Tahoe Rim Trail – Day 1

Daily Miles: 13

Total Miles: 13

We finally made it!  Everything went smoothly as we met up with our friends, Frank, Sonja and Annika yesterday and camped at a campground in Truckee last night.

We decided to get an early start so we could have a pretty slow pace and still get all our miles in.

We got up at 6am and it was a beautiful day.  Things always feel a little out of sorts packing for the first day of a trip…not sure where everything goes in the pack.  Our friends were certainly dealing with that as they tried to fit all their gear in their packs.  SweetPea has a new backpack this year (an REI Flash 55) and was trying to figure out the most efficient way to pack.

We were all packed up and ready to head to the trailhead by 7:30am.  Since we had to figure out what to do with our car, the morning required some logistical maneuvers.  We had a trail angel in Reno who was willing to let us park our car at her house and bring us back to the trail.  With the aim of allowing as much time on the trail as possible today, we decided that Beardoh, Sonja and Annika would get dropped off at the trailhead to start hiking, as SweetPea and Frank continued on to Reno to drop off the car.

We were lucky enough to have Trail Angel Carrie and her trusty dog, Eddie, bring them back to the same trailhead.  It all worked so smoothly and we were really grateful for the help.  So SweetPea and Frank ended up starting to hike about an hour and a quarter later than the others.

The climb out of Tahoe Meadows was pretty gentle and gradual.  There was a stream about two miles in which would be our only water source until just before we reached camp at the end of the day.  We stocked up with 3-4 liters each, but it ended up being so hot, we all wished we had more with us.

Our two separate groups ended up meeting about 4 miles in where we enjoyed a relaxing early lunch break.  When we were in the shade, the air felt really nice, but once we were in the sun it felt really hot.

The dry heat seemed to be noticeable to all of us.  We drank a lot more than we normally drink…probably 6 liters over the course of just 13 miles. The altitude also seemed to be noticeable for Frank and Sonja…hopefully it is something their bodies will get used to quickly.

The scenery was really beautiful today, with lots of views of Lake Tahoe, fields of wildflowers in peak bloom, and interesting granite boulders.  We even got to see Marlette Lake at the end of the day.

We were all pretty tired by the end of the day.  Mostly our feet hurt, and there were some headaches.  We were glad to get to camp and be off our feet.

There are a lot of campers at the Marlette Peak campground tonight.  We weren’t able to get a spot with a picnic table, which was a bummer.  But we had nice views from where we ate dinner, and then we were treated to a colorful sunset that was stunning.

Definitely a good first day of our hike.

Today was Annika’s biggest mile day so far in her life.  We’ll have a few longer days to come on this trip, but it was a momentous start.