Welcome back! Plan B is ready to be put into motion. I will be rejoining the TRT at the Kingsbury North Trail Head (at the parking lot of Heavenly Ski Resort). I will be doing a HUGE one day solo trip to the Big Meadow Trail Head (22 miles) where I will camp for one night. The next morning, Saturday, I will hike the 20 miles around the southern section of the TRT to meet up with Zach, Ann, Dan and Topo at Echo Lakes. This will be stuffing 3 days of hiking into 2...but I'm game! It will also limit my solo nights on the trail to just one night...since some people are worried. I won't say names MOM! My SPOT WILL be working properly, I just wasn't holding the stupid button long enough to activate tracking mode. I will have that ironed out, and I will be knocking out MAJOR back to back day hikes to get caught up.
Tomorrow will be more relaxing at the cabin trying to get ready to do 42 miles in 2 days.
Starting watching that SPOT link early on Friday morning as I will be moving fast.
Until then...
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Upate from the Tahoe Rim...area.
Followers,
As you are probably wondering how, I am updating the blog...from the comfort of my families cabin 45 minutes south of Lake Tahoe. Here is how we ended up here...and here is what is coming up next!
Day 1, we started strong, 12.5 miles with lots of elevation as we worked our way towards Watson Lake. Zach starting getting "hot spots" (the beginnings of blisters) less than 6 miles in. We made it safely to camp though, and had a sleepless night because a group of high school kids was throwing a HUGE party on the same lake as we planning our peaceful evening.
Day 2, we started early...no thanks to the lack of sleep. We had a VERY big day ahead of us. 17.5 miles, with the last 11 being a constant climb. We literally climbed NONSTOP! We finally arrived at Gray Lake late in the afternoon and found a very peaceful camping spot! Through out the day Zach was showing signs of major foot fatigue, erratic gate, awkward foot placement, and changing socks mid-day....these are not good signs at this point in a 168 mile hike, but we soldiered on. Topo was also starting to struggle. The temps were in the mid 80's all day and well into the evening. Water was non-existent on the trail and Topo developed a bit of a limp early in the day (could be from his solo whitewater river trip when he jumped in the creek at the cabin...another story altogether).
That brings us to Day 3...today. BIG CLIMB right out of the gate. We lost the trail from Gray Lake back to the TRT, and ended up climbing one mile straight up a boulder field...tough on the legs and feet! Zach's feet were already killing him. We pushed on though, and summited the high point of the TRT on Relay Peak and were high in spirits! Topo was still a wreck, but a good nights sleep and an Ibuprofen seemed to help him out. Once we summited Relay, we knew it was 4 miles down a road to Tahoe Meadows, then another 13 miles to the next camp (and only water source in the area) which made Day 3 a 21 mile day. 2 miles below Relay we came to a trail crossing. We thought the TRT went down the road, but on inspecting the map it actually shot off another direction, which added 3 miles to the 4 mile road and a lot of climbing. We finally popped out on the Mt. Rose highway completely out of water and running nearly 3 hours behind schedule. Zach was in worse shape than ever before. I followed him for the roughly 1 mile from Mt. Rose trail head to the Tahoe Meadows trail head where we were to start the last 13 miles of the day. When we stopped at Tahoe Meadows, I knew we were in trouble. Zach was down to roughly 1 mph, limping, no appetite and shaking uncontrollably. Which brings us to Plan B....which we invented on the taxi ride back to the car from Tahoe Meadows.
Plan B - I would have liked to have left Zach and Topo at Tahoe Meadows to fend for themselves, but it was just to late in the day to make it on my own to the next camp, and damn it...we started this as a team! So Plan B has been hatched.
Topo and Zach are going to lay low at the cabin for the rest of the week. I am going to get back on the trail the day after tomorrow (the only reasonable spot I can pick up the schedule) and solo my way to Echo Summit. At this point Zach and Topo along with Zach's wife Anne, and my buddy Dan are going to join in the fun and we will all hike together through Desolation Wilderness.
