Route Climbed: Ridgeline from Dicks Pass Date Climbed: August 2003
More fantastic route finding with D across the ridge from Dick’s Pass. Although we did see plenty of people in Desolation Wilderness over the weekend, there was only one other person at the top (and we had Dick’s Pass to ourselves for a lunch break). A wonderful peak to get a true feel for the immensity of Lake Tahoe.
Route Climbed: NE Ridge route with The Central chute option Date Climbed: Jan 18th, 2004
Climbed with rgreen. Final summit ascent was up the east ridge of the summit bowl. Decended down the west ridge of summit bowl to saddle point and down through the NE gully. Time from summit to trail head was 1.5 hours. Outstanding views along the entire approach.
Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge (Direct East variant) Date Climbed: 18 January 2004
Started out on the Northeast Ridge route; made it to the bowl traversal that leads to the north of the summit; we saw we were directly east and there were some chutes leading up. Much suffering ensued, about 4 hours later finally made it out of the chute, and 6:54 total time saw the summit. The chute was high angle snow, which gave way to zero footing as we approached the rocks, technical climbing over the rock section (probably about 30 feet), with uncompacted snow over everything. Above the technical section, we were able to kick-step in the (less) steep snow up to the top of the ridge. Relatively easy walk up the bowl face from the east to the summit after that...
Route Climbed: Trail from Spring Creek, by the Ham's cabin. Date Climbed: August 1995
Trail the whole way. Chipmunks crawling on people's bodies mooching treats on summit. Views are spectacular, as was to be expected. Decended, and went home to South Shore. Ate steaks, drank beer.
Route Climbed: Ridgeline from Dicks Pass Date Climbed: 30 August, 2003
Climbed with LJ, from Dicks Pass. Looking over from the pass, it looked long, but doable, and even fun. It was all of these! All X-country (at least until encountering the trail from Lake Gilmore), it was enjoyable, with some great views! Mostly class 2, with some fun 3rd class, & (the way we went at least- possibly avoidable) even a few moves of 4th class, staying exactly on the ridge. A ranger tried to dissuade us from doing the peak (said she'd prefer Dicks), that one just saw a bunch of subdevelopments. For those in the Lake Tahoe area for the 1st time, though, I'd imagine that it has to be one of the better places to view Lake Tahoe- breathtaking! Glad we didn't encounter any inclement weather- the next day there were storms, & it was apparent that the ridge would be a bad place place to be in that situation (way up high & loooong!). If you do this ridge & want to hook up with the Gilmore Lake trail, it is NOT as marked on the map (converging to the ridge directly)- it instead is a few hundred ft inwards until the final ~200'.
Route Climbed: SE Chute Date Climbed: June 1, 2003
Climbed with Shannon. The route wasn't too steep and I didn't even use crampons, even though they would be helpful at the last 100 - 150 feet of steeper incline. We descended via the "X" (straight down from the summit) which was steep and exciting descend on snow and rock. The last section before joining the main trail involved quite a bit of bushwacking.
Route Climbed: SE Chute Date Climbed: June 1, 2003
Climbed via the SE chute and descended via the "X". The alternate descent made the day much more interesting. It got fairly sloppy on the way in and worse on the way out. Climbed with Kris. There were only 3 others on the summit when we were there that we enjoyed talking with. Not bad for a Sunday.
Route Climbed: SE Gully Date Climbed: 1 February 2003
Thanks to whoever it was who kicked steps at the top of the gully. I didn't have crampons with me and it would have been very difficult otherwise (spring condition snow). Descended via NE ridge.
Route Climbed: Fallen Leaf Lake Date Climbed: February 22, 1999
Started out by myself at 4am under a beautiful moon. It always amazes me how much you can see by moonlight, especially when there is snow on the ground. I was taken back by the magnificant views during this winter climb, and it kept getting better all the way up.
I topped out at 8:30am and soaked in the glorious views of Lake Tahoe and the Sierras in the heart of winter. I headed down before the hoards of backcountry skiers could make it to the summit and returned to climb this peak 3 more times over the next year.
