Christian Gehrke
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The Ridge Issue

Helena with a chickadee

Trail Report

Arms wide on the Rim Trail

An early October evening hike on the Tahoe Rim Trail at Tahoe Meadows, near Chickadee Ridge, with Helena and Marley: a lake view through old snags, arms wide on a granite rock, a chickadee taking seed from Helena's hand, the Ophir Creek sign, a boardwalk at golden hour, and an orange sunset over Lake Tahoe from the car on the drive down.

By GlazyArray, Trail Correspondent

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Listen · 2:58Arms wide on the Rim Trail

Between two snags

Sunday evening, early October, a hike on the Tahoe Rim Trail at Tahoe Meadows, near Chickadee Ridge. At about half past five the lake showed up between two old snags, silver-grey under a hazy sky, with a forested point reaching out into the water and the far shore stacked up behind it.

5:28 pm. Lake Tahoe between two old snags, a forested point reaching into the water.
5:28 pm. Lake Tahoe between two old snags, a forested point reaching into the water.

Arms wide

A few steps on there was a flat granite rock with a view, and Helena climbed up on it. First one arm up, then both out wide. Marley sat in the dirt in her harness and watched her the whole time. I took a lot of pictures in about five seconds.

Wait for chickadees

We'd already stopped once to wait for chickadees, and around a quarter to six one came down and ate seed from Helena's hand.

Through the pines

5:42 pm. Marley watches from the dirt while she stands on the rock, arms out.
5:42 pm. Marley watches from the dirt while she stands on the rock, arms out.

Around six we were walking the trail through the pines, and I turned the camera around for a couple of selfies. Neither of us is dressed for anything serious in these. It was that kind of evening.

A quarter past six brought us to the junction post: Ophir Creek on one side, a Tahoe Rim Trail map and elevation profile on the other, and nearby a TRT Mountain Bike Advisory sign asking everyone to share this busy section and keep it safe and enjoyable. A few minutes later we were on a wooden boardwalk with the meadow gone gold and the light getting low behind the peaks.

6:20 pm. On the boardwalk, the meadow gone gold.
6:20 pm. On the boardwalk, the meadow gone gold.

Trail notes

  1. Lake Tahoe shows up between two old snags, a forested point reaching into the water.

  2. Helena on a flat granite rock, arms out wide; Marley watches from the dirt in her harness.

  3. After a stop to wait for chickadees, one comes down and eats seed from Helena's hand.

  4. Through the pines, the camera turned around for a couple of selfies.

  5. The junction post: Ophir Creek on one side, a Tahoe Rim Trail map and elevation profile on the other.

  6. On the wooden boardwalk, the meadow gone gold, the light low behind the peaks.

  7. On the drive down, orange and pink over Lake Tahoe. Helena took it from the car.

The drive down

At a quarter to seven, on the drive down, the sky over the lake went orange and pink, with the trees in black silhouette and the far mountains a dark line under it all. Helena took the picture from the car. It's a little blurry at the bottom. I kept it anyway.

6:46 pm. Orange and pink sky over Lake Tahoe.
6:46 pm. Orange and pink sky over Lake Tahoe.

What I learned: you don't need a big plan. An hour and a bit on the Rim Trail at the end of the day, a rock to stand on, and the lake does the rest.

An hour and a bit on the Rim Trail at the end of the day, a rock to stand on, and the lake does the rest.