Jean, Jennie, Kim, Liz, Nancy, and I met at the Barker Pass parking lot. The lot was
full of an unbelievable number of cars, considering the location 7 miles up a mountain road.
There were probably at least 40 cars. A cyclist came up to us and asked us why there were
so many cars here. Apparently he biked up here many times and had never seen so many cars.
Fortunately, the number of cars didn't match the number of people we met on the trail. Perhaps
they were visiting other trails in the area. In any event, we encountered a few groups of
hikers and small handful of OHVs (off-highway vehicles), which are allowed on the trails.
The trail begins climbing immediately, and we immediately encountered our first group of
hikers, a group pointing toward a plant they identified as the only orchid on the mountain.
It looked like a shriveled up snow plant to me, but I didn't stop to get a closer look.
Turns out they were right in one respect -- it wasn't a snow plant. But they were wrong
about it being the only one on the mountain -- we chanced upon two of the plants while we
rested further along the trail.
Group picture on the ridge
The trail climbs steeply through the forest for about 400-500 feet. Then the trees fall
back to reveal gorgeous views along the ridge. Lake Tahoe can be glimpsed to the northeast,
while full views of the northern Desolation wilderness are visible to the southwest. This
section of the trail is also quite windy, as it sits on an exposed ridge with on trees to
speak of.
View from the ridge
The trail climbs gradually until it begins a steep 400 foot descent, the bottom portion of
which is forested. The trail then levels off for a bit as it travels through pleasant
conifer forests. The trail heads up again before meeting a wide dirt road. The book I
was using said to bear left. However, that meant going downhill. The trail we were on continued
on the other side of the road. We decided to follow the book's directions for a couple minutes.
After looking at the maps and our surroundings, we decided the book was wrong. We retraced our steps
and headed up the trail. We stopped an OHV rider, the first we'd seen so far, to confirm our directions. He did.
Through the forest
The trail is steep dusty single track. Thankfully this section is short. We encountered
another dirt road. Apparently this road is the same one we'd crossed a few minutes earlier --
it curves around, heading from our left to right, then back up to the left again. I made
a note to remember this intersection, as it would be easy to take the wrong trail on the
return trip (at the time, I didn't know the dirt road looped around anyway).
Final climb to the summit
We turned left, up the wide dirt road. Then, to our left our goal seemed clear. We
headed up the ridge and to the top of a windy rock outcropping. Unfortunately when we
reached the top, we saw the real summit a couple hundred yards to the north. While the
others continued on to the summit, I stayed behind to take some photographs before
joining them.
Lake Tahoe
Another view of the lake
The view from either summit is similarly breathtaking. Mountains fill the view on all
sides. To the west, Lake Tahoe dominates the view. We soaked it all in as the wind whipped
by. We had lunch near a small rock shelter which unfortunately seemed to be built for
wind coming in the opposite direction than what it was now.
Lunch above the lake
A look back at the false summit
After lunch we descended and made our way back to the main trail. By this time there were
several people on the first summit. We were stopped by a few people asking us for
directions to Ellis Lake and the parking lot.
Lunch on the summit
We returned the way we'd come, keeping to the right until we encountered the dirt road
where we'd first taken a wrong turn. The trail is quite dusty, and we kicked a lot of
dust toward each other on the descent.
The view from the ridge was not nearly as good as it had been earlier. The afternoon sun
sent a haze over the distant views. Soon we found ourselves beginning the final forested
descent. A group of three or four OHV's passed us near the bottom, but they were
relatively courteous. Interestingly, we didn't meet any mountain bikers on our trip.
The trail descended very steeply, and we soon found ourselves back at our cars.
Return to 2001 Lake Tahoe trip report.
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