Shoulder Season

The ski resorts are officially closed.  The only place to find snow is in the highest elevations.  It's no longer the "high tourist" season but it probably should be, because the weather here is PERFECT right now.  It's warm, but not hot.  It's sunny and breezy.  Simply perfect.  So what do we do during shoulder season?  We hike!

We live at the top of a mountain pass where there are tons of hiking trails, one of which being the Tahoe Rim Trail which goes around the lake.  There is a short loop of this trail right beside our house and Zater and I went for a walk there the other day.  I love that we can walk to these trails and that because we are higher elevation than Lake Tahoe, we get awesome lake views from many of these trails.

A lone tree growing out of a large rock.

Mike and I took Zater for a hike to Castle Rock.  We did this hike last year too.  It's super close to home and has fantastic lake views.  

Zater always leads the way. 

Stopping for a water break. 

We passed our neighbors on the trail... climbing rocks. 

Castle Rock

You can see the mouth of Emerald Bay across the lake.

Sunday we hiked Horsetail Falls. It is a short, but pretty intense hike. 

The falls are just outside of the Tahoe Basin.  So, not walking distance from our house but that's cool because the trail is pretty tough.  It's a short hike but it's pretty treacherous.  The falls are HUGE and beautiful and totally work the difficult hike. 

At the bottom of the trail. 

LOVER'S LEAP (the big cliff face in the center of the pic)

Mike leading the way with Horsetail Falls in the background. 

You can hike to the bottom of the falls, which isn't too bad.  But if you want to go to the top of the falls you have to follow a tiny trail over HUGE boulders.  We used our arms almost as much as our legs.  We scaled big boulders like spiderman. 

Closer to the top! 

 This is where I stopped.  The trail was covered in snow and I just wasn't motivated to keep going so I sat on a warm granite rock while Mike climbed the rest of the way to the top.  It was nice because we could see each other the entire time... we didn't have to worry about losing each other... getting hurt and not being able to signal, etc.  

 It was really windy and as we were hiking back down, we noticed the winds seemed to be picking up.  There is some weather blowing in from the west and we could see the clouds along the crest. 

 I took most of the pictures on my phone since it was readily accessible in my pocket, and I couldn't have my camera around my neck as I was crawling over large boulders.  When we stopped for lunch, I broke out the "real" camera for a few more pictures: 

Lower part of the falls. 

Not a bad view. 

Had a quick snack... and a quick glance at the map. 

The top of the falls where we ate our lunch.  

This hike takes you into Desolation Wilderness which is a place we hope to hike more of this summer.  There was a point, while sitting at the top, that I felt so small and alone.  It was amazing and slightly scary at the same time.  I love seeing these places that not everyone gets to see.  It feels exclusive.  But, with poorly marked trails, it's easy to see how people get lost out there.  I was grateful to get out of desolation... fill my belly with some amazing sushi... and to have a long soak in the hot tub for my achy feet.   

It was definitely an adventurous hike and I'm glad we did it.  There were times it might have been a little more adventurous than I would have liked, but there is no one else in the world that I would rather take these adventures with than Mike.  He looks out for me and makes sure we stay safe, etc.  I feel so blessed to have him, to live here, and to have family that supports our decision to live this far from home.