Hiking from Fallen Leaf Lake to the top of Mount Tallac
Desolation Wilderness - South Lake Tahoe, CA
10+ miles, 3,100ft gain - Elevation 9,738
Mount Tallac has been calling... and today the call was answered and we were able to get gone for the day. This is my third time on this mountain and the first time for Chris. I was excited to share this one with him. It's a big mountain and a long, rocky trail, but the views at the top are always worth the effort!!
We approached this one from the Fallen Leaf Lake side. The trailhead is off of Mt. Tallac Road just a few miles from Camp Richardson on Hwy 89. The road is clearly marked, so follow the signs to the trailhead from the road. Get there early, parking is limited, especially on the weekends. This trail is pretty heavily trafficked, so expect to be sharing the trail at times.
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| The Mount Tallac Trailhead marker. You will need a permit, which you can get here. |
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| This trailhead is the blue arrow. We will follow this trail to the summit. |
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| Our trailhead selfie!! <3 |
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Yep, we are headed up there!!
Our first good views of the summit. We've got a long way to go... |
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| Much of the trail looks like this... Very rocky. |
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There it is again, one of my favorite signs.
When you've gotta get gone... Desolation is a great place to go! |
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| Floating Isle Lake. Gorgeous reflection of the summit. |
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| After the lake, you'll come to this marker. Follow it towards Cathedral Lake. |
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| And shortly after, you'll see Cathedral Lake! |
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| More views of the trail above the trees.. |
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| Traversing through the rocky terrain. |
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| More pics of the trail. Yep, still rocky... |
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| And rockier still... |
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And they go on and on... Hard to see here, but there are people on the trail...
Look just below the green patches in the middle of the pic. |
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| Can you see them? |
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| Looking off to the west. Loving the views and wildflowers. |
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| Getting closer... |
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We are are about 500 feet from the summit.
Still lots of pretty wildflowers and a few trees. |
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We stopped about 200 feet from the summit to enjoy lunch. Not a bad view for lunch!
We enjoyed turkey sandwiches with havarti cheese, sun dried tomato pesto and roasted peppers. We also snacked on fresh nectarines and trail mix on the way up.
Now off to the summit!! |
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We made it!! 9,738 feet.
The views of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake are amazing from here!
We are glad we decided to have lunch elsewhere,
there were lots of chipmunks and yellow jackets at the top.
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| Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake as seen from 9,738 feet! Gorgeous! |
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Still enjoying the views on the way down
and taking some time to hug a really big tree! |
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About a mile from the trailhead. Going to miss these views.
The water was spectacularly blue! |
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Strava timing via iphone 6plus.
Depending on which device you use, this will vary. This includes our time
which included many photo ops, lunch and a couple of breaks.
My Garmin Fenix 3 watch measured the trail at 10.26 miles,
which I think is closer to the actual mileage of this trail.
Any way you measure it, it's a long and rocky hike, but getting to the peak is awesome! |
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Our tracks and elevation on Strava |
Now, go get gone!!
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