Flagpole Peak

I knew that I would spend the day Saturday in San Fran.  I was hoping to get up towards Tahoe somewhere on Friday for a little mountain air.  The road in to Echo Lakes still had a lot of snow on it so I was forced to run in a mile to the Chalet.  The southern side of Echo still had tons of snow covering it so I had to turn back from heading up towards Becker Peak.  The Tahoe Rim Trail on the north side of Echo was nearly snow free.  I runs across sun-exposed granite slabs so it was surprisingly dry.

Once I got to the mild of Lower Echo Lake I headed straight up to the ridge.  The giant flagpole can be seen from many different spots on the climb up the ridge.  It is a fun class 3 scramble which does not follow a trail but heads up and across to the summit.  A very fun scramble in which you use your hands a lot on the way up.  Spectacular views of two of Northern California's jewels....Lake Tahoe and Echo Lakes.  Echo Lakes being half frozen just added to the beauty from decorated Flagpole Peak!

Rubicon Peak Snowshoe and Snowboard

 Rubicon Peak is one of my go to peaks.  A 3 mile hike one way takes you straight above Emerald Bay  for awesome views of Tahoe.  I was curious to see how this hike would be in the middle of winter...answer...much more difficult.  A fresh layer of snow had just fallen all across the Sierra's. Looking for a new adventure I decided to head up above Rubicon Bay to the trailhead for Rubicon Peak with the idea to snowshoe up and snowboard down.  I bungeed my snowboard to the back of my pack and started snowshoeing straight uphill.

The snow was super deep and despite the snowshoes I was sinking down pretty good on each step.  It was a tremendous workout heading straight uphill through the powder.  After a couple of hours the trees thinned and the lake came into full view.  I was excited to try snowboarding down through lots of fresh powder.  What a rush...boarding down in minutes what had taken me hours to trudge up.  A challenging snowshoe up with the conditions and an exciting trip down!

Mount Houghton Snowshoe

Mount Houghton is located on the Northeast corner of Tahoe near Mount Rose. With snow in the forecast I headed out from the Mount Rose Trailhead hoping to make it to at least one peak.  The Tahoe Rim Trail was completely buried in snow. Going was slow as the fresh snow made me posthole nearly the entire time.  Sinking in the snow each step is a tremendous workout!  

With the snow getting heavier, Mount Rose was now out of the question.  I was able to march up to Mount Houghton and catch a few glimpses of Tahoe before the clouds covered everything up.  A very challenging day with so much fresh snow!

Castle Peak Snowshoe

Castle Peak is a classic Tahoe-area snowshoe only 90 minutes away from Sac.  This year there was tons of snow in the trail from Boreal Ridge up above the Donner area.  The trail leads through Castle Basin which is lined with countless pine trees.  Even a short outing up this trail is highly recommended.  We continued north to the ridge and headed up an increasingly steep slope up towards the summit of Castle Peak.  The sun danced in and out of the clouds as we approached the summit.  Snowshoes or skis were an absolute must on this day to avoid postholing in the deep snow.  

A very enjoyable day with great company.

Snowboarders ponder their way down

Sweeping views of the Donner area

Andesite Peak Snowshoe

A snowy day in January meant that it was time to go snowshoeing.  Tons of fresh snow had just fallen.  My friend Kat and I went up to Boreal Ridge with our goal to get out and see all the new snow that was all over.  The snow was really deep, yet the snowshoes kept us afloat on the route heading up towards Castle and Andesite Peak.