NOTE: Photos are from my Nikon D70 - click on any of them for a few screen view.
Fast facts:
Total trip time: 11 hours
Total hiking time: 7 hours
Total hiking distance: 10 miles
Vertical Feet Gain: 2000
We left at 8:20 in the morning and made it to the Vikingsholm parking area and started our hike at 10:20. Vikingsholm is an interesting place. An small island in Emerald Bay, it is quite unique. We had to park there because parking in and around the Eagle Lake Trailhead was crazy with nothing available.
Here's a picture of the island with the castle. This is the only island in Lake Tahoe.
So the hike begins and it is very crowded as expected for the first mile or so to Eagle Lake. There was a forest ranger at the lake who kind of harrassed me about the beagles and about having a permit. I was clean and the beagles were legal so we continued our journey after a brief stay at Eagle Lake. The next mile or so up to the Bayview Trail junction is meaty - the hike begins at 6600 feet and climbs to 8220 during this initial 2 mile portion.
I was still debating my route with basically three options: follow Bayview and essentially head back, the Velma lakes or Dicks Lake. It was too early to turn back so we continued on and I decided to head towards Dicks Lake. The beagles were doing well. Here's a snap of them along the journey.
Having never been to Dicks lake before I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was a bit surprised to see a far number of snow fields which was kind of exciting. I made it a stretch goal to visit one of these snow fields, knowing that they often appear closer and easier to reach than truly meets the eye. Here's my first view of snow fields.
We started to get hungry so we stopped for lunch around 1pm. It was an exciting meal purchased the prior afternoon at Trader Joes. Jerky, Clif Bar, cookies and dog biscuits.
As we began the descent towards Dicks Lake I saw it! A snow field that seemed to be reasonably close. I decided to screw the lake and head off the trail for the snow. I piled some rocks up to mark the trail and took off. Here's the snow field after about 15 minutes of "off trail" hiking.
I'd been deceived on the distance and how hard it would be. The beagles and I were literally jumping from boulder to boulder and this is one of the first times I've seen Kodak actually scared. I considered turning back on several occasions but decided to plow on.
Made it! It was neat to see how fast the snow was melting. The temperature was in the 70's. I threw some snow on the beagles and quicly turned around for the journey back. I had no idea where the trail was (my rockpile idea was a complete failure) and it took me us about 30 minutes of random hiking to finally stumble upon a creek which we follow back to the trail. It's kind of a scary feeling to be roaming around in the wilderness. I had a map and compass however and new generally where I was. Four hours into the hike I found the trail and we headed back. Here's one of my favorite snaps from the area:
The beagles were beginning to show some signs of wear so we stopped twice for decent breaks. The hike back down the Bayview trail features the best view of Tahoe. Ranger seemed to be infatuated with the awesome view of Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe as well.
All in all, this is it was a fun and relaxing hike. The last time we had done this was a vacation day post 9-11. Certainly more peaceful thoughts this time.
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