Tahoe Rim Trail over Summer Advice

Howdy,

I'm planning on hiking the TRT this summer as well.

Just curious on what people have to say about your gear selection.

-Frank

Nice! Do you know when you're going and where you are starting from?

I don't have any exact dates. Either in June or July.

I plan on starting from Tahoe Meadows.

Needed. The only thing to watch is water. I had found a list of water sources. Depending on snow year and time of hike, the TRT can be pretty dry. I did a water and food cache near the road coming down from Truckee on the north side of the lake. That was the driest section when I did the trail.

On a separate note. Not sure why you switched from JMT to TRT but they are IMHO not even in the same class. The TRT has a few good views of the lake but other than desolation wilderness it was frankly disappointing. YMMV.

I did it in September last year, and it didn't rain on me but for about five minutes close to the southern terminus. Most of your gear looks great to me, but I'm worried about your shoes. Even tough vibrams could leave your feet feeling battered if you're moving 20 miles in a day, especially through desolation. I used an odor-blocking nylofume bag with no bear can, and didn't have any problems for my own part.

If you do a bpl search, you can find several great threads on the TRT with links to simple tables folks have compiled about water sources; the north is definitely the driest section, but the northeast isn't great either. I usually had extra when I rolled in to the next water source, but I carried a bit and also found I could hike pretty well without drinking a whole lot if needed to.

As for the scenery, it surely isn't spectacular all the time. Desolation is definitely the nicest spot, but it doesn't offer any views of the lake proper where the TRT goes through it. On the dry, dusty, boring northern and eastern sides, you get frequent relief with great views of the lake, and sometimes you'll pop over a ridge or hit a peak that gives you great views away from the lake as well.

Yah the shoes were what I was thinking of changing. I also hike in merrell trail gloves.

The reason for the switch from the JMT is that I need to find a shorter trip and its my first thru hike and I heart the TRT is one of the easier ones to plan because of all the stops in civilization…