Tahoe National Forest
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Long Lake & Palisades Creek Trail Tahoe National Forest |
August 18 2022
Well, we're back. A week ago, Eileen and Cindy and I drove up to Donner Summit to escape the heat; and now we're back again, just a few miles down the road, to walk a trail that is new to them.
Getting started
The signpost even includes a flier about a 16-year-old girl who went missing from a nearby campground two weeks ago (see Addendum).
The route begins on the Uppper Cascade Lake Dam
Lower Cascade Lake
Within half a mile is a trail junction; we turn left to traverse the shoreline of Long Lake. Almost immediately there is a view of the area's most prominent landmark.
Long Lake and Devils Peak, 7704'
That unique mountain is elusive in that it never is in view from a local highway. It also is an O.G.U.L. peak, fairly easily climable from the south; but that has become moot, because the peak no longer can be accessed without trespassing.
An interesting reflection
A somewhat better one
Nicer yet
This boulder has some stories to tell
Pine Drops
Some kind of berry
This unofficial trail winds up and down and around. Keeping track of it is problematical, although it doesn't really matter as long as we continue southward beside the lake.
The best path is the one of least resistance
The plan is to get around the outlet of Long Lake, then climb the opposing hill and loop back toward the Palisade Trail. That sounds simple enough, but problems soon present themselves.
Water lilies at the far south end of the lake
We cannot see a way to get off this cliff and across the creek, without backtracking
a bit and taking our chances in the wetlands below. This works out without our
needing to get our feet wet, but at a cost — there is no choice but to
clamber through a willow thicket, which never is a desirable scenario.
I hope they are having more fun than I am
Actually, I have been in much worse thickets. The bushwhack having been survived, this is what lies ahead:
That looks doable, yet somehow it proves never to be as easy as it looks
Perhaps the fact that I have but one good eye skews my perception of these things,
but in any case this option is more appealing than climbing the nearby
manzanita-laden slope. We are agreed that anything is better than that,
and the option of returning from whence we came never is considered.
A fortuitous little ledge at the top proves barely adequate
Is this something that 80-year-olds are supposed to be doing? Although there is little exposure, a fall could be catastrophic. In any case, the mission is accomplished without incident. Cindy thinks that it was fun, but Eileen does not express an opinion.
The rest of the 170-foot climb is just a formality
Now we can relax, knowing that the hard work is done and a real trail is nearby.
My GPS says that the next attraction is just a few hundred feet away, and surely enough:
The long, skinny pond appears right on cue
Some more of those berries
Behind Long Lake are Mount Lola, Red Mountain, Basin Peak, and Castle Peak
My companions never have been over to Mount Lola, so that one is on the bucket list.
Anderson Peak and Tinker Knob to the south also are on the to-be-shared list
At a shady spot we stop for lunch, whereupon a most amazing thing happens.
The only hikers we have seen all day long approach, and the man promptly addresses me
by my full name! It it none other than Bill Drake, co-founder of
Friends of Sierra Rock Art (FSRA),
with his friend Ellen, here to check out some petroglyphs a couple of miles farther down
the trail. Bill guessed who I was from having seen my 'TEDM' licence plate at the
trailhead.
Ellen from Grass Valley and Bill from Nevada City
Bill and I have shared numerous emails ever since he asked me to remove a
web-page graphic that featured an inadvertent routing to a sensitive petroglyph
site. We agree that a mutual outing is in order in the near future.
Mt. Hood Pussypaws
How did this get here?
When they're talking, they're not walking
I didn't know that trees were used as survey markers
As we complete our loop, a strange directive has appeared on the trail.
What useful purpose is being served by that?
On the final lap
Upper Cascade Lake
The final stretch is steeply uphill
§: Well, what started out as just another escape from the godawful heat
turned out to be a most rewarding and serendipitous outing. Mostly, I am proud
of my companions for meeting the challenge of yet another "Ted Hike", and without
complaint. We made it home by 2 p.m.
Back at the trailhead, a note from Bill Drake was on my windshield.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Personality |  |
| Adventure |  |
| Flowers |  |
ADDENDUM
The missing woman, Kiely, was found on August 21 in her car, 14 feet down in Prosser Reservoir. Other details are unknown.
