A few years ago, before our sweet little boy arrived, we took a summer vacation to Lake Tahoe! It was kind of a surprise to me, because Jason planned the trip without letting me know where we were going. He wouldn't respond to my guesses until we were about a week away from the trip! I LOVE surprises, so this was lots of fun! He is very good at surprises, too! We had talked about potential places to go for vacation, and Lake Tahoe was one of the ideas, so it didn't take long for me to guess. We spent about a week exploring the area around the lake and even took a kayak trip on Lake Tahoe! One of the adventures we had was climbing Mt.
Tallac! The mountain is 9,745 feet high and it's about a 4.8 mile . . . hike one way!! We started out early and spent most of the day hiking! The photo above is of Fallen Leaf Lake, which you can view along the trail up Mt.
Tallac. It really does look like a humongous leaf. The lakes in that area have the most beautiful crystal clear, blue water!
The little spot, Floating Island Lake, had water so clear, and it was so beautiful. It was a beautiful spot to pause and ponder the amazing beauty around the Lake Tahoe area.
The trails were pretty dry, dusty, and rocky. The breath-taking scenery made this hike much less difficult! We really enjoyed spending the day outside!
Cathedral Lake was at a much higher elevation than where you might imagine finding a lake. It was crystal clear and amazing!
My handsome husband, Jason! We're both outdoorsy types, so this was a wonderful vacation spot! Mt.
Tallac was just the right level of difficulty for both of us! I did get a little more tired than he did, but he works out more than I do. (shame on me, I know) At one point we were looking up at a rocky area that to me seemed like it could be the summit. I thought, oh great, it looks like we are almost to the top!
Yay! Then, a group of hikers passed us and I chit chatted with them a little about how much farther the summit would be. They pointed at that supposed summit area, and said it's about a mile and a half beyond that area! OH! Thanks! So, at that point the trail got very steep, and we kept going another mile and a half.
Sheesh. And, believe me, a mile and a half on straight, flat ground is no big deal, but when you're climbing a mountain. . . . um . . . a mile and a half UP is actually a rather big deal.
Lake Tahoe and another view of Fallen Leaf Lake can be seen in the background behind me and my husband. It was a wonderful, memorable time!
Mt.
Tallac is surrounded by other smaller mountains, small mountain lakes, and along the trail we found these flowering patches of wildflowers. They seemed to be little meadows with a variety of plants and fauna.
The summit!! Well, actually the edge of the summit! It was STRAIGHT down from this spot. The lake in the distance is Lake Tahoe! The summit was basically a pile of rocks. I was not really delighted to see a pile of rocks that I would have to scale in order to say I reached the summit. They were very large rocks with crevasses and jagged edges. I didn't want to
injure myself or drop my camera in one of those crevasses, or worse yet twist and ankle trying to scramble around on the rocks. Well, I was very careful and made it to the summit!
Here is the view from the summit! It was really, really amazing!
A few years ago, before our sweet little boy arrived, we took a summer vacation to Lake Tahoe! It was kind of a surprise to me, because Jason planned the trip without letting me know where we were going. He wouldn't respond to my guesses until we were about a week away from the trip! I LOVE surprises, so this was lots of fun! He is very good at surprises, too! We had talked about potential places to go for vacation, and Lake Tahoe was one of the ideas, so it didn't take long for me to guess. We spent about a week exploring the area around the lake and even took a kayak trip on Lake Tahoe! One of the adventures we had was climbing Mt. Tallac! The mountain is 9,745 feet high and it's about a 4.8 mile . . . hike one way!! We started out early and spent most of the day hiking! The photo above is of Fallen Leaf Lake, which you can view along the trail up Mt. Tallac. It really does look like a humongous leaf. The lakes in that area have the most beautiful crystal clear, blue water!
The little spot, Floating Island Lake, had water so clear, and it was so beautiful. It was a beautiful spot to pause and ponder the amazing beauty around the Lake Tahoe area.
The trails were pretty dry, dusty, and rocky. The breath-taking scenery made this hike much less difficult! We really enjoyed spending the day outside!
Cathedral Lake was at a much higher elevation than where you might imagine finding a lake. It was crystal clear and amazing!
My handsome husband, Jason! We're both outdoorsy types, so this was a wonderful vacation spot! Mt. Tallac was just the right level of difficulty for both of us! I did get a little more tired than he did, but he works out more than I do. (shame on me, I know) At one point we were looking up at a rocky area that to me seemed like it could be the summit. I thought, oh great, it looks like we are almost to the top! Yay! Then, a group of hikers passed us and I chit chatted with them a little about how much farther the summit would be. They pointed at that supposed summit area, and said it's about a mile and a half beyond that area! OH! Thanks! So, at that point the trail got very steep, and we kept going another mile and a half. Sheesh. And, believe me, a mile and a half on straight, flat ground is no big deal, but when you're climbing a mountain. . . . um . . . a mile and a half UP is actually a rather big deal.
Lake Tahoe and another view of Fallen Leaf Lake can be seen in the background behind me and my husband. It was a wonderful, memorable time!
Mt. Tallac is surrounded by other smaller mountains, small mountain lakes, and along the trail we found these flowering patches of wildflowers. They seemed to be little meadows with a variety of plants and fauna.
The summit!! Well, actually the edge of the summit! It was STRAIGHT down from this spot. The lake in the distance is Lake Tahoe! The summit was basically a pile of rocks. I was not really delighted to see a pile of rocks that I would have to scale in order to say I reached the summit. They were very large rocks with crevasses and jagged edges. I didn't want to injure myself or drop my camera in one of those crevasses, or worse yet twist and ankle trying to scramble around on the rocks. Well, I was very careful and made it to the summit!
Here is the view from the summit! It was really, really amazing!
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