Traffic was a pain Friday afternoon. Took me an hour to get past
Berkeley, then another hour to get through Sacramento rush hour. After
that it was a breeze, though, and it only took around 4 hours to get
there. 50 was smooth sailing. I usually just park at the trail head and
sleep in the back of my truck for the night (I’ve got a plush futon
mattress back there… comfy), but I was dead tired and it was late, so
I pulled into a place called the Vagabond Inn. Cheap, cheap hotel, but
it had a bed.

I woke the next morning and headed to Spring Creek Road on the west
side of the lake. this is the trail head to use, not the officially
designated summer trail. It was already pretty warm at 8:30, and it just
got warmer all day. It was sunny and at least 60 degrees by noon.

I went up the east side route. Based on the number of people I ran
into, I’d say the south ramp route is the more popular. There were a
good 10-12 cars at the trail head, and I only saw three groups on my
way up/down. The route I took heads more or less straight up the east
ridge and tops out at a saddle on the East side of the summit. Then you
swing around the back of the summit and finish it off from the west.

It was a great day. I skied down with a local from Truckee. Up high
the conditions were fabulous – nice firm corn snow. So the first 1500
feet of skiing down the northeast bowl was awesome. Then it turned into
shin-deep, heavy stuff. Still fun, though.

The view from the top of Tallac is incredible. Th shot above looks west.
If you look south and east you see Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake, and
the entire town of South Lake Tahoe spread out before you. It’s
gorgeous.