[Sadie's Driver]

Where we last left this story, the driver had had a taste of the Sierras bagging Echo and Angora Echo and Angora Peaks in advance of the arrival of Middle E. A few years back, I had hiked Tallac and the Velma Lakes by myself - taking the "standard" routes. However, with Barry along, adventure would be added! Standard routes be damned! He arrived in South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday afternoon and we headed back north around the west side of Lake Tahoe towards Tahoe City - which would be our base "camp" (read: cabin) for the next four and a half days. The weather was perfect - in the 70s in the afternoons - but chilly in the evening and early morning - but shorts were always derigueur. Hiking would begin on Thursday. The following report(s) are a collaborative effort. Barry will add his pics. Day One – Mt. Tallac (9,735); Gilmore and Half Moon Lakes (the Driver report) 14-15 miles; 3400’+ of gain; 6 ½ hours We picked the Glen Alpine Trail to Tallac, mainly on the advice of the nice Forest Service Ranger who considered this to be a “more interesting” route. Of course, it’s also 2 ½ miles longer than the Baldwin Beach route that’s the standard trail to the summit. You turn off of the main route around the west side of Lake Tahoe (Rt. 89) on Fallen Leaf Road – similar to the route for Angora Lakes; but you stay on Fallen Leaf all the way to the end and the trailhead.

Barry at Glen Alpine Springs trailhead

Here you start out on an old road, passing by some unused buildings on the way to the Glen Alpine Springs resort.

Road continues through deciduous and evergreen growth

Old road starts this trip - abandoned buildings along the way

From the bulletin board, it appears that the last activity at the resort was in 2004.

Bulletin Board at base of Glen Alpine Resort

Some buildings still exist, but others are now long gone.

A once-active resort

Once you finally leave the road – the trail continues moderately up through pine and fir and finally into the Wilderness.

Just entering Desolation Wilderness

One thing they do well in the Sierras is provide very visible trailmarkers!

One of many trail markers

It is very dry here - and we would see very little water on any of the trails. So, we definitely needed to carry plenty of water.

Dried out pond

However, the many wonderful deep, alpine lakes make water sources fairly plentiful. We meandered up the trail, passing by several trail crossings that would lead to a variety of lakes – but our mission was Tallac.

Intersection between PCT (Dick's Pass Trail) and route to Gilmore Lake

In another 2 ½ miles we reached Gilmore Lake – a fairly large lake tucked below Tallac and several other ridges.

Gilmore Lake from the southern shore

Ridges around Gilmore Lake

We came upon what appeared to be a dam or breakwater of some sort at the outlet.

Breakwater at Gilmore outlet

Lots of camping sites pretty much surround the rim of the lake – in fact, we ran across a tent – the owners must already be up towards Tallac.

Campers at Gilmore

The trail started up from the lake, heading somewhat towards the east, winding up towards the summit of Tallac.

Gnarly trees

First glimpse of Gilmore Lake

On trail to Tallac summit

About 2/3’s of the way up, we met two guys coming down – we figured they were the tent owners. These were the first folks we had seen today. Then, three “young” people – a guy and two gals (and a dog) passed us on their morning sprint to the summit. In about 3 hours and 6 miles, we were on the summit,

Invasion of the NW Hikers!

where the three who passed us were comfortably seated on the summit and two older guys also were making themselves at home – complete with a bottle of wine! They had taken the “shorter” route up the mountain from Baldwin Beach. We heard probably more conversation between these two groups then was necessary – seems they are all locals who either work or frequent the same bar. The conversation was laced with local “color" and a little "too much information.” The young sprinter-guy finished his cigarette(!) and glass of wine (which the two older guys had shared with the younger folks). Some nice views from here.

More views from the summit of Tallac

Looking to Echo and Angora Peaks (south) from summit of Tallac

Gilmore Lake from summit of Tallac - looking Southwest (Pyramid Peak pointy one on the left)

Wildlife on Tallac

Summit dog

Sprinter-dude decided it was time for the three of them and dog to head back. We headed down just a few minutes behind them, but they were soon out of sight.

