From PCT mile 1074.4 to 1089.5 Total: 15.1 miles 8/15
On the 39th day of my PCT Sierra Section adventure I hiked from Carson Pass almost to Echo Summit, descending along the Upper Truckee River, where the Tahoe Rim Trail joined the trail, then up past Showers Lake and onward until a final descent to Benwood Meadows where I camped with a fine view of Lake Tahoe.
I didn’t set an alarm that morning and woke at first light, which was about 5:30am. A regular slugabed. I ate my oatmeal breakfast and happily placed my ever-lighter bear canister on top of the rest of the gear in my backpack. I was only hiking fifteen miles today, more down than up, so I had no worries about waking early. I was also excited as I had less than a week left to go, only 85 miles, and I would be back at my car at Donner Pass. It no longer seemed to be “forever” away.
The first item of the day was climbing along the south face of The Elephants Back toward what the Far Out app called “Carson Pass” even though it wasn’t the real Carson Pass. I knew it, they knew it, and nobody cared. As always, the views got better as I got higher, and I took a bunch of photos. Also as always. I paused at the top of the ridge and realized that it wasn’t the real top of the ridge. A false ridge. It happens. It was getting warm so I took a break to give Vicki a call on the phone, while I still had signal. It was good to talk to her. That’s the advantage of hiking where civilization is only a few miles away from the wilderness.
After that, it was merely a matter of placing one foot in front of the other until I was on top of the real summit. There was a large wooden sign up there stating that I was entering the “Carson Pass Management Unit” of Eldorado National Forest. The folks in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest didn’t bother with a sign in their direction. This was the last time I would be in that forest, which was very long in a north-south direction on the east side of the Pacific Crest. I had been hiking in it since I left Yosemite nearly a week ago! But I didn’t know that at the time, so I didn’t say goodbye. Quite negligent of me. But now I had new vistas ahead of me, and life was good.
As I descended toward the real Carson Pass, I noticed some sad looking pines. Upon closer inspection, they were five-needle pines. Endangered White Pines, most likely. Last year, in 2023, there was a push to get PCT hikers to search for and document five needle pines along the trail. They only grow up north, and only at high elevation, and were being decimated by a disease. Researchers were hoping to find disease-resistant trees to harvest their seeds, in order to restore the wild populations. A noble goal, indeed.
Soon, I came upon Frog Lake, so of course I took a detour to check it out. Consulting my prototype PCT Sierra Trout Fishing Guide, my internet sources stated that there were Rainbows in there, up to 16″ long! That’s huge. But when I arrived there was nothing. I also knew that where there are trout, there are no frogs, because tadpoles are too slow and tasty. However, no frogs in Frog Lake sounded like a tragedy to me. I didn’t bother fishing, but I liked the lake itself. Clear water and probably good for a swim, if you like that sort of thing.
A bit further down the trail was Highway 88, Carson Pass. There was a building there, the Carson Pass Information Center, and when I arrived there was Trail Magic, an awning, and a picnic table with chairs! This was excellent! They had a few treats, like cupcakes and cookies and sodas. The Volunteers who worked the Info Center were major Trail Angels. They had a log book for hikers to sign. I was pretty stoked, to say the least. We talked of the trail for a while, as I was arriving after all of the thru-hikers from the Mexican border were long gone. But they welcomed me as a LASHer (Long-A$$ Section Hiker) and I appreciated it. They took a photo of me, and I them, and then it was time to hike on. Magic only lasts so long, but the memory lingers longer.
The trail climbed gently north after that, partly in the forest but mostly in the sun. The trailbed was smooth and the hiking very cruisey. It was warm, but there was enough breeze to keep things enjoyable. It was 10am by this time, and the heat of the day had arrived. Not that this mattered. I had to hike uphill anyway. Or hitchhike down the highway, I suppose, but I didn’t even think about that. It was too nice a day and everything was beautiful. Plus, I was still full of Magic.
After passing a small pond, I reached the summit and entered a new watershed. I could see Lake Tahoe in the distance, which was pretty cool. This land, and everything that drains into Lake Tahoe, is supervised by the Tahoe Basin Management Unit, which owns 78% of the land in the basin. It’s part of the National Forest system, but is also different. They don’t allow much of anything to disrupt the ecosystem of the lake, so there is little lumber harvesting or cattle grazing.
