After carefully tracking the American fire and it's smoke plume on the Internet, the 8 o'clock group decided to take a chance on Mt. Rose. We were in luck! The smoke mostly was on the car ride and SW of us. This was a first-time hike for all of us which started out in a large parking lot by route 431 out of Incline Village on Lake Tahoe. The drive from Brunswick Basin was surprisingly fast, taking us only one and a half hours. The trail starts at the pass. We were surprised with the sheer number of cars in the lot and hikers on the trail.
The well-traveled trail is easy to follow, a bit dusty both from it's location east of the Sierra, and it heavy use. Most of the plants had bloomed earlier. The trail travels back along a stream that heads up to a waterfall, about halfway up. We were a bit concerned that the bulk of the elevation gain would be after the falls. That would be 2400 feet in about 3 miles.
After a steep slog we all made it to the top at 10,760 feet, where we were menaced by greedy, fat, chipmunks as we ate our late lunch. We explored in our glory, looking for a sign-in log but couldn't find one. After a while the sun, exposure, and high elevation took their toll and we headed gratefully down to more oxygen and possible shade.
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| From the top |
Round trip was between 10 and 11 miles. The heat, elevation, light smoke, and steep trail made this a difficult hike for most of us. Next week we will attempt to hike wherever the smoke is NOT.
Thank you Frank both this week and last for some of pictures and the map.
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| Smoke over Reno |
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| Tahoe |
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| Summit |
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| Phlox? |
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| Mountain Ash? |
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Lake Tahoe
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After carefully tracking the American fire and it's smoke plume on the Internet, the 8 o'clock group decided to take a chance on Mt. Rose. We were in luck! The smoke mostly was on the car ride and SW of us. This was a first-time hike for all of us which started out in a large parking lot by route 431 out of Incline Village on Lake Tahoe. The drive from Brunswick Basin was surprisingly fast, taking us only one and a half hours. The trail starts at the pass. We were surprised with the sheer number of cars in the lot and hikers on the trail. 
The well-traveled trail is easy to follow, a bit dusty both from it's location east of the Sierra, and it heavy use. Most of the plants had bloomed earlier. The trail travels back along a stream that heads up to a waterfall, about halfway up. We were a bit concerned that the bulk of the elevation gain would be after the falls. That would be 2400 feet in about 3 miles.
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