So the bad news is that nobody in our group is going to thru-hike the Tahoe Rim Trail this trip. The good news is, we are all ok, Zach's feet will heal...I think. And Topo still loves me...I think.
I have been told the GPS updates weren't coming. MY BAD! I thought I knew how to work that thing, I will get that ironed out and fired up for my solo 2 days on the trail and for the rest of the hike. Thanks for sticking around! Check back in a couple days and I will be back on the trail!
As you are probably wondering how, I am updating the blog...from the comfort of my families cabin 45 minutes south of Lake Tahoe. Here is how we ended up here...and here is what is coming up next!
Day 1, we started strong, 12.5 miles with lots of elevation as we worked our way towards Watson Lake. Zach starting getting "hot spots" (the beginnings of blisters) less than 6 miles in. We made it safely to camp though, and had a sleepless night because a group of high school kids was throwing a HUGE party on the same lake as we planning our peaceful evening.
Day 2, we started early...no thanks to the lack of sleep. We had a VERY big day ahead of us. 17.5 miles, with the last 11 being a constant climb. We literally climbed NONSTOP! We finally arrived at Gray Lake late in the afternoon and found a very peaceful camping spot! Through out the day Zach was showing signs of major foot fatigue, erratic gate, awkward foot placement, and changing socks mid-day....these are not good signs at this point in a 168 mile hike, but we soldiered on. Topo was also starting to struggle. The temps were in the mid 80's all day and well into the evening. Water was non-existent on the trail and Topo developed a bit of a limp early in the day (could be from his solo whitewater river trip when he jumped in the creek at the cabin...another story altogether).
That brings us to Day 3...today. BIG CLIMB right out of the gate. We lost the trail from Gray Lake back to the TRT, and ended up climbing one mile straight up a boulder field...tough on the legs and feet! Zach's feet were already killing him. We pushed on though, and summited the high point of the TRT on Relay Peak and were high in spirits! Topo was still a wreck, but a good nights sleep and an Ibuprofen seemed to help him out. Once we summited Relay, we knew it was 4 miles down a road to Tahoe Meadows, then another 13 miles to the next camp (and only water source in the area) which made Day 3 a 21 mile day. 2 miles below Relay we came to a trail crossing. We thought the TRT went down the road, but on inspecting the map it actually shot off another direction, which added 3 miles to the 4 mile road and a lot of climbing. We finally popped out on the Mt. Rose highway completely out of water and running nearly 3 hours behind schedule. Zach was in worse shape than ever before. I followed him for the roughly 1 mile from Mt. Rose trail head to the Tahoe Meadows trail head where we were to start the last 13 miles of the day. When we stopped at Tahoe Meadows, I knew we were in trouble. Zach was down to roughly 1 mph, limping, no appetite and shaking uncontrollably. Which brings us to Plan B....which we invented on the taxi ride back to the car from Tahoe Meadows.
Plan B - I would have liked to have left Zach and Topo at Tahoe Meadows to fend for themselves, but it was just to late in the day to make it on my own to the next camp, and damn it...we started this as a team! So Plan B has been hatched.
Topo and Zach are going to lay low at the cabin for the rest of the week. I am going to get back on the trail the day after tomorrow (the only reasonable spot I can pick up the schedule) and solo my way to Echo Summit. At this point Zach and Topo along with Zach's wife Anne, and my buddy Dan are going to join in the fun and we will all hike together through Desolation Wilderness.
So the bad news is that nobody in our group is going to thru-hike the Tahoe Rim Trail this trip. The good news is, we are all ok, Zach's feet will heal...I think. And Topo still loves me...I think.
I have been told the GPS updates weren't coming. MY BAD! I thought I knew how to work that thing, I will get that ironed out and fired up for my solo 2 days on the trail and for the rest of the hike. Thanks for sticking around! Check back in a couple days and I will be back on the trail!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The BIG day
It's Sunday morning. Yikes.
We have had a productive weekend! The drive from Phoenix went well, I picked up Zach right on time as planned and we made it safely to the small town of Kyburz, CA. Claire's family has an awesome cabin on the creek in Kyburz, and Zach, Topo and I held up there for one night.
