Flume Trail (Washoe County, Nevada)

Having a little vacation time left to burn before the end of the year, I decided to take Friday off to join the meetup group for a hike along the Flume Trail, which follows the route of a long-retired logging flume from the late 1800's. Very few indications of the actual flume remain, but it is supposedly an outstanding hike with spectacular views of Sand Harbor and Lake Tahoe. It has been on my 'to do' list for quite a while and with the fall colors making an appearance, it seemed like an opportune time to knock this one out.

Meeting at the Sierra Summit Park and Ride, we carpool up to Tunnel Creek Cafe and drop a couple of cars for the shuttle we will need to do later. Then, we caravan up to county road 291, park the remaining cars and then start up the trail towards Marlette Lake. The first part of the trail is relentless uphill, gaining about 1500' over just two miles. 

Finally, the trail levels out as we approach the dam at Marlette Lake. From my understanding, the water from this lake and some of the surrounding creeks once supplied Virginia City during its boom. It's hard to imagine that water would be drawn from so far away, but the high elevation of this lake allowed gravity to be taken full advantage of in delivering the water to its intended destination. 

Marlette Lake itself is a medium sized lake (dwarfed by Tahoe, of course) that sits in a wide, shallow valley above the eastern side of Lake Tahoe. It's a bit windy up here and with temperatures in the mid-40's, the breeze cuts through causing a mild chill. We decide to walk around to the far side of the lake and take a lunch break on little rock peninsula that was once home to a cabin. The cabin was demolished, but the chimney was rebuilt as a monument to a time long past. 

After a short break, we make our way back around to the dam and continue north on the trail back towards our shuttle point. The trail remains pretty level through this section, though it does pass some pretty precarious points with narrow paths around granite walls and far above highway 28, several hundred feet below. Some of these points though allow for some of the best views I have ever had of Lake Tahoe. One spot in particular offers an absolutely outstanding view of Sand Harbor, which is a state park and in the summer, home to Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, which I have had the pleasure to attend numerous times over the years.

Continuing onward, we finally start making our way downward towards the northern terminus. The yellow and gold fall colors are in full affect here, and provide a beautiful backdrop to the well-maintained trail. A bit further and the treeline opens up to offer a great view of the eastern shoreline of Lake Tahoe. 

Eventually, we reach our endpoint at the Tunnel Creek Cafe. While a few of our hikers shuttle back up to get the remaining cars, the rest of us take advantage of the accommodations to enjoy a cold beer and a snack. We covered just about 13.5 miles on the trail today and got to take in some amazing scenery. As always with this group, the company is the best part and I look forward to our next adventure.