Heading off of Tallac summit

Tallac Summit

It seemed to take us longer than we expected to make it back to Gilmore

Tallac from the western shore of Gilmore

– but once there, we consulted the map and decided that it looked like we could easily go up and over a “little” ridge and drop (using the term loosely) down to the trail to Half Moon Lake. O.K. – the going up the ridge part was pretty easy, but the “drop” part was a bit more interesting!

Our "shortcut" from Gilmore down to Half Moon Lake trail

The first part was easy enough – a little steep – but not bad. We crossed one trail (part of the PCT) heading down from (or up to) Dick’s Pass (see Day Two). It looked like we could see the trail to Half Moon below us. Then, it was some brush bashing, which then took us onto the rock fall! Interesting route indeed. . We were on a route-quest, so…down we headed on a shorter, more reasonable slope and, sure enough, we ran right into the trail and hiked about a mile to Half Moon Lake.

Lakelet just before Half Moon

Dick's Peak from Half Moon trail

Half Moon Lake (Day Two has a picture from above)

Lovely. We took in the views here and headed back. One of us thought that it might be an easy cross-country to go down to Susie Lake, but the other of us thought that a trail would be just fine. The trail it was – until we hit the junction with the Lake Gilmore trail and then retraced our steps out to the car.

Heading back towards Glen Alpine

Although it was toasty warm – it had been quite breezy on the summit of Tallac. This particular trail has a lot of gravel-like rock on it – so our feet were feeling today’s miles.

Apparently a "resting throne" at the end of the hike near the resort

We also noticed some humongous pine cones everywhere - probably will feed the local squirrel population for the entire winter!

"Car bomb" pine cone - they'll do some damage if it lands on you!

Day Two – Eagle Lake, Dick’s Pass (9400’), Unnamed Knob (9700’), Dick’s Lake, Fontanillis Lake, Velma Lakes (Middle E report) 14-15 miles, 3500’ gain, 7 hours From Tallac we had looked west to the Pacific crest. – Pyramid Peak was to the south, then Jack’s Peak, then Dick’s Peak. The helpful Forest Service employee had suggested Dick’s Pass and a nearby peaklet were worthwhile destinations, and Dick’s Peak (just shy of 10,000’) also looked feasible. In fact, a quick glance at our map suggested that the PCT ran right over the top of it. This turned out to be wishful thinking – the ‘trail’ running on the Pacific crest was only the ranger district boundary! Nevertheless we set out from the Eagle Falls trailhead at the west end of Emerald Bay, with Dick’s Peak as a possible destination.

Eagle Lake trailhead

The first mile or so of the trail gets a lot of use and is constructed like a rock staircase – for Jim K sized footsteps!

Jim K steps up the Eagle Lake Loop

We crossed over Eagle Falls, which was barely a trickle,

Well, the sign says Eagle Falls!

Eagle Falls in reality!

and then reached Eagle Lake.

Eagle Lake

Reflection in Eagle Lake

Just beyond Eagle Lake we ran into the vanguard member of what turned out to be a party of 10 students and 2 teachers on a weeklong backpacking trip for a school class. They had started at Loon Lake and ventured several miles (one teacher said 18 – but it looked like 25 or more! The “conservative” mileage was probably only a diversion to ensure there wouldn't’ be a mutiny! The gear they were using was hardly “Ultralight” – and probably was school district-issued from 20 or more years ago – complete with external metal-frame packs.) This was their last day and some of them looked like they were glad of it. Each of the students was heavily laden – with John Wayne style canteens, cotton sleeping bags for car camping, and usually a fishing pole. The only thing they lacked was an axe and iron skillet!

Another erstwhile camper

High school camper loaded down

After some climbing we reached a rolling rocky plateau at around 8200’.

Great views on our route towards Dick's Lake

Wonderful views everywhere

We passed some small tarns,

Small lakes on route to Dick's Lake

and then climbed up to a junction with the PCT and made a rising traverse above Dick’s Lake,

Our trailmarker route

Dick's Lake and Dick's Peak behind - with the ridge on the right that we should have followed to the summit

Half Moon Lake in foreground, Susie Lake to the left and Aloha lake in distance in front of Pyramid Peak

Dick's Lake in foreground - Fontanillis beyond

eventually reaching Dick’s Pass.

