Tahoe/Truckee July 2014

This was a trip to Tahoe /ruckee area  25 to 31 July 2014.

The first day we drove to Bishop to stay overnight.  Two restaurants we liked were closed for good.  Barbeque Bill and  Whiskey Creek.   After checking into the motel, we drove west up to North Lake.   We parked at the trailhead and hiked up to Grass Lake at 9900 feet.  A small lake with little traffic and we didn't see any other hikers.   There were some mosquitoes, but we sat in a windy spot and they were no problem.  This is the first time I have been to Grass Lake.   We normally hike up toward Piute pass and over the crest of the Sierra.   Here are the pictures.

The second day we started out early in the morning, but just above Mono Lake on US 395, we were stopped and told the road was closed due to a hazardous spill had closed the road.  We had to make a 90 mile detour through Hawthorne NV to get to I 80 where we then went west to Truckee. 

The third day we drove to the trailhead of the Five Lakes hike. The hike is between Squaw Valley and Alpine ski resort.  There were some ski lift towers that were built years ago with no wires and no date in the future when the resort will be completed.  The hike is very popular and on the way down from the picturesque lakes, we met many hikers.  Here are the pictures.

The highlight of our trip was another hike in the abandoned railway tunnels and snow sheds at the top of the Donner pass. There is a lot of graffiti on the walls of the snow sheds.  A railroad employee came through the tunnel in a pickup, but paid no attention to the three guys making new graffiti.  These tunnels were closed in 1993 when new tunnels were completed to the south.  The views from the tunnels where there were opening of Donner lake were spectacular.  Here are the pictures.

Click on any thumbnail to see a larger picture on the linked to pages.