Route Climbed: Tallac Trailhead to Cathedral Lake to summit Date Climbed: August 12, 2002
Perfect day for a trip to top of Tallac--this was a re-do of a trip done with my older brothers 37 years ago, and this time I did it with my youngest brother. Weather was perfect except for haze, and the views are spectacular, better than I remembered from the mid 60's. Age does have benefits, as I really appreciated all of the trip, not just the summit. A little disconcerting that the wildlife along the way seem to view humans as a convenient source of food. Family of ducklings at Floating Island Lake made a beeline for us, obviously expecting food. Good in the sense that humans have treated them well and are not viewed as a threat, but sad that we feed them and make them a little less wild. Same experience with chipmunks at the top, who actually became pesky, climbing onto laps and into backpacks...
Exited down to Gilmore Lake, which is as beautiful as ever. Wildflowers on the way down from the summit were in full bloom, as summer is now hitting the alpine meadows. Views of Desolation Wilderness were awesome, and the call of the backcountry was pretty intense, especially the desolate-appearing Aloha Lake and the many islands...The hike down to Glen Alpine Springs and then to Fallen Leaf was pretty, and the total day-hike was a very good workout. Fortunately, we had a car waiting at Fallen Leaf Lodge after taking in a lemonade on the deck of the Lodge...Another day to remember for the rest of my life.
Route Climbed: Cathedral Lake Trail Date Climbed: August 10, 2002
Beautiful hike on a beautiful Saturday morning. There were only a half dozen cars in the parking lot when I arrived. Left the Mt. Tallac trailhead at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at the summit at 11:40 a.m. The trail was a steady and pleasant climb up to Cathedral Lake, but became rather steep after that. The views of Falling Leaf Lake are impressive. After ascending out of Cathedral Lake, I scrambled over the ridge and bypassed the steadier climb southwest around the ridge and through the meadow, rejoining the main trail below the peak southeast of the summit. The route to the top was fairly empty, with only a few people visible on the ridge above me. A half dozen other hikers were at the summit when I arrived at noon. Unfortunately, the summit was swarming with bees and other insects, which allowed for only a few seconds to enjoy the commanding views. After about 30 minutes at the top, I headed down and returned to the parking lot at 2:00 pm. The trail was much more crowded on the descent, but that's to be expected, I guess. All in all, a pleasant and rewarding hike. The views are definitely worth the effort. If you go in the summer, bring plenty of water, as you will spend a significant amount of time above the timber line.
PellucidWombat - Mar 1, 2004 1:32 am
Route Climbed: North East Ridge Date Climbed: 2/29/04Great snowshoe hike! I really wish that I had brought my skis!
Lara - Jan 27, 2004 7:11 pm
Route Climbed: Ridgeline from Dicks Pass Date Climbed: August 2003More fantastic route finding with D across the ridge from Dick’s Pass. Although we did see plenty of people in Desolation Wilderness over the weekend, there was only one other person at the top (and we had Dick’s Pass to ourselves for a lunch break). A wonderful peak to get a true feel for the immensity of Lake Tahoe.
blmcclain - Jan 21, 2004 6:57 pm
Route Climbed: NE Ridge route with The Central chute option Date Climbed: Jan 18th, 2004Climbed with rgreen. Final summit ascent was up the east ridge of the summit bowl. Decended down the west ridge of summit bowl to saddle point and down through the NE gully. Time from summit to trail head was 1.5 hours. Outstanding views along the entire approach.
rgreene - Jan 19, 2004 11:46 am
Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge (Direct East variant) Date Climbed: 18 January 2004Started out on the Northeast Ridge route; made it to the bowl traversal that leads to the north of the summit; we saw we were directly east and there were some chutes leading up. Much suffering ensued, about 4 hours later finally made it out of the chute, and 6:54 total time saw the summit. The chute was high angle snow, which gave way to zero footing as we approached the rocks, technical climbing over the rock section (probably about 30 feet), with uncompacted snow over everything. Above the technical section, we were able to kick-step in the (less) steep snow up to the top of the ridge. Relatively easy walk up the bowl face from the east to the summit after that...
hyperbolictans - Jan 8, 2004 12:20 am
Route Climbed: Date Climbed: 2003 Oct. 12Started from Stanford Sierra club trail head. Joined Tallac trail near cathedral lake. Camped by Gilmore.
