Wednesday Ramblings: Mt. Lola

Five of us hoped we were avoiding smoke by going north of Tahoe to hike up Mt. Lola. We decided to take a forest road off of a dirt road and see if we could head into Cold Stream Meadow in the loaded Subaru. The road was so narrow that bushes scratched the sides of the car and windows had to be raised to avoid getting twanged by branches. Loose and embedded rocks studded the road, making the going difficult in places. We got out to toss rocks and lighten the car. Eventually we came across a couple hiking. We never did see their car and wonder how they came to be in that location. They informed us that we would get to a bridge that we couldn't cross. They were correct.

Wider place in the road

We parked and walked across the mostly collapsed bridge to the meadow. This late in the season, the plants were quite dried out. The wind blew a cool breeze but it seemed straight from south. Fluffy clouds scooted across the sky. Our direction suspicions were corroborated and pretty soon we could smell smoke. Just in time for the ascent up Mt. Lola. We slogged up the steep slope, trying to breathe shallowly, hoping for a view out when we hit the first ridge. Pretty white view. We could just make out a close range...and a bit of Castle Peak. But that soon disappeared. We were heartened at the top to find ourselves above the smoke so we huddled down in the shelter to eat lunch.

Cold Stream Meadow

Things didn't change by the time we headed along the ridge to cross from Nevada County into Sierra County. Pretty soon we were on top of the highest mountain in Sierra County, having just hiked from the top of the highest mountain in Nevada County. It all sounds more impressive than actual fact. We had to hike cross-country between the peaks and down to the logging road that would take us back to the car.

We had hiked just short of 8 miles with about a 1550 foot elevation gain. The highest elevation was over 9,000 feet. Let's hope we have better luck avoiding the smoke next week.