As I headed down the hill, I crossed a small streamlet of water. I checked the Far Out app, and this was, at least technically, the Upper Truckee River. Obviously the headwaters. This entire basin drained into it, and from there proceeded to Lake Tahoe itself. I also knew that you weren’t allowed to keep a Cutthroat Trout if you caught one in this drainage, and you had to use barbless hooks. I’ve never caught a cutthroat, and wouldn’t mind trying, but I also didn’t want to hurt one, as they were rare. I would wait and see. One thing was certain: There weren’t any trout up this high!
It was a very wide valley, and I imagined all the snow that would collect within it each year, the melting of which is what kept Lake Tahoe full, and also blue. But now, in high Summer, things were getting on the dry side. The grasses were heavy with seed and were turning brown, and the river itself was slow-flowing and small. It was still pretty, however. So on I hiked.
The miles went by. The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) joined the PCT for its long run up the western side of the lake. Doing the full TRT is a big, multi-day hike all by itself, much like the JMT is within the High Sierra. Maybe someday I would give it a try. I kept on hiking, the only difference was that now there were much newer and fancier signs along the trail. Also, the meadows and river were getting broad down here.
Well, I never did try any trout fishing in the Upper Truckee River. Suddenly, the trail veered off to the left and began climbing out of the valley. It was an easy grade, and the hiking was fun, if a bit overgrown in spots. I guessed that there was plenty of water in the soil in this area. The trees liked it, too.
I stopped for lunch at Showers Lake (8647 feet elevation) which was quite popular, judging by the numerous campsites along the shore. It was supposed to have Rainbow Trout, but I didn’t bother trying. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I couldn’t see any evidence of them rising, and also because it was popular. Busy lakes gets fished hard in the Sierra, and my Tenkara rod couldn’t compete with a casting reel, which could get the extra distance to where the fish were hanging out. It was too shallow for me near the campsites, and too reedy elsewhere. But the lake itself was quite pretty.
The trail continued uphill after that, rising high onto exposed slopes while remaining just below the rim itself. There were fine views to be had up here, and it was worth it to sweat this much just to get them. And photograph them, of course. There were a few places where small watercourses crossed the trail, but most of the spots listed in the Far Out app were dry. Just like the grasses up there. I double-checked the entry near the place I hoped to camp, and it still had water as of a few days ago, so I decided not to worry. I had enough with me to get there.
The trail crossed the rim a couple of times, but it always returned to the Tahoe side. There were more high meadows, and several side trails. Everything was marked with those nice new trail signs. But I was also done with the second big climb of the day, and that was a relief.
The last two miles or so to camp would all be downhill. Quite a lot of downhill, in fact. About a thousand feet to go. As always, there were sections that were relatively flat and others that were steep. This was also granite country, so many parts of the trail used stone steps, though most was on smooth dirt. The afternoon was getting on, and my legs were a bit tired, but I admit that I was happy to be nearing camp.
I found the campsite that was mentioned in the comments on the Far Out app. The campsite wasn’t marked as a campsite, even though there were many good tent spots there. This was from comments within the entry for water at Benwood Meadows Creek. Yes, to make good plans using Far Out you really need to read the crowdsourced entries, or else you’re missing out on many useful tidbits of knowledge. That was what I did before the hike, back home, and it was also something I did every night in camp. Just making sure that there were no surprises the next day.
Rather than set up my tent, I simply put down the pack and got out my water filtration gear. I walked down the hill about a quarter mile to a wooden bridge that crossed the creek. I could hear the tiniest of trickles down below. But that was all I needed. It took some time, but I filtered a gallon of water there. I sat down and read my Kindle while gravity did the work. Then I hefted the collapsible gallon bladder and trudged back up the hill to my backpack.
I set the water down next to the backpack and took a walk around. Supposedly, there was an excellent spot with a view of Lake Tahoe a bit further into the forest. And there was! It was excellent. I went back and carried everything over to my chosen spot. I set up camp and took a bunch of photos. There was even cell signal, as the town of South Lake Tahoe was down there somewhere.
I did the math, and I only had 68 more miles to reach my car. Luckily, some of them would be within the Desolation Wilderness, which I knew was beautiful. I would be hiking there tomorrow after resupplying at my food stash on Echo Summit, which was only a mile or so away. This was getting exciting. Just the same, I cautioned myself, there were many miles left to hike, and anything could happen, so remain vigilant. No accidents allowed. And I had to hope that a bear (or human) didn’t mess with my food while it was left all alone in a bear canister for the last two weeks. But I would find that out in the morning.
After that, I ate dinner and updated all my notes, as always. I texted Vicki and read the comments in Far Out. I went outside to watch the sunset but there weren’t really any clouds to speak of, so it was anticlimactic. You can’t get a great sunset every day. But if luck is with you, you can have a great hike.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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