Pacific Crest Trail

There are several popular long-distance hiking trails in our country.  Perhaps the most popular is the Appalachian Trail, but there are two other trails which draw the attention of the long-distance hiker.  The “triple crown” in hiking trails is the AT (Appalachian Trail), the CDT (Continental Divide Trail), and the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).

Our starting point

The larger lower lake

The PCT follows the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains through California, Oregon, and Washington from the Mexican border to Canada, a distance of over 2600 miles.  Since we are going to be in California, Oregon, and Washington for the rest of the summer, we will have the opportunity to hike on other sections of this trail during our travels.

Views from the trail

We have done several hikes along the Tahoe Rim Trail which winds its way around Lake Tahoe.  In order to make that loop, the Tahoe Rim Trail uses the PCT on the western side of the lake.  Technically, we were on both trails for our hike today.

The smaller upper lake

We drove US 50 through South Lake Tahoe, up to Echo Summit, then dropped slightly to the Echo Lakes. Echo Chalet is a lakeside mountain resort operated by the Forest Service.  The cabins are not open yet for the season, but both lakes are free of ice.  We parked in the upper parking lot and started our hike by crossing the dam at the end of the lake.

The northern end of the upper lake

The trail quickly rises about 50 feet above the lake and then levels out for a very nice walk, with fabulous views of the lake.  For our hike, we started at the southern end of the lower lake and hiked to the northern end of the upper lake, a distance of about 3 miles one way.  During the summer season, Echo Chalet runs a water taxi servicing the entire length of both lakes.  No taxi today so we had to walk back.

roots, ruts, rocks, and run-off on the trail

At the northern end of the lower lake and all along the upper lake, are very nice summer  homes.  I don’t know what the story is there--if they are rented from the forest service, if they are privately owned on private property, or if the owners have leases from the government.  The only access to these homes is by boat or by trail; there are no roads in the area.

Gene on the end of the boat taxi dock

There is still quite a lot of snow on the other side of the lake, but on the south facing slope where we were, most of the snow has melted.  There were a few spots in the trees that were still snowy and there was a lot of water on the trail from run-off at the upper lake.

It was a beautiful day and a glorious place to hike.  I always enjoy the scenery, and I was not disappointed today.  My favorite part, I think, was sitting on the end of the water taxi dock enjoying the sunshine, the spectacular view, and lunch.