Sierrabonehead - Nov 21, 2003 7:15 pm
Route Climbed: Trail from Spring Creek, by the Ham's cabin. Date Climbed: August 1995Trail the whole way. Chipmunks crawling on people's bodies mooching treats on summit. Views are spectacular, as was to be expected. Decended, and went home to South Shore. Ate steaks, drank beer.
Felsberg - Oct 13, 2003 9:29 pm
Route Climbed: South Slope Date Climbed: October 11, 2003Climbed this route for the third time with Jan. Some great patriot had put an american flag on top, which made for some great summit photos.
fedak - Oct 7, 2003 11:27 am
Route Climbed: Cathedral Lake Trail up, Glen Alpine down Date Climbed: 05-Sep-2003Beautiful clear day, very crowded on the trails and summit.
Pics here, Trip report forthcoming
earthchic - Sep 5, 2003 2:07 pm
Route Climbed: Cathedral Lake Date Climbed: Aug. 10, 2003Beautiful views of Desolation Wilderness.
Diggler - Sep 3, 2003 4:37 pm
Route Climbed: Ridgeline from Dicks Pass Date Climbed: 30 August, 2003Climbed with LJ, from Dicks Pass. Looking over from the pass, it looked long, but doable, and even fun. It was all of these! All X-country (at least until encountering the trail from Lake Gilmore), it was enjoyable, with some great views! Mostly class 2, with some fun 3rd class, & (the way we went at least- possibly avoidable) even a few moves of 4th class, staying exactly on the ridge. A ranger tried to dissuade us from doing the peak (said she'd prefer Dicks), that one just saw a bunch of subdevelopments. For those in the Lake Tahoe area for the 1st time, though, I'd imagine that it has to be one of the better places to view Lake Tahoe- breathtaking! Glad we didn't encounter any inclement weather- the next day there were storms, & it was apparent that the ridge would be a bad place place to be in that situation (way up high & loooong!). If you do this ridge & want to hook up with the Gilmore Lake trail, it is NOT as marked on the map (converging to the ridge directly)- it instead is a few hundred ft inwards until the final ~200'.
Zzyzx - Aug 16, 2003 9:01 pm
Route Climbed: SE Chute Date Climbed: June 1, 2003Climbed with Shannon. The route wasn't too steep and I didn't even use crampons, even though they would be helpful at the last 100 - 150 feet of steeper incline. We descended via the "X" (straight down from the summit) which was steep and exciting descend on snow and rock. The last section before joining the main trail involved quite a bit of bushwacking.
rgmackie - Aug 9, 2003 7:09 pm
Route Climbed: Cathedral Lake Date Climbed: 15 July 2001Nice day hike to bring kids or significant other. Carried a 3 year old in a 'kid-carrier' backpack. Great views of Lake Tahoe.
tahoeclimber - Jun 1, 2003 7:02 pm
Route Climbed: SE Chute Date Climbed: June 1, 2003Climbed via the SE chute and descended via the "X". The alternate descent made the day much more interesting. It got fairly sloppy on the way in and worse on the way out. Climbed with Kris. There were only 3 others on the summit when we were there that we enjoyed talking with. Not bad for a Sunday.
mpbro - May 26, 2003 1:08 am
Route Climbed: Cathedral Lake via Stanford Sierra Camp Date Climbed: 16 May 2003Climbed with Jesse Lomask. Got a late start (0800) but made it back for lunch (1230), aided by a glissade down the Cathedral bowl.
