Mount Tallac
Hike Review:
I hiked the Mount Tallac Trail from the trailhead, to the peak of Mount Tallac, and back the same way.
At about the one mile mark, the trail walks along the top of a ridge overlooking Fallen Leaf Lake, which was the prettiest part of the hike.
The trail then pinballs off of Floating Island Lake and Cathedral Lake, which are very pretty, before committing to switchbacks along lots of rocks.
After that, it spits you out along an alpine setting with a gradual push to the peak of Mount Tallac. This last part has the most awesome views of the hike.
The trail was busy, with tons of diverse-looking people.
There wasn’t too much trash, though I picked a few things up from the ground.
There wasn’t too much wildlife on the trail, though at the peak, there were really cute squirrels.
What I Learned:
My New Balance trail runners were only 30 miles old, but I discovered that the front seam in the right shoe was completely undone. I wasn’t sure if it’d survive this hike (I was about two miles into this hike before I saw the damage), but it barely made it. Shoes are such an important component that I’m not sure if I can just ignore an equipment failure like this. I think I’ll stay away from cheap ($30-50 range) trail runners from New Balance.
Lake Tahoe is popular all parts of the year. So popular in fact that after the hike, when I drove past the beach I wanted to start my kayaking adventure, I saw how full it was, and just decided not to do it (I think finding parking would have been a 30+ min nightmare). This means that I’ll probably stick to long, single activities for my forays around Tahoe.
On trails like this where I’m not carrying too much stuff, I think I should carry my climbing shoes (or wear approach shoes to hike). I bouldered a handful of boulders on this hike and I wished that I had something stickier to climb better. There was a highball V0 that I would have loved to do if I had my climbing shoes as my falling-apart-trail-runners just couldn’t get any grip.
I keep forgetting to meditate at the top of the peaks that I visit! Such a wasted opportunity!
Desolation Wilderness has a permit requirement, but they are free and available at the trailhead. Not too bad at all.
Media Consumed:
Alone on the Wall—finished!
The Rose Code
Friends Made:
Jo accompanied me on the hike. There aren’t a lot of friends who are up for hiking 3000+ ft elevation in a day, so I am grateful that I have friends like Jo. She did great on the trail. She is afraid of heights like me (triggered during the scree switchbacks and at the peak)—it reminds me of how I had similar reactions last year on hikes up mountains, and also showed me how much I’ve overcome my fear in the past year.
What Happened?
10.3 miles, 7 hrs 23 mins, 3438 ft of ascent
In February, I was about one mile from getting to the top of Mount Tallac but had to give up due to not having the right gear. That really bugged me, so I had to come back in the summer to bag the peak!
Jo and I started hiking the trail around 7am. This was about 1 hour later than I would have liked, but to be honest, the extra hour of sleep I got was very, very nice.
We hiked at a steady pace and enjoyed the views while we hiked. We got passed by a few couples (an interracial couple and a South Asian couple) during the hike up, but we all made it to the peak at around the same time, so we must have hiked at an average pace. During the hike up, I bouldered three boulders that just looked so inviting, and it broke the monotony of walking.
When we got to the top, I enjoyed a can of coke that I had brought, while Jo enjoyed a can of coffee. We ate a few snacks as well, and watched the squirrels dance around us. After about 15 minutes, we headed back down. We hiked back at a pretty steady pace, where our decent only took 20 minutes shorter than our ascent. This also might be the case, as I bouldered a bit more on the way down... again, the rocks were just so ripe for climbing and I could not resist!
The last two miles of hiking were a bit of a trudge for me, as there were no boulders for me to climb, and I was antsy to get lunch. When we made it to the car, we hopped in and searched for a sandwich and a beer, and we found the latter at the South Lake Brewing Company.
