[Written July 24, noon]

We opted to do the Brockway Summit to Tahoe City section counter-clockwise, giving us a 1000ft elevation loss at the end (instead of 1000ft gain off the bat!) The first few miles are through open forest, firs and pines, with sparse underbrush of manzanitas, gooseberries, and other hardy groundcovers. Most of the forest floor is a dusty carpet of old pine needles and silvered branches scribbled backwards and forwards with bark beetle paths.

There is evidence of old logging, and more recent fires (dead wood thinning?) Occasionally we pass through an open spot, filled with mule-ears and other water-hungry species. A creek (now only a swath of damp earth) running through a meadow feeds a wider variety of grasses and wildflowers, of which columbine and paintbrush are the only ones I can name.

The temperature is moderate – hot in the sun but a soft breeze blows and there’s plenty of shade. A few small clouds are growing on the northern horizon, but otherwise the sky is the definition of blue. We may have to keep watch for afternoon thunderstorms over the next couple of days.

As expected, Laine tried to revolt, even before the first mile elapsed, but patience got her moving again, and lively discussion of fire management techniques and the concept of timberline (which we won’t encounter this section) restored her buoyancy, and she joyously began tracking the approach of each waypoint on the GPS.

A word about the GPS. After searching fairly fruitlessly for a set of waypoints or downloadable tracks for the Tahoe Rim Trail, I had to mash up my own. I found a Google Earth Community layer tracing the TRT around the lake. By exporting this path as .kml, I was able to manipulate it as XML. A small XSLT converted the .kml to the .loc format emitted by geocaching.com. A utility called gpsbabel converts this format to .wpt (Mapsend waypoint) format, and finally the Magellan Conversion Manager places this on the GPS in .upt format. Surely there is an easier way to do this!  The result is ~850 waypoints marking the zigs and zags of the trail. I’ll post the results soon…

[Written July 24, 9PM]

A mile after lunch we reached a jumble of boulders falling away to the south from which we could look southeast out across the lake, our first panoramic view! I snapped a bunch of pictures, of course, while Laine and Deanna sought a bit of shade.

We watched the boats trace their wakes across the water, and I scouted half-heartedly for a geocache – I don’t know if one was about but it was absolutely a perfect spot for one – but with thousands of hiding places among the jumbled rocks I soon abandoned my search I will have to download geocaches located on or near the trail for future segments.

We plowed ahead and after another couple of miles approached Watson Creek. The earth became somewhat moister as evidenced by wildflowers began to proliferate. First fields of mule ears with yellow blooms, not in spaces devoid of trees but flowing between them in a solid carpet. Jeffreys had given way to lodgepole, but the remaining fir trees were in bloom, though at first I thought they were in the grip of some mistletoe-like parasite. A section of the tree, usually close to the ground, held a snarl of branchlets tipped, not in green needles, but in yellow brushes. Very strange indeed!

The trail became a little muddy, though easily navigated and outshined by the profusion of wildflowers on each side of the trail, from 18” spikes of white from a lily-like plant, to gargantuan paintbrush, columbine, and again many more that are to me unnamed. We scattered clouds of tiny blue butterflies from the edges of the mud as we passed.

One more brief uphill stint and we reached Watson Lake. Across the cool water, surrounded still by lodgepole and bristlecone forest, we spied … RVs. Though the map shows logging roads coming near the lake, apparently it omits the fact that you can drive right up and use the boat ramp. Have to say it was a disappointment for all, especially Laine. All that effort and anticipation for this “special destination” and we could have just driven?

So our enthusiasm was curbed a bit, but I have to say the lake was quite scenic. It bears no relation to the arial view I studied on Google Earth, which gave the impression the lake was a muddy depression in a barren landscape dotted with a few stubby pines. Instead, it’s a beautiful mountain lake, ringed with tall and fairly dense forest, with tall bluffs to the west.

After soaking our feet (and in Deanna’s case misjudging her footing and having a premature, and slightly muddy, swim, we circled the lake looking for a suitable camp spot. Though there are few level spots for a tent, we found one near the outflow of the lake (practically dry already) and pitched out tents. We spent the rest of the afternoon in a lazy daze – reading, listening to the “terrible two” up near the RVs, napping, listening to unmufflered ATVs and motorcycles on a nearby 4WD track, playing cards, watching the unattended Doberman exploring near our camp. But all things considered still a place worth being at. I think we’d come back (with horses perhaps?) given the chance, but take the shortcut next time ;-).

As the sun started dropping behind the western treeline a boy trudged into camp. I recognized him from this morning – when we dropped the car off he and his grandfather were preparing to depart. They marched twice as far as we did today, and gained 1000 more feet of elevation to boot. Turns out they’d been trekking for about a week, starting at Echo Lake and heading for Tahoe Meadows. His week-old report still has the north side of Dick’s Pass covered in significant snowfields. Hopefully this week of heat wave (and the next one, or maybe two before we get there) will tame that stretch.

For dinner we tried our Cranberry Chicken Rice and Neopia Couscous (named by Laine), to rave reviews from all. Only thing I’d change is less garlic powder in the rice – it all ended up at the bottom and was a bit intense when licking the bottom of the bag. The portions, which I was afraid would be stingy, were ample. I suspect now I’ve overpacked a bit in the food department.

We retired fairly early to our tents to avoid the mosquitoes, which aren’t very quick or very dense, but a few mozzies go a long way, don’t they? We read Ella Enchanted aloud for a while, but now I’m getting my second wind and staying up writing by headlamp for a bit. Another beautiful night to look up through our netting (no rain flies needed) at the stars. Last night Laine said “see the flower?” The starry sky formed petals between the dark shapes of the towering pines. I think I’ll contemplate that for a while tonight too. Sleep well!

[Mileage: 6.7 | 6.7]

[Added more photos to the Tahoe Rim Trail: Section 1 set.]