Tahoe Rim Trail: Did expectations meet reality?

I’ve been back in the UK for about a month now and have had time to reflect on my TRT adventure, so this is my last post.

When Ben and I were done, we didn’t really stop for a break as we headed back to Sonoma County in California for a few days with my friend Kelly, and then rode Amtrak across the US to Chicago. Only now, when I’ve been going through our photos, videos and posting my blogs, have I really had a chance to think about it all.

I certainly would never have walked or considered walking the TRT without Ben. I think my list of fears would have been even longer if I had gone alone. Ben not only had a lot of hiking experience, but he also made my life easier by carrying things when I found my pack heavy and definitely helped me keep going on the days when I was struggling. So for introducing me to hiking and then walking by my side, I’m so glad we finally got to go hiking together. Thanks for everything.

Expectation versus reality

In my first post about the TRT, I wrote about why we had chosen to ride the TRT. Now that I have completed it I would say the trail was very long for a first hike, it was challenging at times but at no time too difficult. It was definitely easy to access in terms of the number of trailheads and places where we could go off trail to resupply. The temperatures were colder than I feared and wanted, which for me was great. And lastly, the content of the tour was excellent. Every day we had views of lakes, mountains, forests and more, and the landscapes were stunning.

Sunset over Lake Tahoe the first night

I would definitely recommend the TRT, whether as a step or section hike. My favorite parts were on the Nevada side, near Mount Rose. I’m glad this was my first hiking experience and I really enjoyed it although I also found it difficult at times. Maybe one day I’ll come back to try another one.

With a big TRT sign

What were my fears?

Before starting the TRT I had many fears and concerns about hiking and life on the trail, but only one materialized.

So, in no particular order:

Bears and other animals: I was worried that we would see bears up close and that they would try to enter the store after smelling food in the area. We didn’t see a single bear the entire time and the only animals we saw were chipmunks and many different types of birds. Bears may have walked near where we were camping at night, but our bear canister had never been moved overnight and we never had any unwanted intruders.

The heat: Nevada calls desert to me and everything I had read suggested it could be very hot with limited, if any, shade on the Nevada side of the trail. Maybe it’s because we were there later in the summer (late August and early September) but it was never that hot. It was a nice temperature and cooled down pretty quickly once the sun went down. But I wasn’t cold at night either. I would say that during the day the temperature was 20 degrees Celsius or 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lack of water: Again I read that the trail would require long water carries, especially on the Nevada side and towards the end of the summer season. Admittedly, that side had longer water hauls and there was one day in particular (heading south after Spooner Summit) when we had to haul more, but it was nowhere near as bad as I feared. Again, maybe not being as hot as I thought would help, plus I’m not a heavy drinker to begin with, so even trying to drink more didn’t mean I was carrying much. All the reports of people carrying 4-6 liters were not something I ever did. I usually had a maximum of 2 liters, although I must admit Ben was affected by that, and sometimes carried more, so I could only carry 1 or 2 liters.

Meal repetitiveness: I thought I would get bored of having to eat practically the same thing while walking. During the time I was on the road, it really wasn’t a problem. Lunch was almost always a bag of chicken or tuna (flavored and brand-name ones were the best) and dinner was usually ramen. I think this might have been a problem if it had been on a much longer trail.

Typical lunches and dinners along the way.

Stomach problems and not being able to go to the bathroom: To begin with, as someone prone to stomach problems, I was a little worried about dealing with this when there were no bathrooms. However, once I had to deal with it by digging a hole, the worry disappeared. In some ways, it was also easier going down the trail because as long as I could find a suitable spot to dig a hole, I was done. There was no need to look for public bathrooms in stores, restaurants, etc., as one would do in a city. The only thing I didn’t like was not being able to wash my hands properly with soap and water afterwards and having to resort to hand sanitizer.

Monitoring periods: This was probably one of my biggest fears, especially not having access to running water. All I’ll say is that I’m glad the time has come for this to not be something I’ve had to deal with while I’m on the road.

Package weight: I don’t actually know how much my backpack weighed, but I was told it was light and several people commented on how small it was. It was the water that I found added the most weight and tipped it from thin to heavy (for me). There were days where I struggled and my shoulders hurt, so this one materialized, but not as much as I feared as it didn’t stop me. However, I am grateful to be able to share some articles with Ben, that he carried the bear boat and that the water transports were not as bad as I thought.

What had I not foreseen?

There were also a couple of things that I hadn’t really thought about or anticipated that did have an impact:

Get sick: This is not something I could have planned in a sense and if I had flexibility on when to start I probably would have pushed it back a few days. Getting off to a bad start and getting worse was definitely a challenge at first. The rest day from the beginning was a big help.

Altitude: Although I knew the trail was at altitude, I hadn’t really given this much thought. If I hadn’t gotten sick, I don’t think the altitude would have had as much of an impact. We also started the trail at Brockway Summit, meaning we reached the highest point of the trail on our first full day. It probably would have been a good idea to spend a day in the area beforehand, as well as plan our starting point so we wouldn’t have to go up so soon.

Thank you

The only thing that really caught my attention was the kindness of the strangers. This was mainly due to all the people who stopped to pick us up. Everyone was very friendly and in some cases went out of their way to drop us off somewhere. Everyone was happy to chat and share recommendations and stories, and without them we would have had to take a lot of taxis. If any of them ever see this, thank you.

And finally, a big thank you to my friend Kelly for allowing us to do this so easily: for letting us stay, storing all of our belongings while we hiked, driving us to Brockway Summit to get started, for coming to see us along the way and bringing us drinks and chocolate brownies, and for picking us up afterward in Davis.

Walking with Kelly

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