On Friday we got up early and left the cabin to get our first look at Lake Tahoe. WOW...IT'S HUGE! We stopped in at the Echo Lake Store to try and leave a food cache with them, they informed us that the only food caches allowed in their storage room had to be mailed there (they are catering to the Pacific Crest Trail thru hikers). While we were there we met a PCT hiker. A 17 year old guy who had been on the trail for 1,100 miles and 4 months. He was taking the year between high school and college to hike the trail. Super nice guy, I hooked him up with some Power Bars, which he was excited about.
Our first food cache was placed in the woods near the Echo Summit store. From there, we headed for the East side of the lake to meet the owner of the dog boarding facility where Topo will go if he can't complete the hike. Then we moved north to place our next food cache at Spooner Summit.
After Spooner Summit we stopped in to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association office, met the ladies that had helped us with our planning and then opted to use one of the TRT Associations free bear canister for our hike.
From there, I made a quick phone to a lady that I had met only be phone as I planned the hike. She section hiked the TRT with her dog last year and lives only a few minutes from where the trail crosses the Mt. Rose Hwy. So Kathy and her 3 dogs met us up at Big Meadows and we took all the dogs for a short walk and went over the map with Kathy getting advice on different sections. THANKS KATHY! It was great to meet you!
After that we headed into Truckee to relax and have a cold one at the Brewery. I ended up boarding Topo at a dog kennel here in Truckee...sneaking him into the Hampton wasn't going to work (stinkin' surveillance cameras!).
Sunday was pretty uneventful. We got our last food cache placed at Barker Pass, got my fishing license and then took a nap in the hotel room while Zach went and laid pool side.
That brings us to today. We are having breakfast here at the Hampton, then we need to go bust Topo out of the clink and make one stop in to a sporting goods store (I broke the bite valve on my camelback packing it last night). We are thinking about grabbing a Subway sandwich for the trail and are planning on hitting the trail around 10 am.
A year of planning, stressing, replanning, spending, replanning and stressing some more is over.
It's time.
We have had a productive weekend! The drive from Phoenix went well, I picked up Zach right on time as planned and we made it safely to the small town of Kyburz, CA. Claire's family has an awesome cabin on the creek in Kyburz, and Zach, Topo and I held up there for one night.
On Friday we got up early and left the cabin to get our first look at Lake Tahoe. WOW...IT'S HUGE! We stopped in at the Echo Lake Store to try and leave a food cache with them, they informed us that the only food caches allowed in their storage room had to be mailed there (they are catering to the Pacific Crest Trail thru hikers). While we were there we met a PCT hiker. A 17 year old guy who had been on the trail for 1,100 miles and 4 months. He was taking the year between high school and college to hike the trail. Super nice guy, I hooked him up with some Power Bars, which he was excited about.
Our first food cache was placed in the woods near the Echo Summit store. From there, we headed for the East side of the lake to meet the owner of the dog boarding facility where Topo will go if he can't complete the hike. Then we moved north to place our next food cache at Spooner Summit.
After Spooner Summit we stopped in to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association office, met the ladies that had helped us with our planning and then opted to use one of the TRT Associations free bear canister for our hike.
From there, I made a quick phone to a lady that I had met only be phone as I planned the hike. She section hiked the TRT with her dog last year and lives only a few minutes from where the trail crosses the Mt. Rose Hwy. So Kathy and her 3 dogs met us up at Big Meadows and we took all the dogs for a short walk and went over the map with Kathy getting advice on different sections. THANKS KATHY! It was great to meet you!
After that we headed into Truckee to relax and have a cold one at the Brewery. I ended up boarding Topo at a dog kennel here in Truckee...sneaking him into the Hampton wasn't going to work (stinkin' surveillance cameras!).
Sunday was pretty uneventful. We got our last food cache placed at Barker Pass, got my fishing license and then took a nap in the hotel room while Zach went and laid pool side.