Sloppy conditions in spots on the way up, but far worse on the way down. Clear, windless, and warm day on the summit.
pieris - Feb 3, 2003 3:43 pm
Route Climbed: SE Gully Date Climbed: 1 February 2003Thanks to whoever it was who kicked steps at the top of the gully. I didn't have crampons with me and it would have been very difficult otherwise (spring condition snow). Descended via NE ridge.
thenunz - Oct 29, 2002 12:43 pm
Route Climbed: Fallen Leaf and trail up form Gilmore Date Climbed: Too many to rememberA great day hike to get above Tahoe. Great views of Desolation Wilderness and the lake.
bearbnz - Sep 28, 2002 5:45 pm
Route Climbed: Tourist route along Fallen Leaf Lake Date Climbed: Summer 1997Hiked with Craig Nielsen to the top, great views of Tahoe, plenty of tourists.
bps - Aug 19, 2002 5:16 pm
Route Climbed: Fallen Leaf Lake Date Climbed: February 22, 1999Started out by myself at 4am under a beautiful moon. It always amazes me how much you can see by moonlight, especially when there is snow on the ground. I was taken back by the magnificant views during this winter climb, and it kept getting better all the way up.
I topped out at 8:30am and soaked in the glorious views of Lake Tahoe and the Sierras in the heart of winter. I headed down before the hoards of backcountry skiers could make it to the summit and returned to climb this peak 3 more times over the next year.
tom52 - Aug 14, 2002 12:13 pm
Route Climbed: Tallac Trailhead to Cathedral Lake to summit Date Climbed: August 12, 2002Perfect day for a trip to top of Tallac--this was a re-do of a trip done with my older brothers 37 years ago, and this time I did it with my youngest brother. Weather was perfect except for haze, and the views are spectacular, better than I remembered from the mid 60's. Age does have benefits, as I really appreciated all of the trip, not just the summit. A little disconcerting that the wildlife along the way seem to view humans as a convenient source of food. Family of ducklings at Floating Island Lake made a beeline for us, obviously expecting food. Good in the sense that humans have treated them well and are not viewed as a threat, but sad that we feed them and make them a little less wild. Same experience with chipmunks at the top, who actually became pesky, climbing onto laps and into backpacks...
Exited down to Gilmore Lake, which is as beautiful as ever. Wildflowers on the way down from the summit were in full bloom, as summer is now hitting the alpine meadows. Views of Desolation Wilderness were awesome, and the call of the backcountry was pretty intense, especially the desolate-appearing Aloha Lake and the many islands...The hike down to Glen Alpine Springs and then to Fallen Leaf was pretty, and the total day-hike was a very good workout. Fortunately, we had a car waiting at Fallen Leaf Lodge after taking in a lemonade on the deck of the Lodge...Another day to remember for the rest of my life.
Tom and Steve Lavelle
cbuelow - Aug 12, 2002 2:05 pm
Route Climbed: Cathedral Lake Trail Date Climbed: August 10, 2002Beautiful hike on a beautiful Saturday morning. There were only a half dozen cars in the parking lot when I arrived. Left the Mt. Tallac trailhead at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at the summit at 11:40 a.m. The trail was a steady and pleasant climb up to Cathedral Lake, but became rather steep after that. The views of Falling Leaf Lake are impressive. After ascending out of Cathedral Lake, I scrambled over the ridge and bypassed the steadier climb southwest around the ridge and through the meadow, rejoining the main trail below the peak southeast of the summit. The route to the top was fairly empty, with only a few people visible on the ridge above me. A half dozen other hikers were at the summit when I arrived at noon. Unfortunately, the summit was swarming with bees and other insects, which allowed for only a few seconds to enjoy the commanding views. After about 30 minutes at the top, I headed down and returned to the parking lot at 2:00 pm. The trail was much more crowded on the descent, but that's to be expected, I guess. All in all, a pleasant and rewarding hike. The views are definitely worth the effort. If you go in the summer, bring plenty of water, as you will spend a significant amount of time above the timber line.