Loch Leven Lakes
Today is my birthday and I was lucky enough to have the day off. I have been working an internship in Roseville and living out of a suitcase at my sister Cindy's house.
Cindy is a teacher and her Summer vacation just started. Rather than do laundry and pay bills on my birthday, which is my normal day off routine, we decided to do something more fun and drive up to Tahoe for a day hike.
I Googled Tahoe hikes and came up with one on our side of the Sierras called Loch Leven Lakes. It seemed like a good candidate because it was a short drive and an easy hike. I was still in good shape from my National Park Tour, but not feeling 100% after fighting off the cold I came down with on my last day out in Utah.
We took the Big Bend exit of I-80 and drove left towards the Visitor Center. Just past the visitor center was a small parking area with an outhouse and the trailhead.
The hike up was easy enough and uneventful except for the train. We spotted it about 10 minutes into the hike, and watched it go by, not realizing that the trail would cross the tracks in about a half mile.
Cindy and I thought that crossing the tracks was cool, if felt like the movie Stand By Me, and we wished we were a few minutes earlier so that we could see the train close up. We crossed our fingers that we would see another one on the way back.
The Lock Leven Lakes were supposed to be good for swimming, and we both packed our swimsuits but did not wear them.
It was a warm day and we arrived at the first lake. It was small but pretty. There were quite a few other hikers and their dogs hanging around so we kept moving.
The middle lake was our favorite. It was dotted with islands that looked like they would be fun to swim to, and had a huge granite rock face on one side that was perfect for laying out into the sun.
Still, there was supposed to be a third lake, and we figured as long as we were up here, we might as well check it out.
The last lake was small and pretty like the first lake, but not as crowded. It also had a few islands and looked nice for swimming. We stopped at this one and ate lunch and relaxed until a couple with two huge obnoxious barking dogs stopped and parked themselves right next to us. (Hello! It's a large enough lake for you two jerks and your stupid mutts to find your own spot! Preferably far away!)
We took the snarling dogs as our cue to leave and went back to the nice middle lake. By this time it was surrounded with other hikers so we didn't dare try to change into our suits. I doubt I will ever hike up there again, but if I do I will definitely wear my swimsuit and bring some kind of floatie toy to help me out to the islands while keeping my lunch dry.
The wind had picked up by this point making swimming less appealing anyway so we took a nap in the sun on the big granite rock face and then started the hike back.
We hung around the train tracks for a while hoping for a train, but no luck. It showed up again as we were almost to the parking lot, but that was too far to run back to get a closer look.
It was a nice hike, a bit boring and crowded for my taste, but I thought it would be a good one to take little kids swimming if you have them so it was worth a post. I was also glad to be outside for my birthday rather than holed up with my laundry, although next year I hope to be able to do something more fun and social.
Cindy is a teacher and her Summer vacation just started. Rather than do laundry and pay bills on my birthday, which is my normal day off routine, we decided to do something more fun and drive up to Tahoe for a day hike.
I Googled Tahoe hikes and came up with one on our side of the Sierras called Loch Leven Lakes. It seemed like a good candidate because it was a short drive and an easy hike. I was still in good shape from my National Park Tour, but not feeling 100% after fighting off the cold I came down with on my last day out in Utah.
We took the Big Bend exit of I-80 and drove left towards the Visitor Center. Just past the visitor center was a small parking area with an outhouse and the trailhead.
The hike up was easy enough and uneventful except for the train. We spotted it about 10 minutes into the hike, and watched it go by, not realizing that the trail would cross the tracks in about a half mile.
Cindy and I thought that crossing the tracks was cool, if felt like the movie Stand By Me, and we wished we were a few minutes earlier so that we could see the train close up. We crossed our fingers that we would see another one on the way back.
The Lock Leven Lakes were supposed to be good for swimming, and we both packed our swimsuits but did not wear them.
It was a warm day and we arrived at the first lake. It was small but pretty. There were quite a few other hikers and their dogs hanging around so we kept moving.
The middle lake was our favorite. It was dotted with islands that looked like they would be fun to swim to, and had a huge granite rock face on one side that was perfect for laying out into the sun.Still, there was supposed to be a third lake, and we figured as long as we were up here, we might as well check it out.
The last lake was small and pretty like the first lake, but not as crowded. It also had a few islands and looked nice for swimming. We stopped at this one and ate lunch and relaxed until a couple with two huge obnoxious barking dogs stopped and parked themselves right next to us. (Hello! It's a large enough lake for you two jerks and your stupid mutts to find your own spot! Preferably far away!)We took the snarling dogs as our cue to leave and went back to the nice middle lake. By this time it was surrounded with other hikers so we didn't dare try to change into our suits. I doubt I will ever hike up there again, but if I do I will definitely wear my swimsuit and bring some kind of floatie toy to help me out to the islands while keeping my lunch dry.
The wind had picked up by this point making swimming less appealing anyway so we took a nap in the sun on the big granite rock face and then started the hike back.
We hung around the train tracks for a while hoping for a train, but no luck. It showed up again as we were almost to the parking lot, but that was too far to run back to get a closer look.
It was a nice hike, a bit boring and crowded for my taste, but I thought it would be a good one to take little kids swimming if you have them so it was worth a post. I was also glad to be outside for my birthday rather than holed up with my laundry, although next year I hope to be able to do something more fun and social.
posted by Tiffany at 8:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home