Last Sunday Amy and I rode the South Camp loop, up at Lake Tahoe. We parked at the Tahoe Rim Trail trail head on Hwy 50, just before the turn off to 28 going towards Spooner Lake. We didn't start at the TRT though, instead we mounted the bikes, rode past the turn off and then crossed the road. We actually started on a dirt road just past the Ranger storage area on the left. That's when the climbing began and it didn't really let up until we reached the bench. The road was mostly dirt and gravel but seemed to be paved in some of the steepest sections, which made it somewhat pleasant.
I was surprised to see over a dozen ATV and Motorcycle riders zooming past us on the road. It was a bummer, we only saw 3 bicyclists all day! At about 2 miles up we made a right turn and then a left turn after another 2.5 miles. We turned left onto the TRT at about 8 miles and headed up to the peak. That was already 8 miles of climbing, I'm not even going to say what our average speed for the day was. Once on the TRT we enjoyed a nice and easy single track climb with some mild rocky technical spots, but not too bad. I only had to walk the bike through a couple of sections. It was quiet too, no motorcycles or ATV's are allowed on the TRT, so we were able to enjoy the rest of the ride in peace. This is weird, just a couple of years ago, Jeff and I rode quads and dirt bikes. Now here I am complaining about how noisy they are. How differently we see things these days, more simply and pure. We still enjoy riding single track and seeing beautiful places. Now we can take in the peaceful serenity of natures sounds too. It is amazing how we change and head down different paths, but the beauty is we can choose, as we grow.
At the top we enjoyed the views huddled behind a couple of large boulders, it was too windy to sit on the bench. What a cool spot! I have never viewed our area from up there before, it is amazing to think we climbed all that way, wow! Once refreshed we continued on the TRT back to Hwy 50. Total mileage for the ride was 15 miles.Three words come to mind to sum up this ride... beautiful, climbing, fun... with emphasis on climbing!
Click on the Tahoe Rim Trail website and pull up the, Spooner Summit to Kingsbury North, map for more details on the route we took.
To view more pictures taken that day, click here. There are some new pictures mixed in as we did another TRT loop yesterday. I got some amazing shots of Marlette Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background. Stay tuned for a post on that ride soon. Plus the girls, Amy, Kathy and I are headed to Lake Almanor tomorrow to ride in the Mile High Century this weekend. Maybe we will break 100 this time! Stay tuned!
11 comments:
The bench is very nice. Most wilderness benches stick out like go-go boots on a nun, but that one fits in nicely.
Great pictures!
Rigtenzin, this was my first bench, it was in a perfect spot and view was amazing! I look forward to many more bench spots now. I am starting to understand why you spend 8+ grueling miles climbing to get to the top!
Thanks, Chris. I try to get some good pictures to make Jeffie happy. It's like the ride didn't happen if there aren't good pics to go with.
hey, you didn't have to go all the way to almanor for a cent. there's the tour de nez right here in our own backyard with plenty o' climbing.
Xd. Nice, just pulled up the event, looks like all kinds of stuff to do. That would have been a lot of fun! I wish we would have found it a couple of months ago when we were selecting the event. Next year!
Are you going? I think Jeff was thinking about going up with Charlie and checking it out.
k - yeah, a buddy and i have ridden it the last two years. it's pretty good death ride training and it's local and the races and other stuff going on at the park afterwards is cool. lots of nice bikes to check out, have some brews, watch the crits, etc.
xd... Ahh, so I see a Death Ride in your near future too, nice! Sounds like it will be a fun day, sorry to miss it. Next year for sure!
So what does xd stand for?
the x is silent. just kidding. i just threw a bunch of letters in front of gmail for an address and xd is what pops up as my "display" name. my name is scott. i met your husband and jeff p. out on the ash canyon single track a month or so ago and then ran into jeff and some fbc folks at lunch on my way over to the bikesmith about 2 weeks ago.
Hey, Scott! We've been riding Wednesday nights after work. Let me know if you're interested in riding with us. - Jeff
hey jeff, i'd be up for that. this wed. is the last mtb race the alta alpina club puts on but after that wednesdays are relatively open. what time do you guys launch?
I told J-Mo that if I break on thru to the other side before he does I would like some of my ashes spread at that bench. That is 1 of my all time favorite rides. If it turns out we live long lives it might take him awhile to make those 14 miles out/back but I have faith.
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