GoGeezGo : Circumnavigating Lake Tahoe

Happy to report that I completed my 13-day, 175-mile hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail.

The TRT, which circumnavigates the 191-square-mile Lake Tahoe, was mostly scenic, very well tended, and definitely worth doing, I thought.

But if the TRT is on your bucket list, be forewarned that it’s not for the faint-hearted. It circles the lake, which straddles the border between California and Nevada, via ridges atop the surrounding mountains, requiring more than 25,000 feet of climbing. In addition, the trail’s elevation ranges from just over 6,000 feet to 10,338 feet above sea level.

It’s also worth noting that there are a couple of extended dry sections on the trail. I carried 4.5 liters of water (10 extra pounds) to make it through one of those sections.(Thank goodness my backpack, with seven days of food and all of my camping gear, only weighed 25 pounds, making for a total load of 35 pounds with the water, or I would still be whining!)

One of things I loved about this hike is that because it’s a loop it was a lot easier to plan than other wilderness hikes I’ve done.

I flew into the Reno airport from my home in northern Virginia, then took the Airporter bus ($32.75) into South Lake Tahoe.

Since I am a lowlander, I slept in the 6,237-feet-above-sea-level town for two nights to acclimate.

Then the next morning, I took the free #22 South Shore Transit bus to the South Kingsbury trailhead and started walking the trail clockwise.

I only resupplied once during this hike, in Tahoe City, which is roughly half way around. There I picked up a special delivery package I had sent to the post office.

Another thing I loved about the TRT is that I was able to get a cell signal virtually every day from the trail’s ridges. I even had a nice phone conversation one evening with my girlfriend while sheltering in my tent during a hail storm.

One not-as-nice thing that was impossible not to notice on the trail is that there are clouds of mosquitoes in a few of the lower-lying areas near streams.

This marks the first time in my life that I have worn a mosquito head-net. But I was sure glad to have it, in addition to a small container of picaridin-based insect repellent.

When hiking this trail, it’s also important to keep in mind that mountain bikers are permitted to ride some trail sections. MTBers are supposed to yield the right of way to the hikers. But a few MTBers apparently haven’t gotten this message.

When I finally arrived back at the South Kingsbury trailhead on the afternoon of day 13, I only had to wait a half hour to catch the #22 bus back into town. Very nice.

Some of the younger folks I met during my hike were doing the loop in as few as seven days (25 miles per day on average), or twice as fast as I was doing it.

I’m not sure I would want to go that fast, even if it was physically realistic for me.

My hiking and bicycle touring motto is the same: I’m not likely to get there first. But with any luck, and an occasional tail wind, I’ll get there eventually.