[Written Aug 3rd, 12:30PM.  Photos of this section here.]

"No pain, no gain," was my mantra this morning as I set off alone on the second, southern, half of my journey along the Tahoe Rim Trail. This section is listed variously at 12.2 or 13 miles, the shortest section of the trail and a moderate day hike. It also looked rather unexciting compared with the other sections, which seem to follow a pattern - five relatively plain miles in, mostly uphill, followed by several miles of gorgeous panoramas, and ending with five miles of relatively plain down hill. On a 20 mile hike that means 10 miles of more or less constant astonishment at the view, but on this section, perhaps that means only a mile or two of dramatic scenery. The more effort (not really pain) a section promises, the more rewarding it’s likely to be.

This section began predictably, and while parts were interesting in terms of the ecological effect on forests of drought, bark beetle, salvage logging, and burning, I wouldn’t call it beautiful. Fragments of the Lake were visible between snags and survivors.

By the last couple of hundred vertical feet of the 1600 foot climb, I was indeed feeling like I’d invested a significant effort, when I emerged suddenly on the reward.

An angular jumble of gray rocks, patched with lichen topped the ridge, surrounded by an open space of high country chaparral. The view stretches between the two high points surrounding the Lake, Freel Peak to the southeast corner, and Mount Rose at the north east. The lake appears long and narrow, stretching from South Shore to Incline Village. Desolation Wilderness is directly across, and I can see right up the mouth of Emerald Bay into the Rubicon Valley.

As I munch on jerky and crackers, I’m buzzed by large reddish-brown flies. A larger female is chase aggressively by a coterie of three males. While these flies are harmless, when four frenetically buzz your head it sounds like you’ve stuck your head in a hornet’s nest.

I guess it’s the time of year to think about new generations in the high country. Two chipmunks (I have a theory there is a chipmunk up here for every 10 trees) have chased each other acrobatically through the rock jumble for most of the time I’ve stopped.

[5:00 PM]

Mid-day, clouds started forming over Freel Peak and drifting northwards. I watched the peak scrape moisture from the sky and began to wonder whether a thunderstorm was in my immediate future - but the clouds began to slowly disperse as I eased along the long traverse down to Spooner Summit.

Contemplation of the hydrological cycle around Freel Peak turned into contemplation of my own micro-hydrological cycle. Water starts in a bottle in the backpack. Then I drink it. Then I sweat it out. The backpack absorbs the moisture until the fabric is drenched. So I haven’t actually lightened my pack that much ;-).

Anyway, now I’ve finished this section and I changed my mind again - other than the half mile at the summit, this section was definitely more pain than gain. The last five miles were pretty tough going with lots of boulder "steps." Are the miles are starting to take their toll on me?  Near the end my big toes were getting tender so I switched to Tivas - ahhh!  I walked the paved neighborhood road out to Kingsbury Grade for a 14.1 mile total on the day. I think this section suffered from my solitude - good company would have been a distraction from the tedious parts. Yes, I’m blaming you, Al, for bailing out on me today :-)!

[Mileage: 14.1 | 95.3]