I just got back from a 2 week hike around Lake Tahoe on the Tahoe Rim Trail. The trail is about 160 miles from start to finish. The unique thing about the trail is that it is a loop. Unlike other trails that are either one way or around a mountain, on the TRT you can see your progress from the many vistas of the lake. The trail covers many different types of terrain – from the dry north and east sides, to the lucious meadows on the south side to beautiful Desolation Wilderness on the west.
I rated the TRT as an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. The JMT was a 10 for me last year. The trail is very well maintained thanks to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association and their many volunteers. Some people complain about the TRTA – however they are non-profit and spend their time maintaining the trail.
I did 3 resupplies to cut down on weight – Echo Chalet Store, Tahoe City and Tahoe Meadows. Thus I carried at the most 4 days of food.
Started at Kingsbury South (Heavenly Valley) and hike clockwise to Kingsbury North. The TRTA does not require you to hike the 3.5 miles between the two trailheads as it is all residential and not wilderness like. Someday they will re-route the trail around the commercial development of Heavenly Valley.
The biggest planning issue on the trail is water. Being up on the rim, there is not much water and the seasonal streams/lakes dry up early in the snow year. Even though this was a normal year for snow pack, many streams were already dry. I dry camped two times. That was a first for me – dry camping as you have to carry all your water needed for the day, that night and the next day until you find water. One thing I did learn was to tank up on water when you found it. Thus if I chugged down a liter of water, I was not so dehydrated the next day.
Bugs were not too bad – however there were a few spots (in the dry areas) where the bugs were still persistant. Did find some areas that were full of yellowjackets. I got stung by one that went up my shorts!
Equal parts of the trail were in the forest and exposed areas. The meadows were simply beautiful. Flowers 3' to 4' tall along the trail – just excellent. Desolation Wilderness was spectacular with all the high alpine lakes surrounded by granite. The trail is well graded with only a few steep sections that did not last long. Yes you do share 3/4 of the trail with mountain bikers – however they were are very courteous and fun to talk with. Did not have any kamikaze ones. You have many options on the trail to drop down to cities around the lake as the trail is really in segments between trailheads. Thus you climb up from a trailhead and back down to another one. We averaged about 14 miles per day with the longest being 20 miles. Had 2 down nights in Tahoe City at the Travelodge.
For the gear heads, I really like the GG "The One" tent. I had no issues with it at all. It is very quick to setup reliably each time. I camped in some very windy ridge areas where the winds were around 30 to 40 mph gusts and had no issues. Some noise from the spinnaker however. My Injinji socks simply did not last very well. They got holes in them quickly – however they did do their job of keeping my feet injury and blister free . My LaSportiva Mountain trail runners worked well on the many rocky spots of the trail. I had no issues with my Clearview BA pad. Performed great and was not cold to sleep on. Some slippage issues – but not too bad. Less slippage on the Clearview than the insulated one as the Clearview has a more rubbery feeling to it. My ULA Conduit was perfect for the trip as I did not have alot of food – I did have to carry 3L of water for many days and that sometimes feels like lead bricks in the pack.
Got an early start each day around 7a to avoid the heat of the day hiking. Typically hiked from 7a to 5p – except in Desolation Wilderness where we did 7 miles days to enjoy swimming in the lakes.
For food, I had granola for breakfast (Bear Naked or Archer Farms with Nido, Just Berries and a scoop of Muscle Milk), this allowed quick starts from camp. Lunch was a mixture of Pringles, crackers, gorp, Couscous/Chickpea salad, PB and Honey. Dinner was usually 1000 calories of some FBC combination I thru together. I only lost 3 lbs on the trail, thus I was eating pretty good.
All-in-all it was a great trip and I highly recommend it from someone wanting to stretch themselves into longer trips. Resupplying is easy and there are many opportunities to escape to a town for civilization stops. I do recommend slowing down in Desolation Wilderness to enjoy it. The time of the year was perfect for viewing the flowers in the meadows. Later in the year the flowers are gone (along with the bugs) and I don't think it would be as nice.