Dick's Pass (PCT)

Dick's Pass

Although it looked feasible to reach Dick’s Peak, it would have been a long mile of ridge running with one stretch of steep scrambling. The wind was up and we opted instead to walk in the opposite direction to a small peak at about 9700’ where we had lunch after finding a spot out of the wind. Although we didn't see many flowers, we were surprised to find a few

Mountain Fuschia

Gentian in bloom at Dick's Pass

even some limp Indian Paintbrush. Our trip to Granite Chief tomorrow would reveal some dried flowers - leading us to believe that this would be a lovely place to visit in the late spring/early summer when the wildflowers were in bloom. We headed back down past Dick’s Lake

Trailmarker

Trail from Dick's Lake to Fontanillis Lake

and realized that the easiest route to Dick’s Peak would have been over easy granite slabs between the lake and the ridge crest. – OK, maybe next time.

Ridge to Dicks Peak beyond Fontanillis Lake - the route we'll take next time

Having opted out of Dick’s Peak, we decided to add a couple of extra miles on the return to visit a few more lakes. We passed the foot of Dick’s Lake – where we encountered an older couple who were out for a nice loop trip – starting a couple miles up the road from our start – with a shorter route into the lakes. The two of us continued on to Fontanillis Lake – absolutely lovely.

Lovely Fontanillis Lake

We finally saw a few other hikers – the day had been pretty devoid of human encounter – at least since our first group of 12 we had met in the early morning. Lastly we passed Middle Velma and Upper Velma,

Middle Velma Lake

and headed back out past Eagle Lake,

Barry on the Eagle Lake trail with Lake Tahoe in distance

now crowded with day hikers enjoying yet another sunny Tahoe afternoon. This photo gives a good view of the start of the hike.

Steps and more steps along Eagle Lake Trail

Day Three – Granite Chief (9086’), Emigrant Pass, Shirley Lake (Middle E report with commentary from the peanut gallery) ~12 miles, 2800’+ gain, 6 hours The last day we opted to head north from Tahoe City to the Squaw Valley ski area. Our main destination was Granite Chief Mountain. We had conflicting information about where the trail started from the ski complex – one guidebook said to start next to the fire station, another from behind ‘Building A’. We parked near the latter, where a trail sign said ‘Shirley Canyon’. We knew there was a trail to Shirley Lake, but didn't want to take that, so we headed back to the fire station, and found an unlikely trailhead.

Small sign giving a clue to trailhead

At Granite Chief trailhead - tucked behind the Squaw Valley Fire station

Nevertheless this seemed to head in the right direction, and we headed up. In about a mile, we ran into a couple who said they had come up the Shirley Creek trail – which confused us. We started thinking that perhaps we were headed in the wrong direction – but it seemed to be going the way we wanted to head – so we kept going.

Squaw Valley area

We wouldn't see anyone else for another five miles. The terrain here was less harsh than what we had hiked through yesterday – a few more trees and a few less rocks. (The rocks grow well here. ) There were a couple of small meadows filled with dead balsamroot, crispy and brown and crackling as we walked though.

Rustling Balsamroot - dried and crinkly like a starched petticoat

One thing we did notice was the lack of wildlife (well, except for the squirrel on Tallac and this guy)

More wildlife

We did see one big pile of bear scat on the Eagle Lake trail - but nothing else . . . no where. Weird. After 4 miles we reached yet another section of the PCT, and turned south toward Granite Chief.

North on PCT

Arriving on the Crest Trail

South on the PCT

Intersection of PCT with Granite Chief trail (always longer than the books describe!)

The route along the Crest trail here is lovely, it was such a pleasant Fall hike - where we passed under some of the Squaw Valley ski lifts, which were literally just above us.

Hiking south on the Crest Trail approaching Granite Chief

Chairlift crosses the PCT

Squaw Valley lifts

Lake Tahoe in the distance

We were uncertain of which bump on the ridge was Granite Chief – one of us thought the more distant, one of us the nearer. The latter turned out to be correct (that would be the clueless one who never knows where she is!!! ). We ran into a couple at this point who wondered where the Pacific Crest Trail was - which we so "knowledgeably" were able to point out to them! We continued briefly on the PCT, thinking that we would encounter the actual Granite Chief summit trail, but, alas, no. We did find the Wilderness, however.

