Norcal, Tahoe, Eastern Sierra              8/15/04 - 8/23/04 

It had been too long, it was time to get out of So. Cal for a while and head up north.  I had more than a week to kill before starting at SDSU and substituting.  I made  the long drive from SD and the next night went camping on the Russian river with my parents.   I would be in Novato for a few days, then to Reno/Tahoe, and to the eastern Sierra along hwy 395.  It was a good week.

 It was about a 1 1/2 hr drive from Novato to the Russian River.  You had to walk a short distance to get to each of the 12 camp sites that were first come first serve.  It was a beautiful area with the river winding through the countryside.  This is the view from our tents.

 We put in the kayaks up the river and made our way back to our campsite on the bank.  There was lots of seals and birds along the way.  There was a slight breeze, if there was any more wind it would have been a problem.

  The next morning my Mom and I left camp and kayaked west near the outlet into the ocean. 

 View from the coastal road near Jenner.

Two days later I went to Mt Tam state park and to Muir Woods National Monument.  This picture is looking North at Bon Tempe lake from the .3 mi trail to the top of Tam.

 Snake in the middle of the trail on the way to the top.

This is the beginning of the Dipsea trail.  I took this trail up from the Muir Woods parking lot and did a loop taking the Matt Davis trail back.  I also went quite a ways up Fern Valley.

On the way to Reno I hiked the Loch Leven Lakes trail off hwy 80 near Donner Summit.  The turn off to the trailhead is the Rainbow lodge exit.  It was 3.3 miles to high loch leven lake.  The trail crosses train tracks then climbs upward through a forested ridge.

  This is the first lake once you climb up to the ridgeline.  Notice the stock animal on the left of the picture.  There were lots of backpackers here and 2 large animals.  No wonder we have gardia in the lakes.

  Middle loch leven lake with some luminous storm clouds brewing.

  It was a nice area with lakes peppered along the ridge, but no surrounding mountains.

 South lake Tahoe's Mt Tallac would be our first destination on this long hike.  My dad and I left one car at the Bayview trailhead and another at the Mt. Tallac trailhead.  It would be about a 12mi hike and take over 8 hrs.  Mt Tallac is shown here in this picture.

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  This is the pass that the trail climbs before following the ridgeline to the summit.  We were warned by another hiker desending and as soon as we rounded the last corner to the top the wind blasted us.

 From the ridge there is a great view of Pyramid Peak and the Crystal range in the distance.

 We made the summit in about 2 1/2 hrs.  It was a bit cold and windy up there and not much sun, but we were there for the view which for my 2nd time to the summit was worth every step.

  We started our way down Mt Tallac following a beautiful trail to the banks of Gilmore lake below.

  At this point we were at a crossroads at Gilmore lake and Dad was a little bit worried that the hike would be much longer than expected.  We had lunch here and moved on towards Dicks pass.  No turning back now.

  Half Moon lake below Dicks Peak.  We were slowly climbing up towards Dicks pass with excellent views west.

  The sun finally came out and it felt great.

   After a relatively easy climb we were at the top of Dicks pass looking down on Dicks lake and Fontanas lake on the left.

  Dicks Pass looking South.

  We would make our way straight over this terrain towards lake Tahoe in the distance.

The last section was steep with panoramic views of Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe. It can't get any better than this day hike.  It was much more difficult than just hiking Tallac and descending.  The rest of the trail was worth it though.  From Tallac then up and over Dicks pass lets you see most of Desolation wilderness in one hike. Not to mention some amazing panos of Tahoe for the icing on the cake.

From here I drove to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite.  There was an amazing sunset as I drove past Carson City.  I pulled in a campground late at night.  It worked out well, I did not have to pay any fees entering Yosemite at night. 

  The next morning I got up and hiked Lembert Dome on my way out.  It was a short 1/2hr hike that gave a view of Tuolumne Meadows and Cathedral peak on the left.

From Yosemite I drove to mammoth to get a permit to backpack for the night out of the Rock Creek.  Follow the link here.