TVC - Day 41 - Tallac, Tallac, Tallac

There are, and there is no doubt, many great views to be had in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin, but the most amazing one requires some physical effort.......no....not some....a lot of physical effort.  Ever since our friend Debby (Bill and Debby's Wild Ride) described a hike she and Bill did a few years ago to the top of Mt. Tallac I have wanted to take the hike.....fortunately for us Richard and Rhonda (visiting Newell Gurus friends) are in town and wanted to add that hike to their ever burgeoning resume, so we decided upon fifth Saturday to summit Mt. Tallac.  At TVC we sit at just over 6,200'.....the summit elevation of Mt. Tallac is 9,735'....give, or take a few inches.

We agreed to head for the trailhead at 7 am sharp, and true to their word, Richard and Rhonda were in front of the Newell at precisely 7 am.....we parked at the Mt. Tallac trailhead at 7:10 am, and began hiking at 7:20.

Making some wardrobe adjustments

The first part of the 5.5 mile trail to the summit is a gradual climb.....so gradual you begin to realize that most of the elevation gain will be bunched together in a very short distance.  Nevertheless, we hike along talking and enjoying the scenery......eventually we made it up to the ridge that overlooks Fallenleaf Lake..... 

There are a number of unnamed lakes along the way.....okay, they may have names, but there are unknown to us.....

TLE and Rhonda

......just past this small pond the real climbing began............oy vey.......... 

Just before the trail went vertical!

As we began the serious climbing for the day we were just 2 miles along the trail, and probably at about 7,000' elevation.....

 TLE grinding along the 11-12% grade

We summited just before 11 am having covered the 5.5 miles, and 3,600+ feet in elevation gain in 3.5 hours........

Essentially the summit is a couple of acres of broken rock, but the reward is the view is spectacular!  You can see Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay, Cascade Lake (next to Emerald Bay), and Fallenleaf Lake.....all at the same time.

Tired, but feeling a strong sense of accomplishment......we spent about 30 minutes at the summit talking, and eating some snacks before beginning our descent......

 

 Richard and Rhonda at the top!

We arrived back at the trailhead after 7.5 hours of hiking......11.28 miles, and 3,621 feet of elevation gain........very tired, but with smiles on our collective faces.  The trail to the summit of Mt. Tallac is rated as 'strenuous' and we would all agree to that designation.

A great day was had by all......thanks for stopping by!