Granite Lake and Views of Emerald Bay
Thursday afternoon we got a later start on outdoors adventure than we intended. We only left the house and got lunch after 11. But like I noted before, the great thing about already being at Lake Tahoe is we don't have to drive hours to get to a hike. In fact our hike today, starting at the Bayview Trailhead above Emerald Bay, is about the farthest you can get around Lake Tahoe from where we're staying. It's pretty much directly opposite us on the lake and takes an hour of driving whichever direction around the lake we wish to loop.
The trail into the Desolation Wilderness is relentless up, up upAnother great thing about already being at Lake Tahoe is the acclimation. We've spent the last several days at elevation 6,300' and higher, so the thin air up here is now less of a problem for us than it would be if we'd just driven up from sea level this morning- which is how we usually start these hikes. Being already acclimated to the thinner air is good because the trail to Granite Lake is a quite a workout for our lungs. It ascends 800 feet in 1 mile.
The lower part of the trail is just up, up, up., without anything to show for it. But then shortly after we cross the Desolation Wildnerness boundary view start to open up to Emerald Bay to the northeast and the peaks beyond it.
A view over Emerald bay on Lake Tahoe and the mountains around it from the trail to Granite Lake. The unnamed peaks just to the north reach to almost 9,200' (2,800m), nearly 3,000' above the bay.
The views from the knob overlooking Emerald Bay recharged us. Even though the trail continued up, up, up beyond that it somehow felt easier. Soon enough the trail leveled out as it reached the basin tiny Granite Lake rests in.
Granite Lake rests in a small pocket beneath Maggie's Peaks
The trail resumes switchbacking up, up, up here to cross a saddle point between Maggie's Peaks. You can see the higher of the two peaks at the right of the picture above. It's almost 1,000 feet higher than the lake.
Before continuing on we scrambled down to the water's edge to sit for a while, relax, enjoy the views, and eat a mid-afternoon snack. During our rest it became clear that Hawk's back and leg weren't up for more ascent. So we turned around here and made another stop by the Emerald Bay overlooks on the way down.
The trail into the Desolation Wilderness is relentless up, up upAnother great thing about already being at Lake Tahoe is the acclimation. We've spent the last several days at elevation 6,300' and higher, so the thin air up here is now less of a problem for us than it would be if we'd just driven up from sea level this morning- which is how we usually start these hikes. Being already acclimated to the thinner air is good because the trail to Granite Lake is a quite a workout for our lungs. It ascends 800 feet in 1 mile.
The lower part of the trail is just up, up, up., without anything to show for it. But then shortly after we cross the Desolation Wildnerness boundary view start to open up to Emerald Bay to the northeast and the peaks beyond it.
A view over Emerald bay on Lake Tahoe and the mountains around it from the trail to Granite Lake. The unnamed peaks just to the north reach to almost 9,200' (2,800m), nearly 3,000' above the bay.
The views from the knob overlooking Emerald Bay recharged us. Even though the trail continued up, up, up beyond that it somehow felt easier. Soon enough the trail leveled out as it reached the basin tiny Granite Lake rests in.
Granite Lake rests in a small pocket beneath Maggie's Peaks
The trail resumes switchbacking up, up, up here to cross a saddle point between Maggie's Peaks. You can see the higher of the two peaks at the right of the picture above. It's almost 1,000 feet higher than the lake.
Before continuing on we scrambled down to the water's edge to sit for a while, relax, enjoy the views, and eat a mid-afternoon snack. During our rest it became clear that Hawk's back and leg weren't up for more ascent. So we turned around here and made another stop by the Emerald Bay overlooks on the way down.