That brings us to today. We are having breakfast here at the Hampton, then we need to go bust Topo out of the clink and make one stop in to a sporting goods store (I broke the bite valve on my camelback packing it last night). We are thinking about grabbing a Subway sandwich for the trail and are planning on hitting the trail around 10 am.
A year of planning, stressing, replanning, spending, replanning and stressing some more is over.
It's time.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Map
Hello again. I am packing up tonight, and I hit the road for Tahoe tomorrow! I was just scanning over the Google Earth map I have created. I have added over 100 points to Google Earth, everything from our camping spots to creeks, and scenic view points. I cleaned it up to only show the camping spots and were our food caches will be located and thought I would post it here on the blog. The start and finish spots are the same spot, and we are hiking the trail clockwise. So you can get a very broad view of what we have in store.
Click on the map for a larger view.
Click on the map for a larger view.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Come with us...virtually!
Thanks for checking back in our blog. Lucky for you, you can take a peak where we are from the comfort of your desk chair!
This is how this works....
I will have with us a SPOT GPS device. This small orange GPS unit simply transmitts our exact location every 10 minutes and posts it on my personal SPOT page. I will have the SPOT in transmit mode while we are hiking, everyday. There are a couple catches though, it only holds 7 days of memory...which on a normal hike would easily show everything while we are on the trail...but this is not a normal hike! So on the 8th day it will start loosing our first days transmissions. The other noteable thing about SPOT is that it doesn't always successfully send tracking messages...trees, mountains, cloud cover or just interference can mess with the signal so you might see some gaps in the messages.
So with all that being said, here is the link! Just click on the link anytime starting next Sunday the 18th and enjoy checking out our location! Save the page to your internet favorites and check in often!
Tyler, Zach and Topo SPOT GPS Link
This is how this works....
I will have with us a SPOT GPS device. This small orange GPS unit simply transmitts our exact location every 10 minutes and posts it on my personal SPOT page. I will have the SPOT in transmit mode while we are hiking, everyday. There are a couple catches though, it only holds 7 days of memory...which on a normal hike would easily show everything while we are on the trail...but this is not a normal hike! So on the 8th day it will start loosing our first days transmissions. The other noteable thing about SPOT is that it doesn't always successfully send tracking messages...trees, mountains, cloud cover or just interference can mess with the signal so you might see some gaps in the messages.
So with all that being said, here is the link! Just click on the link anytime starting next Sunday the 18th and enjoy checking out our location! Save the page to your internet favorites and check in often!
Tyler, Zach and Topo SPOT GPS Link
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
1 Month and counting
Today is June 15th, 2010. I (Tyler) will be departing for Tahoe on Wen. July 14th with a one night layover in L.A. and then picking Zach up on Thur. July 15th and heading up to our family cabin in the Tahoe area.
We are 1 month away from heading for Tahoe. We have both been training when we can, hiking, hitting the gym, running....I don't think either of are over confident that it's helping to much :)
We have been ironing out the last of the logistics. Our food is sitting in boxes ready to go, one bear box is complete with two more to go, Topo's food is on it's way to Phoenix from Tail Waggers in Colorado.
Tyler has been in contact with a few people in the Tahoe area. One local lady who has hiked the entire trail has been able to offer advice about water and food caches. She has also offered us a dry guest room if the weather turns on us. Topo has a contingency plan as well via a local bording clinic in South Lake Tahoe. They have offered to pick Topo up at a trail head and board him for a few nights if he needs a break.
I will update again as we get closer and start getting gear assembled and boxes up for the trip.
....stay tuned.
We are 1 month away from heading for Tahoe. We have both been training when we can, hiking, hitting the gym, running....I don't think either of are over confident that it's helping to much :)
We have been ironing out the last of the logistics. Our food is sitting in boxes ready to go, one bear box is complete with two more to go, Topo's food is on it's way to Phoenix from Tail Waggers in Colorado.
Tyler has been in contact with a few people in the Tahoe area. One local lady who has hiked the entire trail has been able to offer advice about water and food caches. She has also offered us a dry guest room if the weather turns on us. Topo has a contingency plan as well via a local bording clinic in South Lake Tahoe. They have offered to pick Topo up at a trail head and board him for a few nights if he needs a break.
