[Written Aug 5th, 8PM.  Pictures here.]

Today was full of wonders, maybe the perfect backpacking day yet!

This section, Kingsbury Grade to Big Meadow, encircles the southeast corner of the Lake.  My new friend Coy and I are doing it as "guy’s day out".  We met at Big Meadow and did the car shuttle for an 11AM start at the Kingsbury end.  I am a bit embarrassed to say, but I made Coy walk with me the mile-plus of pavement up to the trailhead so I can keep my claim intact of walking all the way around Tahoe.

From the trailhead up under the Heavenly Valley ski lifts, we chatted amiably and the first five passed quickly, bringing me past the 100-mile mark!  Suddenly we were traversing a steep slope that dropped off 3000 feet to the Carson Valley floor.  Minden, Gardnerville, Carson City to the north, set among streams and hayfields colored purple in blotches as clouds rolled overhead, spawned by Freel Peak.

The dramatic Carson Valley views persisted up to a broad sandy saddle called Monument Pass.  As we emerged from the pass Freel Peak appeared, framed by whimsical boulder formations below and by emerging thunderclouds above.  Job’s Sister, slightly lower than Freel but with a more dramatic face of cliffs and snowfields, also became visible.

As we approached these thunderheads, traversing the ridge on the Upper Truckee side, they began to throw a few large, sharply-cold drops our way.  The sky to the west was still clear blue and we surmised the sun-shiny shower wouldn’t last the proverbial half-hour.  But it did, and turned into a gradual intermittent sprinkle through most of the afternoon.

Soon we entered a high saddle of old-growth juniper trees - not dramatically tall but with impressive girths.  They reminded me of baobab trees, or something from Myst.  We took shelter under one as we heard a rushing sound approaching and sat for a few minutes as the sprinkling intensified into a downpour - even a few hailstones.  Thunder rolled in slow crescendoes from the east.

We finished the last bit of trail to Star Lake, chose a tent spot not already occupied by a tent, and enjoyed a warm nap in the sun.  We could still see a few drops making rings in the water’s otherwise still surface, but not really feel anything.

Cooling our feet in the chilly lake water felt good, and we established our kitchen on flat lake-side rocks with views both of the peaks to the southeast, and the setting sun to the west.  We dined elegantly on avocado stuffed with cherry tomatoes and imitation Crab, Morrocan Couscous with sun-dried cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and curry, and with an envelope of Palak Paneer over rice - leaving us both stuffed and mellow.

I write this under the last color of the setting sun - not overly dramatic as the clouds have by now almost all wandered off eastward, but with still waters disturbed only by jumping fish, and by the reflection of the almost-full moon rising large between the dual peaks of Job’s Sister.

How else could such a perfect day end?

[Mileage: 10.5 | 105.8]