The Tahoe Rim Trail is a 172.5-mile loop trail around Lake Tahoe with 29,744 ft of elevation gain. This August, I started clockwise from Tahoe City, took a zero day in South Lake Tahoe to resupply, continued through Desolation Wilderness, and finished in 11 days. It was a challenging adventure with amazing views.
Highlights were seeing a bear on the trail outside Tahoe City, camping on Mount Baldy at 9,200 ft, scenic views of Lake Tahoe from Mount Rose Wilderness, hiking through the ski resort at Diamond Peak, views from Marlette Peak, seeing alpenglow at Star Lake, a mountain thunderstorm on Dicks Pass, the water taxi on Echo Lake, and views of Lake Aloha and Heather Lake in Desolation Wilderness.
Lowlights were the dry August heat, mosquitos, off-leash Dobermans, puncturing shoe soles on sharp rocks, blisters between toes, dry sections at Marlette Lake and Spooner Lake, unreliable water filter pouches and o-rings, night hiking with low headlamp batteries, and slow-charging solar panels.
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