Day 13 on the Tahoe Rim Trail: Finally reaching the lake

• Miles they walked: 14.8
• Miles covered: 144.6-159.4
• Miles remaining: 15.6
• Number of flush toilets used: 4

The proximity of the stream meant I made the most of the water to rinse my hands and the handles of my walking stick in the morning. This required climbing over a very large log each time. It was also strange to think that this was our penultimate day on the trail. It didn’t seem real that we would finish tomorrow as the last few days seemed to have flown by compared to the beginning.

From the maximums to the minimums of the trail

Today was Tahoe City day and the trail was mostly downhill from where we had camped. We crossed another meadow, walked through many forests and also had to walk on a dirt road that was flat but very boring. It made me appreciate the climbs more because I felt like I would at least be rewarded with a view or a sense of accomplishment. While a dirt road had no interest.

Getting closer to Tahoe City

We also reached the lowest altitude of the entire trail at 6240 feet or ~1900 m. And if we had had to walk down, that would surely mean that when we left Tahoe City, we would have to walk up again!

Tahoe City and its strange architecture.

We had great weather and were in Tahoe City for lunch. The town felt very different from a city in that it seemed to be just one main street. There were many cycle lanes and roundabouts for bicycles and pedestrians.

We had lunch at Bridgetender Tavern and Grill. The food was average, but it was very nice to be able to wash my hands (and dirty nails) with warm water and use a toilet.

While Ben went to have salad for lunch, I had chicken tenders and fries.

After lunch we walked down the main road towards Safeway. Construction was in full swing so half the road was closed and it seemed like all the buildings were being repaired before the winter season arrived. Parts of the city had also been built in a Swiss and Austrian aesthetic, giving the place a strange look.

Get to paddle on Lake Tahoe itself

We picked up dinner at Safeway for our last meal on the trail and made sure we had enough water since we knew we wouldn’t be able to find reliable water until we got to Watson Lake the next day.

We then walked to Commons Beach on the shore of Lake Tahoe. It was the first time we were on the lake shore and not looking down at the lake, since in South Lake Tahoe we didn’t go to the lake itself.

Lake Tahoe

I rowed and Ben took the opportunity to wash his very dirty legs. We then sat in the sun and dried off before packing up and leaving.

Leaving the city behind

We then headed back to the trail out of Tahoe City for a couple of miles. More views of the lake and woods to walk around. We made it to the top, descended a bit, and found a campsite near the Pipeline Trail.

just walking

This area was somewhat of a fairly open forest. There are no views except for a lot of trees, but it is flat. Overall, we hadn’t had too much difficulty finding campsites, but I think my favorite campsite was probably the first one, with the stunning sunset and sunrise over Lake Tahoe.

last night on the road

Dinner was baguette (thankfully this was much better bread than that horrible bread from a few days ago) with prosciutto followed by raspberries, which was a nice change from the ramen. It also didn’t require cooking and that meant we didn’t have to clean our pots.

Final dinner of the route

I hadn’t minded repeating my dinners (that might have changed if I’d had them for months) and cooking on our little stove. But the only thing I really didn’t like was trying to clean/wash my pot after every meal with limited and frequent water.

The sun was already setting, so he came straight to the tent after eating and it was time to go to bed. Bedtime on the road was much earlier than usual! And with that, we settled in for our last night in a tent and on the TRT.

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