I will update again as we get closer and start getting gear assembled and boxes up for the trip.
....stay tuned.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Plan
Commitments made, vacations requested, next of kin notified...time to get down to logistics!
A few problems that are very apparent for Zach and I are; we don't live near each other, and neither of us live near Tahoe. Solution: books, maps, phone calls, internet, and Google Earth!
The main source of knowledge about the finer points of the TRT have been provided by a wonderful author named Tim Hauserman via his book "The Tahoe Rim Trail: A Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, and Equestrians". His book provides detailed trial notes, water locations, forks in the trail, and even the names of prominent peaks that can been seen in the distance.
Zach and I each purchased a copy of Tim's book and we approached the schedules on our own, to see if we came up with anything different. Thankfully we were both on the same page. We agreed our starting point would be Tahoe City, and we would hike in a clockwise direction.
Here are the plans as they stand now.
Wednesday July 14, 2010 - Tyler and Topo drive from Phoenix to Sierra Madres (near LA)
Thursday July 15 - Tyler and Topo drive from Sierra Madre to Sacramento and pick up Zach. Then head to the cabin in Tahoe (Hillard Haven)
Friday July 16 - Start food caches, visit TRT Asso., visit dog boarder and then check into Hampton Inn
Saturday July 17 - Complete food caches, drink one last beer and lay in bed awake all night...
Section 1 - Tahoe City to Spooner Summit 46.5 miles
July 18 - Night one @ Watson Lake - 13 miles
July 19 - Night two @ Gray Lake - 16.5 miles
July 20 - Night three @ Marlette Peak - 17 miles
Food Cache at Spooner Summit
Section 2 - Spooner Summit to Echo Summit 52.4 miles
July 21 - Night four @ South Camp Peak - 19.2 miles
July 22 - Night five @ Star Lake - 15.8 miles
July 23 - Night six @ Round Lake - 17 miles
Food Cache at Echo Summit
Section 3 - Echo Summit to Barker Meadows - 40 miles
July 24 - Night seven @ Lake Aloha - 20 miles
July 25 - Night eight @ Lake Aloha - OFF DAY - 0 miles
July 26 - Night nine @ Middle Velma Lake - 11.5 miles
July 27 - Night ten @ Richardon Lake - 8.5 miles
Food Cache at Barker Meadows
Section 4 - Barker Meadows to Tahoe City - 23.2 miles
July 28 - Night eleven @ Barker Meadows - 6.5 miles
July 29 - Night twelve @ Ward Creek - 11.5 miles
July 30 - Complete hike to Tahoe City - 5.2 miles and drive to Hillard Haven (cabin)
July 31 - Drink beer and relax at the cabin...soak feet in hot water.
August 1 - Zach flies home, Tyler, Claire and Topo drive back to Phoenix.
A few problems that are very apparent for Zach and I are; we don't live near each other, and neither of us live near Tahoe. Solution: books, maps, phone calls, internet, and Google Earth!
The main source of knowledge about the finer points of the TRT have been provided by a wonderful author named Tim Hauserman via his book "The Tahoe Rim Trail: A Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, and Equestrians". His book provides detailed trial notes, water locations, forks in the trail, and even the names of prominent peaks that can been seen in the distance.
Zach and I each purchased a copy of Tim's book and we approached the schedules on our own, to see if we came up with anything different. Thankfully we were both on the same page. We agreed our starting point would be Tahoe City, and we would hike in a clockwise direction.
Here are the plans as they stand now.
Wednesday July 14, 2010 - Tyler and Topo drive from Phoenix to Sierra Madres (near LA)
Thursday July 15 - Tyler and Topo drive from Sierra Madre to Sacramento and pick up Zach. Then head to the cabin in Tahoe (Hillard Haven)
Friday July 16 - Start food caches, visit TRT Asso., visit dog boarder and then check into Hampton Inn
Saturday July 17 - Complete food caches, drink one last beer and lay in bed awake all night...
