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Andy Wertheim: Excellent 4th

Photo captured from a video by Keith Thomas
Photo captured from a video by Keith Thomas

Hello Friends,

There are sure a lot of people in Tahoe and Truckee this weekend.  Cars were stacked up all over the place for those hitting the Truckee River between Tahoe City and Alpine Meadows or hiking to Five Lakes or hanging at the beaches on the Westshore.  If you were water skiing, paddle boarding or kayaking on the lake early morning on the 4th of July, then you were treated to some beautiful flat water that was perfect for most water sports.  In the late morning the winds picked up and soon were blowing strongly.  Perhaps a good time to have been sailing, but not so good for beach sitting, although there were still lots of us hanging out waiting for the choppy water to smooth out.

In an attempt to avoid the crowds, I took off early and went for a morning hike.  It was the perfect choice for me.  I drove to the PCT which crosses the Barker Pass (Blackwood Canyon) Road just west of Barker Pass and the end of the paved road.  My goal was an out and back to the base of Twin Peaks where the PCT and the Tahoe Rim Trail part ways.  This is about a 10.2 mile round trip with approximately 1560 feet of elevation gain for the round trip. The trail offers expansive views in every direction.  Yesterday morning the sky was especially clear and the views of Tahoe, Desolation Wilderness, and the many surrounding peaks such as Twin Peaks, Tinkers Knob, Anderson, Freel, and many others were easily visible and clear as a bell.  Although the total elevation each way is not really much, the 5.1 mile trail does drop into a couple of valleys that flow toward Blackwood Creek and Lake Tahoe.  At each of these drainages, water was flowing and plant life was thriving.  Every color wildflower seemed to be showing off.  One of the most beautiful and surprising displays was that of the bright pink and yellow, Sierra Primrose.  This is supposed to be a late summer bloomer, but I found an entire hillside of covered with them.  Large yellow Monkey flowers, and Cinquefoil, pink Heather, pink Spirea, deep blue Lupin and Penstemon, orange Paintbrush and Scarlet Gilia covered the hillsides in the moist drainages.  I began my hike at about 8:15 in the morning and returned at 12:30.  I stopped at the intersection of the PCT (heading north to Highway 80 ) and the TRT (heading east to Tahoe City) for a bite to eat.  One fun thing about hiking along the PCT this time of year is that you tend to meet thru hikers that are in the middle of their Mexico to Canada trek.  I must have met 8 or 10 on my return trip to Barker Pass.

Last night we dropped our kayaks into Donner Lake and paddled about half along the lake from east to west to watch the fireworks from display at the west end of the lake.

The shore was packed with people celebrating and waiting for the fireworks.  We listen to a band playing at the west end beach until darkness took over and the bombs began to blast.  It was quite a display with each boom rebounding off the surrounding granite walls that rise up around the lake basin.  The finale was excellent with every kind of design shooting out over us in rapid succession.

Enjoy your day,

Andy Wertheim

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