A volcanic ridge and peak north of Donner Pass: Castle Peak

Castle Peak of the northern Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of just above 9100 feet (2770 meters) [1,2], is visible from several scenic hiking and mountain biking trails around Truckee, such as the Mt. Judah Loop Trail (from where Castle Peak is viewed in the picture below) or Sawtooth Trail vista points along the Truckee River canyon. The most characteristic features of the Castle Peak ridge include its south-facing range of cliffs and the ramparts and turrets on its top [3,4]. Turret (from Latin turris) literally means a little tower projecting skyward from a wall. Yet, this “castle complex” is not a medieval fortification or surveillance architecture, but a leftover from ancient volcanic activity that shaped the Sierra Nevada and Carson ranges with Lake Tahoe in between—about 5 to 25 million years ago [5].


The top picture shows the dominant easternmost castle—the highest peak. Originally, Castle Peak was named in 1896 in recognition of Stanford University: Professor Bolton C. Brown named it Mount Stanford. But the Sierra's Placer County had already a mountain with this name and it eventually was changed to Castle Peak [6].

On clear days a 360-degree view can be enjoyed, including volcanic Lassen Peak in the north, the coastal ranges in the west, the Carson Range in the east and the granite-based Desolation Wilderness in the south.  

Getting to the Castle Peak summit
Since the Castle Peak Trail is part of a growing trail network of the Tahoe National Forest in California's Nevada County north of Truckee and Donner Lake, summiteers have many options to plan a hike that includes the ridge and summit of Castle Peak. One of the shorter versions is a hike beginning at the short dead-end road just north of the Castle Peak/Boreal Ridge Road Interstate-80 exit west of the Donner Summit rest stop. From there, a dirt-road trail through Castle Valley's pine and fir forest and along green meadows leads to the junction with a popular biking trail named Hole in the Ground Trail, which connects the Castle Peak foreground with the Lola Montez Lakes. Continue on the gravel path, with views of the “castle” to your right, until you get to the marked junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Climb up the short PCT section to Castle Pass. There, leave the PCT by turning right onto Castle Peak Trail. Follow this scenic trail ascending to the top ridge and castle turrets. Parts of this trail are steep with loose gravel. 

In case you don't want to take the same trail back, you may want to continue east to the Frog Lake Overlook and then descend southward towards Donner Summit and the PCT junction.  

References and more to explore
[1] Peakbagger: Castle Peak, California [www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=2551].
[2] Don's Notes: Tahoe-Donner/Sod Springs Area Map with Castle Peak, Andesite Peak and Lola Montez Lakes [donsnotes.com/tahoe/i80-sp.html].
[3] Sierra Nevada Geotourism MapGuide: Castle Peak Area Trails [www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content/castle-peak-area-trails/sie877D22DB40BAD902B].
[4] Summit post: Castle Peak [www.summitpost.org/castle-peak/152352].
[5] Don's Notes: Geology of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada [donsnotes.com/tahoe/geology.html].
[6] Barbara Lekish: Tahoe Place Names. Great West Books, 1988; Stanford.

Round Lake between Big Meadow and Meiss Meadow

El Dorado County's Round Lake in California is a scenic lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lake is located roughly half-way between the Big Meadow Trailhead at Highway 89 and the Meiss Meadow Trailhead at Highway 88's Carson Pass. A popular day hike option is to combine a visit of both Dardanelles Lake and Round Lake. These lakes offer excellent sites for picnicking, fishing and swimming.

Round Lake's north shore is 0.6 mile south from the junction where the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) intersects the Meiss Meadow Trail. This short trail section leads through dense forest with interspersed conglomerate formations resulting from prehistoric volcanic mudflow. Even more impressive is the Dardanelles structure coming in view to the southeast. This steep cliff of volcanic rock is best seen from the west shore of Round Lake (top picture). Regarding extent and color, this skyward-reaching formation sets a striking contrasts to the smoother looking and smaller granite cliffs and slopes surrounding Dardanelles Lake.

South of Round Lake the TRT ascends through forest as well as open areas, from where a view to the north offers a different scenery of Round Lake with Mount Tallac in the background (right picture above). The TRT continues to Meiss Meadow passing through open forest, groves of quaking aspens and—during spring—wet and lush meadows carpeted with corn lily shoots and wildflowers. After about three miles south of Round Lake the TRT intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), in reach of the Upper Truckee River. 