Section 1 - Tahoe City to Spooner Summit 46.5 miles
July 18 - Night one @ Watson Lake - 13 miles
July 19 - Night two @ Gray Lake - 16.5 miles
July 20 - Night three @ Marlette Peak - 17 miles
Food Cache at Spooner Summit
Section 2 - Spooner Summit to Echo Summit 52.4 miles
July 21 - Night four @ South Camp Peak - 19.2 miles
July 22 - Night five @ Star Lake - 15.8 miles
July 23 - Night six @ Round Lake - 17 miles
Food Cache at Echo Summit
Section 3 - Echo Summit to Barker Meadows - 40 miles
July 24 - Night seven @ Lake Aloha - 20 miles
July 25 - Night eight @ Lake Aloha - OFF DAY - 0 miles
July 26 - Night nine @ Middle Velma Lake - 11.5 miles
July 27 - Night ten @ Richardon Lake - 8.5 miles
Food Cache at Barker Meadows
Section 4 - Barker Meadows to Tahoe City - 23.2 miles
July 28 - Night eleven @ Barker Meadows - 6.5 miles
July 29 - Night twelve @ Ward Creek - 11.5 miles
July 30 - Complete hike to Tahoe City - 5.2 miles and drive to Hillard Haven (cabin)
July 31 - Drink beer and relax at the cabin...soak feet in hot water.
August 1 - Zach flies home, Tyler, Claire and Topo drive back to Phoenix.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Whose coming with me!?!?!
I have been thinking about hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail since I first heard of it, in mid 2008. The toughest part about attempting somthing like this is finding someone to join you. After posting on the local hiking club forum, reaching out to some friends and family I didn't have much more than a "well....let me see if I can get the time off work" from anyone. Then a phone call to Zach brought my dream to fruition in December 2009.
This was an excerpt from my posting on HikeArizona.com looking for someone to join me...
I would encourage any interested party to ask themselves a couple questions:
1. Can I hike 10-15 miles a day for 12-13 consecutive days?
2. (most important) Can I vanish from the state of Arizona for over 2 weeks without losing my job/wife/girlfriend etc...?
3. How will I feel down the road if I miss out on an amazing opportunity like this?!?!?!
Now, if you answered the questions favorably, start doing some homework and keep asking yourself the above questions. I can't do it alone.
The Tahoe Rim Trail is a 165 (give or take a couple miles depending on your source) loop that circumnavigates Lake Tahoe. The trail is fairly new in the realm of larger thru hiking trails. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association was established in 1981 to plan, construct and maintain the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 24-inch wide, 165 mile single track trail open to hiking, equestrians and mountian biking (in most areas). The trail encompasses the ridge tops of the Lake Tahoe Basin, crossing six counties, and two states. Another huge draw to me, and a major factor in choosing this hike, is that for approximately 50 miles it shares the same piece of dirt as the Pacific Crest Trail.
This was an excerpt from my posting on HikeArizona.com looking for someone to join me...
I would encourage any interested party to ask themselves a couple questions:
1. Can I hike 10-15 miles a day for 12-13 consecutive days?
2. (most important) Can I vanish from the state of Arizona for over 2 weeks without losing my job/wife/girlfriend etc...?
3. How will I feel down the road if I miss out on an amazing opportunity like this?!?!?!
Now, if you answered the questions favorably, start doing some homework and keep asking yourself the above questions. I can't do it alone.
The Tahoe Rim Trail is a 165 (give or take a couple miles depending on your source) loop that circumnavigates Lake Tahoe. The trail is fairly new in the realm of larger thru hiking trails. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association was established in 1981 to plan, construct and maintain the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 24-inch wide, 165 mile single track trail open to hiking, equestrians and mountian biking (in most areas). The trail encompasses the ridge tops of the Lake Tahoe Basin, crossing six counties, and two states. Another huge draw to me, and a major factor in choosing this hike, is that for approximately 50 miles it shares the same piece of dirt as the Pacific Crest Trail.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)