking Round Top Lake, we are pounded by a cold, brisk wind, but the group perseveres and finally arrives at the approximate shoreline of the small lake. The views here are amazing and we take a few minutes to get pictures of the sunbeams peaking through the clouds and highlighting the mountain peaks above us.

A couple of our members reveal to the group their surprise of a couple of bottles of wine and some nice cheese and crackers to share with the group. As everyone is excited to enjoy some richness, we leave the lake and search for a suitable place to hunker down and enjoy the wine and cheese. Finding a small collection of rocks, we park and begin sharing the bounty. Honestly, there are few experiences in life that are more outstanding to me than enjoying three of my favorite things simultaneously. Tasting a nice Zinfandel some Swiss cheese all while overlooking the snow-swept plains of this basin is absolute heaven.

After the short and delicious break, we make our way back to the trail head and head for home. we covered just shy of six miles on the trek and while it was cold and windy in sections, the wine and cheese more than made up for it. It just goes to show how much good company has to do with a good trip.