Purple Nama (Nama aretioides)

Purple nama (Nama aretioides) is a small annual flowering plant growing on dry and sandy ground at low elevation in the Great Basin and other parts of the western United States. For example, in the Reno-Sparks area in northwest Nevada, the lower, south-facing slopes of Mount Peavine and the Hidden Valley Regional Park hillsides are good places to find patches of purple nama—usually flowering in May.

The delicately veined, tubular flowers are radially symmetrical with five petals. The corolla is pink-purple at the outside and has a white-yellow central tube. The oblanceolate-shaped leaves are crowded with silver-gray hairs.

Purple nama is also known as ground nama. Depending on the source, this plant species is placed into the waterleaf family (Hydrophyllaceae) or as a member of the subfamily Hydrophylloideae into the forget-me-not family (Boraginaceae).

Keywords: flora, botany, angiosperms, eudicots, asterids, dry habitat, purple nama mats.

References and more to explore
[1] Ground Name, Purple Nama - Nama aretioides [science.halleyhosting.com/nature/basin/5petal/water/nama/aretioides.htm].
[2] Calflora, Taxon Report 5745: Nama aretioides (Hook. & Arn.) Brand [www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Nama+aretioides].

Tahoe-Yosemite Trail (TYT): Crag Lake and Crag Peak

Along the northernmost section of the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail (TYT) in the North Desolation Wilderness a string of scenic lakes, locally known as the Tallant Lakes, are accessible via a moderate-to-difficult hike up the TYT trail from Meeks Bay, Lake Tahoe, California [1-3]. The first alpine lake, you are arriving at by climbing up for about 4.6 miles from the Meeks Bay trailhead, is Lake Genevieve. Then, after a short walk, Crag Lake and Crag Peak with its granite walls and slopes are coming into view, about five miles away from the Meeks Bay trailhead.

On a sunny and warm May day, Crag Lake can still make a winter-landscape impression. But during summer months, the shallow lake is good for fishing and swimming. Then, like other Sierra lakes— for example, Nevada's Rock Lake south of Slide Mountain—Crag Lake displays yellow water lilies with their floating leaves [3].     

Getting to the Meeks Bay trailhead next to Highway 89 at Lake Tahoe
See the Getting there description in my previous post TYT: From Meeks Bay to Lake Genevieve.

References and more to explore
[1] Mike White: Afoot & Afield, Reno-Tahoe. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California, 2nd printing November 2008.
[2] TahoeLoco: Hike of the week: Meeks Bay to Crag Lake [www.tahoeloco.com/archives/3069]. 
[3] The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail: The South Shore of Crag Lake [tahoetowhitney.com/picturetrail/Tahoe_to_Alpine/Meeks_to_Echo_Summit/Crag_Lake_2.html]

Tahoe-Yosemite Trail: From Meeks Bay to Lake Genevieve

The Tahoe-Yosemite Trail (TYT) is a 185-mile-long path that starts at Lake Tahoe's Meeks Bay and ends at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite—all in California. The trail is named after the title of a hiking guidebook written by Thomas Winnett [1]. The trail has difficult parts, with sections not so easy to find and follow. Locally it takes you to over 10,000 feet. Not so its northern most stretch between Meeks Bay and Lake Genevieve (right picture). This beautiful section mostly follows Meeks Creek, rushing water you always hear (at least, during spring months), but may not always see. The valley of Meeks Creek is a landscape of bogs and alpine meadows surrounded by pine and cedar forest and granite walls. Snow plants, as shown above, can be found here in spring. Around this time, corn lily shoots with their characteristically veined, bright green leaves are emerging at several places.

At one point, you'll cross Meeks Creek on a narrow, two-beam bridge without any handrails. A steady climb will get you to a three-way junction marked by a post, 4.6 miles from the Meeks Bay trailhead. Lake Genevieve is already in view and you have several options to venture forward; in Mike White's words [2]:

The old Lake Genevieve Trail to the right [of the post at the TYT] is a seldom-used lateral that connects to the General Creek and Pacific Crest trails. Just beyond the junction is Lake Genevieve, a greenish, shallow lake rimmed by pines. A number of fair campsites are spread around the far shoreline, but more appealing sites with better scenery are just a short distance up the trail, at Crag Lake.

