I did not sleep well in the hostel. The night seemed to go on forever. I had the whole place to myself. I kept waiting for the sound of someone arriving. Laughing voices, a television on too loud, chairs scraping on the floor. Nothing.
I don’t have to leave for the trail so early, I tell myself. But I am antsy trying not to be so. At 6:20 I roll down the road toward the trailhead.
The Plan
This was one of my favorite sections in 2022. The trail between Mt Judah and just past Tinker Knob is breathtaking. With high temps in the 60s forecast today, it should be fun to traverse this trail.
Early Trail
This area is saturated with ski resorts and slopes.
Once I get past all that I see my first objective: Anderson Peak (8683 ft). I’m am going to walk along that ridge in the middle distance toward the left side of the peak, and then swing up onto the right shoulder.
I head up onto the ridge.
From up here you can see the far horizon the mountains that I pointed out two days ago with the screenshot from PeakFinder. Needless to say Peak is the easiest to identify. It sits in the middle of the fat group. Granite Chief is on the far left of the group. The big mountain in the middle distance on the left is Anderson Peak.
As I go up Anderson Peak, I can’t help but think of quotes from the Matrix. “We meet again, Mr Anderson.” I’m Agent Smith. But the Anderson in front of me is not amused.
I’m glad I am wearing sun gloves. The temps are cool, but the sun is very bright. My face and lips are red and chapped. As I swing up onto the shoulder of Anderson Peak, it’s boulder fields. I have not seen too many of these yet, but there are many more ahead. I don’t enjoy them. You have to carefully place each footstep to avoid rolling an ankle.
With Mr. Anderson behind me, I turn toward Tinker Knob (8949 ft). It’s higher than Anderson and adorned less as well. It’s like a giant circus tent. From here I can see a single hiker moving slowly toward the peak. I have to stare at him/her for 15 seconds to be sure they are moving.
I should have mentioned this earlier, but there are a lot of people up here with me – all locals enjoying the various loop trails. If they have a pack, it is tiny. And their clothes are super clean. Also, I learn that Mule Ears have flowers!
I finally make it up there. I believe this my highest elevation yet this hike.
A New Tahoe
On the far side of the knob I get my first glimpse of Lake Tahoe.
Here’s another view from farther down.
That’s all the ridge walking for today. It’s time to go up the Granite Chief. Gotta get off Tinker Knob first. The walk down to the foot of the mountain is pretty.
Granite Chief
Granite Chief is no joke. It’s not pretty and boy is it a rugged mass of rocks and broken trees! I am pointing to the place on its left shoulder where I will go over.
It’s a 1200 ft climb from here and I am pretty dusted up from the first two peaks. Let’s do lunch first. I eat my biggest lunch yet! A chicken salad wrap, an entire nectarine from Truckee, 10 chips and six sour gummy worms. I am pretty proud of myself, but then I see the clouds bunching up and I remember that it could rain this afternoon. I pack up quickly and head up.
It doesn’t last long. My stomach starts cramping. I need to let my food settle. I take off my pack and lay down on a slanted rock beside the trail. And I fall asleep! Just like that day above Sierra Buttes. I’m like those little dolls you lay down and their eyes close! Anyway, I do feel better after that.
I focus on hiking for the rest of the day. At these altitudes I am still a wimp, and honestly, the rest of the views in the afternoon are not as good as the morning.
I quit hiking after only 15 hours today. It’s 60 miles to Echo Lake (South Lake Tahoe) and until I get stronger, four 15 miles days sounds better than 3 twenty mile days.
August 17, 2025
For dinner I had cold ramen, a Slim Jim, 4 Oreos and milk. It was all yummy