Monday, August 31st, 2020
Who would’ve thought we’d be here right now? I sure wouldn’t have predicted this a month ago! On top of it all, Frisbee and I were super stoked that Dr. Thunder decided to join us on the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT). He was planning on a different hike, but he’d be joining us on this new adventure.
After a restless night sleeping in a bush next to active train tracks, we needed some caffeine. We were back in one of our favorite towns in America: Truckee, California! Truckee also has one of our favorite coffee shops, “Coffeebar.” It was a cold morning, but ya know, COVID. We sat out front to enjoy our warm drinks them we drove to a grocery store to get our resupply.
We cruised around Tahoe City and tried to get a good look at the lake. I was kind of bummed that the smoke was so bad from wildfires. This was Thunder’s first time at Lake Tahoe and he couldn’t even see it. We got more coffee and food at “Syd’s Bagelry” and waited to meet up with Frisbee’s buddy, Dan. Dan lives in Truckee, but his mom lives in Tahoe City and she was nice enough to let Dr. Thunder park his van there until we were done our thru hike. Dan had already thru hiked the TRT, and offered us a ride to the trailhead and to drop off water caches. He also mentioned his mom wouldn’t be opposed to us taking showers and doing laundry when we were done. We were super grateful!
Dan had to go to work, so we’d meet up with him later. We wandered the shops in Tahoe City, and spent some quality time at “Pass It On Thrift.” Then we returned to Truckee to grab lunch and wandered around the shops there before heading to the park. Our gear was still damp from the Colorado Trail, so we exploded our packs on the grass to dry. Dan met with us there, and hung out for a bit before we dropped off the water caches and then the van at his mom’s place.
Then we were off! Dan dropped us off at the Tahoe City North trailhead. This was our first thru hike that was a loop, but this was a popular starting point. Props to Dan for the hook ups! He was a lot of help. Today we may be missing out on the views of the lake, but the locals claimed the wind will blow the smoke away from it tomorrow. They also said this is the worst it’s been in a long time. Fingers crossed the smoke doesn’t stick around long!
In the meantime, I enjoyed the neon-green moss growing on the pine trees. Lake view or not, this trail was still beautiful! And we’ve only treaded dirt for three miles! We weren’t planning on hiking a big day today. We only covered 3.3 miles to a site on Thunder Cliff with a view of Twin Peaks. We were excited to do a lot of cowboy camping. There isn’t much rain in California to worry about overnight. I enjoyed the sounds of an owl in the trees nearby as I dozed off.
3.3 miles (5.3 km)
Jump Ahead to The Tahoe Rim Trail: Part 2
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Start from the Beginning: The Colorado Trail: Part 1
Stubbs Rambles On 