Notice that a permit is required to stay overnight. Sign-in forms are available at the Meeks Bay trailhead.

Getting there
The Meeks Bay trailhead is located next to Highway 89 (eleven miles south of Tahoe City), south of Sugar Pine Point State Park and north of D. L. Bliss State Park. There are a few scattered parking lots along the west side of the road. At the trail gate you'll find an information board with a map; a section of which is shown below. However, during my last visit this May, I couldn't find any hints that this is the beginning of the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail. Obviously, the TYT is not an officially endorsed or maintained trail. But the section between Meeks Bay and the first string of alpine lakes in the Desolation Wilderness is well maintained and easy to follow trail. This scenic trail starts out as an old dirt road and contues as a single-track trail—an outstanding hiking trail comparable with or even superior to other trail gems around Lake Tahoe. 

Nearby trails and attractions south of Meeks Bay

• Balancing Rock Nature Trail
• Rubicon Point's Lighthouse
• Lake Tahoe's Rubicon Trail
• Lower Eagle Falls, Emerald Bay
• Vikingsholm Castle, Emerald Bay
• Floating Island Lake
• Fallen Leaf Lake
• Cathedral Lake
• Mt. Tallac and Crystal Range View

References and more to explore
[1] Tahoe Yosemite Trail [outhiking.com/ty%20index.html].
[2] Mike White: Afoot & Afield, Reno-Tahoe. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California, 2nd printing November 2008.

Lower Eagle Falls near Vikingsholm Mansion, Emerald Bay State Park, California

Spring is a great time to visit Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay and the historic Vikingsholm Castle site. While you are waiting for your tour of the castle (available seven days a week from Memorial Day weekend until the end of September), you may want to hang out at the beach or climb up the short forest trail to the Lower Eagle Falls. The snowmelt water from the Desolation Wilderness is cascading down the falls into Emerald Bay. On a hot day you will enjoy the refreshing spray. Halfway up to the falls viewing deck, a bridge (see picture to the right) is crossing the running water, leaving Lower Eagle Falls Trail and continuing as a trail along the south side of Emerald Bay. If you are ready to do a longer hike along the bay and above Lake Tahoe's deep blue water, Rubicon Trail should be your choice. This trail leads north into neighboring D. L. Bliss State Park with its little Lighthouse and the Balancing Rock Nature Trail. 

Getting there
Find parking near the granite precipice overlooking Emerald Bay, east of the Emerald Bay Road section of Highway 89. Next to the granite overlook, a broad, but steep one-mile-long trail descends down into the bay, offering scenic views of the surrounding mountains, Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine forest and Fannette Island. After a few switchbacks you will arrive at the shady bottom of the “Emerald Bay Canyon,” where the Vikingsholm Mansion is located. The nearby visitor center is the starting point of the single-track Lower Eagle Falls Trail.  

Incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) of David's Grove in Reno

The incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) is a coniferous tree of the western United States and northwest Mexico [1,2]. The shown branches and bark belong to a tall tree in David's Grove of the Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Reno, Washoe County, Nevada. Other names for this tree species of the cypress family (Cupressaceae) are white, bastard, and California post cedar, for which Donald Culross Peattie gives the following range description [1]:

Both east and west slopes of the Cascade Range in Oregon, from the foothills to 6600 feet, and south through the Sierra Nevada, and Coast Ranges of California (3000 to 9700 feet) to the Sierra San Pedro Mártir in Baja California. Also in Washoe County, Nevada.

The evergreen trees show a bright green foliage of scale-leaves. The tiny yellowish brown pollen cones at the branch tips can be seen in the picture. The bark at the lower trunk is grayish pink to cinnamon red. Exfoliation of the bark as brittle plates and long strips becomes common for older trees. If you happen to find a cedar with charcoal-colored bark on the trunk—like being scorched, the darkened bark may be caused by growth of sooty mold (Arthrobotryum spongiosum), a non-pathogenic fungus [3].  

Keywords: botany, trees, evergreens, cypress family (Cupressaceae).

References and more to explore
[1] Donald Culross Peattie: A Natural History of North American Trees. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 2007 (originally published in 1950 and 1953).
[2] USDA Plants Profile: Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin [plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CADE27].
[3] MyMotherload:  Incense Cedar Scales [www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/2069306/Incense-Cedar-Scales-.html].