In only a couple short weeks I would be off on one of my most anticipated adventures to date, to hike the John Muir Trail. But before then, I had an opportunity to do a shakedown hike, where you bring all your gear and test things out, onto the Tahoe Rim Trail. I would just happen to be in the area becasue my mom got a great deal on a lakeside cabin rental on Lake Tahoe. So before the TRT I spent a lovely few days at a lovely cabin with the fam – my mom, sister, brother and his girlfriend, and of course Nollie – and we had a nice relaxing time hanging out, kayaking, and doing some hiking. Afterward my mom and sister treated me to a big breakfast, we cached some water at a couple trailheads as the trail is known for having some dry stretches, and then they dropped me off at the southwest side near stateline to go clockwise. The trail was great and had a lot to offer. The Desolation Wilderness was beautiful and I got to experience a nosy and a nuisance of a bear at one of the popular camp spots – there were a couple rangers there overnight who had to yell at the bear repeatedly to go away; I saw a lot of PCT hikers who blew right past me, and had a couple of epic camp spots with great sunsets. Interestingly enough the TRT never really goes down by the Lake (unless you count Tahoe City), and there are only a handful of spots where you actually get a glimpse of it. And for whatever reason I only did about half of the trail. I was happy with my gear and maybe there was some other things I wanted to do, and I had read that the other side of the lake, the dryer area, was not as interesting, so I ended up stopping in Tahoe City, enjoyed a large pizza to myself, and then took three separate hitches back to Tahoe for a bus ride back to my mom’s place. In hindsight I wished I had finished the loop, but the sections I saw were some of the best.