Entering the Granite Chief Wilderness (along the PCT)

So, we decided that we should just head up a likely looking ridge and after some brief brush-whacking we found a well-used boot path to the summit.

Happy face greeting us on the way up to Granite Chief

Barry heading up to summit of Granite Chief

On the summit

Driver on the summit

USGS on Granite Chief summit

From the top we had great views up and down the Pacific crest and into the Squaw Valley complex.

Squaw Valley from Granite Chief (Lake Tahoe in distance)

Shirley Lake from the summit of Granite Chief

Looking north from Granite Chief summit

Tinker Knob from summit of Granite Chief

The more distant peak that was under consideration as Granite Chief, turned out to be nameless, although it marked a monument for Emigrant Pass.

Looking south to Emigrant Pass from summit of Granite Chief

Squaw Peak was a flat-topped summit a little more distant.

Squaw Peak

We spent a while on top taking in the views and enjoying the lack of wind and wonderful sun (the mornings started out rather chilly – but by Noon, the sun warmed things nicely – except when it was windy. But our afternoon hikes out were usually quite toasty – lovely Fall weather!) After lunch, we headed down on the boot path and found where we should have picked it up to start - but it wasn't that obvious on our way in.

The actual start of the trail up to Granite Chief - we missed when we passed by on the PCT

Granite Chief from the PCT

We quickly gained the other no-name peak,

Heading up to Emigrant Pass

and checked out the Emigrant monument,

Emigrant memorial

Emigrant Memorial

"Emigrant Peak" as called by the locals

Granite Chief and Needle Peak from Emigrant Pass

and looked down into the upper bowls of the sprawling but deserted Squaw Valley ski area.

Squaw Valley plateau (location of upper restaurant)

Maintenance area for Squaw Valley on the high plateau above the resort area - Lake Tahoe in the distance

We wandered around the Emigrant plateau for a bit . . .

Truck high up on Emigrant Pass - no driver in sight

A little research for ski season!

Hiking up to the "Hole in the Wall" to the northeast of Emigrant Pass

To complete a loop back to the car, we hiked down along the maintenance roads and ski lifts and found a steep boot path down to Shirley Lake.

The Shirley Lake Express - might have been a better method of reaching the lake!

Unfortunately, not running!

Here we ran into two couples hiking up – yeow! That wouldn't be a lot of fun – in fact, one of the women didn't look particularly thrilled to be there at all! Once at the lake, we found the “trail” back to the ski resort area. This ‘trail’ was a twisty maze through the rocks and trees, marked with paint of various colors,

Dubious "trail markers" on a dubious "trail"!

erratic cairns, and worn rock. We wondered often ‘why would you do this hike??’ Having seen Shirley Lake, it seemed like a lot of work for relatively little reward.

Shirley Lake - not exactly your stunning alpine destination!

We were very, very glad that we hadn't taken this route up to Granite Chief – we might not have made it! We eventually came out at the ski resort area in yet another location from the two we had found earlier in the morning. Apparently this trail is the shortest way, on foot anyway, to the upper end of the tramway, but the longer route we took via Granite Chief is definitely prettier and more enjoyable. An absolutely fabulous three days of hiking, with the advantage of having a cabin near the lake to return to when it turned chilly in the evening. We even had the opportunity to view the annual running of the Lake Tahoe Marathon (led by Kenyans) passing right by the cabin. Although sorely tempted to join in, we resisted the urge and finished our coffee and reading the Sunday paper! Great trip!!!

[Middle E]

This was my first time doing any extended hiking in any part of the Sierras. One certainly can't complain about the sun, and moderate temperatures, or the spectacular scenery. On the other hand...somehow it seems too easy, and compared to the Cascades the dryness is just a bit austere and lifeless. But I'd go back! Here's a few additional photos... Day one

Pyramid behind Gilmore Lake

Gilmore Lake from Mt. Tallac

Looking north past Emerald Bay

Dick's Peak behind Half Moon Lake

Half Moon Lake

Day two

Tarn

Dick's Lake

Dick's Peak from Dick's Pass

Many lakes from Dick's Pass

Mt. Tallac from near Dick's Pass

Day three

Emigrant Pass from Granite Chief

Squaw Valley area from Granite Chief

Granite Chief from Emigrant Pass