Tahoe Rim Trail - Part 3

On Friday, 24 July, I set off to do the final part of the Tahoe Rim Trail.  The last section I had to do was from Mt Rose in Nevada on the north east side to the road crossing at Brockway Summit over in California.  This is the highest section of the trail and it climbs up to 10,338 ft at Relay Peak.  The finish at Brockway is down around 7,000 ft so it is easier to start at Mt Rose and run down.

As had become usual, I left home just after 3:00 am and drove up to Tahoe.  I was at the pass on the Mt Rose Highway by 6:00 am and I was on the trail shortly after. 

The trail starts with a nice steady uphill slowly climbing up above the tree line towards Mt Rose (which you do not summit) and then on to Relay Peak (which you do summit).  The air over the Sierras was quite bad and there was a brownish layer of smog on the horizon all around and you could not quite see down to Lake Tahoe for the mist and smog.    As the day progressed the smog cleared but in the early morning it looked pretty bad and you could almost taste it in the air.

Early morning going up to Mt Rose

Near Relay Peak I saw a group of Blue Grouse out in the open.  I had been hearing their calls (a very low whoop, whoop, whoop) all over the Sierras but this is the first time I saw one.  After the most splendid and colorful woodpeckers and the occasional Stellar's Jay these are the most interesting birds up here.  

After Relay Peak the trail starts its descent and it is a nice easy run along the south facing side of the mountain.  There are some truly wonderful views from this section down into the Tahoe basin.  It was a shame about the bad air but regardless the views were still impressive. 

Bad Air Day

After passing Mt Baldy the trail moves lower into the trees again and there is nice shaded running along relatively smooth trails.

As I neared the end of the run and as I got close to the Brockway trailhead the number of people out for day hikes up the trail grew quite numerous.  It was surprising how many were now wearing masks on the trail as opposed to 2 or 3 weeks again when I ran up here.  I even ran with a bandanna around my face (not the easiest thing to do).

Near Mt Baldy, better air

I made reasonable progress and was off the trail by just after 12:00 pm.  I believe it was just around 19 miles by the time I was done.  I had to wait a half hour for an Uber to take me back to the car and then I was home by 3:00.

So that is the entire Tahoe Rim Trail done in stages over the last three years.  No more running in Tahoe for a while.