June 29

1091-1106

Morning in Tahoe sees us eating and hydrating for our few remaining hours in town-  glug glug glug, chomp chomp chomp- before heading back to the trail.   We have a blast zipping around on rental scooters. 12mph feels extremely fast when you are used to walking 3mph.

We walk by echo lake, a popular fishing and hiking destination, and are jealous of some of the cabins on the Lakeshore.  

 I get an ice cream cone, even though I do not love ice cream. I am in a battle against weight loss, and this is my cross to bear.

The area is bustling on a Saturday.  This is a popular gateway to the desolation wilderness- one of the most visited wilderness areas in the USA.  It is in close proximity to the the bay area, and absolutely gorgeous, so it sees a lot of use.  The name comes from the lack of trees that grow in the thin, granite dusted, soil.  

Due to the popularity amongst backpackers, this area has developed a nasty reputation for its problem bears that love to steal unsecured food.  In recent years , bear cans have become a requirement to minimize human/bear interactions.  We see no bears, but lots of weekend campers at the beautiful lakes that dot the landscape here.  While looking pristine and beautiful, these are some of the most contaminated lakes in a wilderness area. Due to the number of campers, the lake water is soiled.woth fecal coliform bacteria. We elect to skip swimming.

For the next stretch of trail, we are sharing tread with the Tahoe Rim Trail- a 180 mile trail that encircles lake Tahoe. 

The end of the day sees us climbing up 9400 feet dick’s pass.  It is the last time we will ever be above 9000 feet on this trail.  We camp up top to commemorate this occasion.