Shirley Canyon
Hike Review
I parked at the Palisades Tahoe main parking lot and walked over to the trailhead, which has some parking (but is just packed). The Shirley Canyon Trail was a mostly single track trail that paralleled Washeshu Creek.
Washeshu Creek was awesome, since I was able to cool down by spraying water on my clothes and head whenever the trail came close to the creek.
The trail is about halfway shaded whenever there are trees around. However, there are many parts where it’s hiking on a granite rock where shade is scarce and it just gets hot.
There were tons of people on the trail—from little kids to much older folks. The elevation gain from the trailhead to the lake was about 1200’ and there was another 800’ of elevation gain to High Camp, where one could take the tram down to Palisades Tahoe.
At Palisades Tahoe, there was a public bathroom which was clean and well stocked. There was also trash and recycling bins near the parking lot.
What I Learned
Taking the tram down is totally free as advertised and is first-come/first-served seating. Once the tram ascended to the top, the conductor took a 9 minute break, then we were headed down.
There is a cafe/grill at High Camp, and seemed to serve burgers, alcoholic beverages, and other drinks. I skipped it as I had food waiting for me at my car. If I were here with others, it’d been cool to chill out there.
My heart rate went up to 160 while hiking due to the heat. Once I jumped into Shirley Lake to cool down, my heart rate went all the way down to 100-120 even though I hiked the rest of the hike at around 3 mph, 50% faster than the early part of the hike.
Shirley Lake was muddy and wasn’t that great for swimming. I mean, I enjoyed it and even meditated with only my head above water (I was sitting on a log), but there were lots of bugs which I did not like (especially the swimming types).
There were lots of spray painted signs that helped with navigating the granite flats. I usually am against spray paint in nature, but man, these signs were invaluable.
Media Consumed
Tress
What Happened?
4.3 miles, 2 hrs 16 mins, 2024 ft of ascent
I stopped in town for an early lunch, then arrived at Palisades Tahoe, where the giant parking lot was maybe a quarter full. I walked over to the trailhead and starting hiking the crowded trail. I mean, it’s not like there was a throng of people with me having to elbow my way through the trail, but there were just a ton of people on the trail. Last time I was on a trail this crowded was probably the Yosemite Falls trail (though that one was even more packed).
I didn’t enjoy the trail due to the number of people, but I could not deny how beautiful everything was. A few miles in, I looked back and took in the view of Olympic Valley and found it stunning.
By the time I got to the lake, I was hot and feeling overheated. I quickly got into the water and chilled my body down for about 10 minutes. After this cold tub, I felt so much better. I know I felt better because my pace picked up and I was able to pass folks that I had lagged behind on the first 2/3 of the hike.
At High Camp, I took in the sights for a minute before getting in line for the tram so that I could get prime seating. I ended up sitting smack in the middle, which was great for taking videos. Once I was off the tram, I headed straight to my car to consume leftover salad and a coke. That still left me hungry, which meant that I then treated myself to a quart of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. It was divine (but afterwards, I looked at the nutrition label and learned that this quart of ice cream was 1k+ calories!).
