News
August 19: Detailed information regarding the excursions on Wednesday afternoon is being added as “Material” within the Excursions block of the timetable. Please review what is available there.
Those of you signed up for the hiking excursion 4) will be on your own. The buses will deposit you at the Eagle Falls Trailhead (buses can’t deposit at the Emerald Bay parking lot). From there you will need to walk about .8 miles up to the main Emerald bay parking lot (which is north of Eagle Falls Trailhead). You can already get spectacular views of Emerald Bay along the road. But, most of you will probably at least hike down to the beach at Vikingsholme (trail begins at north end of the parking lot — about 1 mile one-way from parking lot to Vikingsholme). Swimming there is excellent (water is pretty warm for a mountain lake) and the beach is nice and sandy. Some of you will wish to hike the Rubicon trail which takes off to the left from Vikingsholme and winds around the north side of Emerald Bay and then along the main Lake Tahoe west shore in the northerly direction. Swimming spots can be found all along the Rubicon trail. It is also possible to rent paddle boards or kayaks for use on Emerald Bay just to the north of Vikingsholme, but there are not very many available. Return buses for these hikes will be at 3 pm and 4 pm. The return buses will load just outside the Emeral Bay parking lot (not the Eagle Falls trailhead). You must choose on the list to be posted which bus you want to return on and changes are very likely to be impossible.
For those signed up for 5), the hike up to Eagle Lake, the buses will deposit you at the trailhead, which is on the west side of the road (heading up into the mountains and not towards the bay). You will need to organize yourselves into groups of 10 (no more than 12) and assign a leader to fill out the required wilderness permit, and each group will need to kind of stay together in case a wildnerness ranger decides to check on you (and this does happen!). I am not going to try to preassign leaders for this hike. If you are going any further than Eagle Lake but not doing the full 6) or 7), you will need your own wilderness permit and you will be on your own. Return buses for this hike will be at 3 pm (for fast hikers) and 4 pm at the Emerald Bay parking lot (see description for 4) — a .8 mile walk up to the parking lot is necessary). You must choose on the list to be posted which bus you want to return on and changes are very likely to be impossible.
For those signed up for the hikes 6) and 7), you will have assigned hike leaders. Maximum group size is 12 and each group must be with a leader who has filled out a wilderness permit. You must stay within sight of other members of your group. As the hike progresses, groups doing 6) should assemble at the Eagle Falls / Bayview junction before descending to the Bayview trailhead. Groups doing 7) should reassemble: a) at the Eagle Falls / Bayview junction, b) at the point where the Dicks Lake and Velma Lakes trails make a Y (for Dick’s lake take the left fork), c) at Dick’s Lake, d) at the Y on the return and e) at the Eagle Falls/ Bayview junction on the return. (Please look at the attached map to understand these assembly points.) There is a very nice smaller lake on the way down from the Bayview junction to the Bayview trailhead, called Granite lake. Excellent for swimming if you have time. It is visible to the right of the trail as you descend. And, while descending from the junction don’t miss the half dozen or so spectacular viewpoints of Lake Tahoe that are just off the trail. Also, please note that Eagle Lake, Dick’s Lake and Granite Lake are all not particularly cold (as mountain lakes go) this time of year and you might wish to be prepared to swim. There are no restrooms for changing, so plan accordingly (wear a swim suit underneath, find a bush or tree to hide behind — not at all easy with so many people, skinny dip, ….).
A map is available on the timetable that shows all these junctions and trails. It will be a good idea to print it and study it a bit before going on the excursion, especially if you are doing 6) or 7).
As regards return buses for 6) and 7), they are at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 from the Bayview trailhead. Since there are so many people signed up for 7), they cannot all fit on the 7:30 bus. So, there will be a fast group led by Sabine Kraml that will really hustle and return to Bayview in time for the 6:30 bus. We must have at least 10 people able to commit to this fast group for everything to work.
Of course, I will be around for questions the first few days of the meeting, but you must make sure you know what you are doing before Wednesday.
Note that for all hikes, box lunches will be available and should be picked up at the Wednesday morning coffee hour. Buses will depart promptly at 11:30. You will want to be prepared for the departure by having your hiking clothes on, including appropriate footwear, and you will need to deposit your computer, … (i.e. whatever you don’t want to hike with) in your room in the 15 minutes available between the session ending at 11:15 and 11:30. Stuff should not be left on the buses. Regarding footwear, 6) and 7) involve hiking steep and often rocky trails. You absolutely need something that has good traction. Serious hiking boots are strongly recommended. Normal tennis shoes will not work. High quality running shoes with agressive treads are a possibility, but will increase your risk of twisting your ankle, …
I must say I never anticipated that 50 people would want to do 7) and nearly 150 people would want to do 6), but I hope this will all work. Please do your part and don’t attempt something that is beyond your ability level. Note that the elevation gain from Eagle Lakes trailhead to the Bayview junction is about 1600 feet. (It is just up and down from the Bayview junction to Dick’s lake.) And, it is likely that the day will be hot. Indeed, no matter what hike you do, carry plenty of water — water in the lakes is not safe — I have asked that the box lunches include 2 bottles of water, but I can easily imagine that for some this will not be sufficient. More water bottles can be purchased at a kiosk near the registration desk.
Finally, some of you are still showing as signed up for the river rafting excursion 2) that was cancelled. At this point, you cannot choose the hiking excursions. You must choose 1), 3) or the recently added excursions 8) and 9).
