Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Commemorative Emigrant Trail
Lake Tahoe CA, June 11, 2011

The high country at Tahoe is still under a lot of snow. But yesterday I heard that the Emigrant Trail, at about 6,000 ft., was snow free. Normally I would not drive so far for a 25 mile ride, but someone posted a map of other trails coming off it. So I threw my things together and headed up. The Emigrant Trail is a fairly easy ride, with no technical parts, and only mild ups and downs. Since I had done a bit more riding than usual earlier in the week it was a nice recovery ride. And I was anxious to ride at Tahoe after being away for six months. The temperature was probably in the high 30's when I started, but it eventually warmed to probably 60 degrees by the time I finished. Unfortunatly, in my haste I failed to pack my biking shorts and socks. Riding in street shorts was not too much of problem, but I really missed my wool socks for the first half of the ride.

After I finished the out and back on the Emigrant I headed out on a trail that went west toward the Donner Trail. It followed Alder Creek and was pretty nice for about a mile. However, snow runoff began to trickle down the trail and it became increasingly wetter and muddier. Eventually I reached a creek crossing that was just too deep to attempt to cross. So I turned around and tried another trail for a bit. But eventually I gave up and headed back. Although the ride was shorter than intended, it was great to be back to Tahoe.

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