Friday 6th October - day 17.
Sacramento to Lake Tahoe.
A 6.30 start - on our way to Sacramento Airport to meet Chris st 8am. There was still no sign of life at the camp registration building and the barrier into the campground was firmly locked. We had no idea how much, where of how to pay so we just drove away. It was a beautiful camp site in a lovely peaceful country setting. It’s new-looking ‘nature centre’ was modern and glass fronted, looking like a modern library / coffee shop. As we drove east we watched the sky turn pink over the mountains of the Napa valleys behind us, the full moon still hanging in the sky above. Just before 7am, the sun popped up over the horizon in front of us. The route to the airport lead into gradually more populated areas and more major roads. The airport pick went smoothly - we showered and made coffee whilst parked in the ‘free waiting cellphone area’.
Chris appeared at the arrivals door right on cue - it was great to see him.
Next job was Starbucks for coffee and Wi-fi to help work out what to do during our next few days together. After much studying of maps and websites we had a route and a plan. Lake Tahoe today, Yosemite National Park tomorrow and then over to the West Coast and heading south.
The drive on Highway 80 to Lake Tahoe took just over two hours and was a steady climb up into the mountains.
Once again we were lucky with perfect weather. The views out over Lake Tahoe were spectacular. We stopped briefly at the packed Visitor Centre, and then drove into the forest for lunch and to the trailhead for the trail to Mount Tallac. This was a 16.4km fantastically scenic trail up through the sunny, pinewoods, past Fallen Leaf Lake and Cathedral Lake before a steep scramble to a ridge that gave stunning views to west and south over Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains. We sat in the sun and soaked it all up. Meanwhile Chris ran on to the summit at 9735 feet, and rejoined us in our downward journey.
It was a spectacular walk back down, with the evening sun casting pink and gold lights over the lakes and the water gaining a smooth dark surface. We took photographs and made our way back to the van for tea.
Next stop was tonights campsite and we set off south on Highway 395. The scenery was spectacular - illuminated by the full moon and we decided to stop earlier than planned so that we could enjoy our surroundings by daylight tomorrow morning. We found just the place at the aptly named ‘Chris’s Flat’ campground, cooked supper and settled down to sleep.