Day 82 Carson Pass – The Trek

27.2 miles
From Trail Camp in Eagle Creek (Mile 1054.4, elev 8534)
To follow the camp on the Upper Truckee River (Mile 1080.5, High 8406)
Ascent 5333
Descend 5464

I had a couple of different motivations for the walk today (and the previous and following days). First, after having lived for almost 30 years in the San Francisco Bay area, I have had many opportunities to visit the Lake Tahoe area. These walks would give me a different perspective on many places that I have visited before. Secondly, I was trying to make arrangements to meet some friends in the Tahoe area, so I was anxious to cover the land and arrive quickly.

Rocky Ridge near my camp

I was fascinated how the wind and the rock shaped this cedar

At least I think this is a Sierra Blazing star. First his beauty attacked me in one of those «death walks» more than 30 years ago. The colorful bright yellow color flower seemed very out of place only in a rock covered field. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any where the flower opened completely.

Burning Star (I think)

Blue lakes

I had always thought about trees trunks as straight or helical grain. I assumed that the cortex would be the same. But in this tree, the wooden grain seems helical, while the cortex is still straight. Another mystery (at least for me).

Helical trunk grain but straight cortex

The confusion of this reminds me of how Clematis Chaparral looks after it has flourished. So I’m curious if they are related.

These diffuse balls make me think of Clematis Chaparral after it has flourished

I liked the field of lupines

Approaching Carson Pass (the pass is actually to the right of this image)

A friendly marmot who agreed to pose if I sent a copy of the photo

Caples Lake (near the Kirkwood ski resort) of the Carson Pass area

There were no good camps in many ways after arriving at Carson Pass. Finally I found some trees next to the path where I thought I could find a flat place to configure my store. When I got into the trees, I actually found 5-6 tent spots. It was a very quiet and peaceful place. Even mosquitoes seemed (mostly) leave it alone for some reason. To more than 27 miles, this was my longest day on the road so far.

Camping

Sunset from the Prado area adjacent to my camp

From the edge of the trees in my camp

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