The Five Lakes Trail

It was such a beautiful day, we just couldn’t resist getting out on the trail.  Today we went to the western side of Lake Tahoe to the Alpine Meadows area which is near Tahoe City.  This trail has been on our list for several days, but highway 28 is undergoing major construction and is closed weekdays.  Going around the lake from the south side adds several miles to an already 30 mile trip.  We took advantage of the road being open this weekend.  We were not disappointed.

It was a beautiful trail even though we did not have views of Lake Tahoe.  The trail stayed within the Granite Cliffs Wilderness except for one small piece which was on private land.  There are 5 (maybe even 6) small alpine lakes 2.5 miles from the trailhead after a 1000 feet elevation gain.  At the area of the lakes we were within a half mile of the Pacific Crest Trail.

We stopped for lunch at the first lake.  Still mostly covered in snow, it was an inviting setting for lunch.  We found a log in a sunny spot just a few feet from the lake.  The warm sun had melted the snow around the log so we had a relatively dry place to sit.

View from our lunch spot

We had walked through some pretty deep snow to get to this first lake and were not much interested in wadding any farther.  However, so many people passed us while we had lunch that we decided to trudge on.  After all, the prettiest lake may be just over that 8 foot drift.  After following what looked like the most footprints for about 10 minutes to the top of the slope, we expected to find the next lake, but it wasn’t there.  We weren’t real thrilled with hiking in the snow, so we headed back down the mountain.

With the hike and the long drive to and from the trailhead, I didn’t have any time today to work with my photos on the Apple.  That is my number one priority for tomorrow.  Well, right after a couple loads of laundry and a quick trip to the grocery.