Trail Series: Bitterbrush Trail/Marilyn's Pond

Today's hike took us to a place we didn't expect.  We wanted to hike to Church's Pond, but instead too an accidental wrong turn and ended up at Marilyn's Pond.  It was a beautiful pond, a short hike through the lower part of the Galena Recreational Park.  Even though the hike was short, the incline was rough on my out of shape body.  (Isn't this one reason I started hiking this year anyway?)

Raven and I thought we might double back and hike to Church's Pond, but decided to tackle that on another day.  There are several trails in this park, and we are thinking about tackling each of them.  There are several places to park for the various trail heads, so the possibilities are many. 

I tried to catch as many pictures of the fish in the pond as I could, but even if they didn't come out, the pictures of the pond itself are great.

I recommend the Bitterbrush hike for beginning to intermediate hiking abilities and dogs must be kept on a leash.  We even saw a few people wading in part of the stream.  It was a great day for that!

Pictures are below. For the definitive collection of pictures, please click here!

The trail map that still got us lost.

Galena Creek

Marilyn's Pond (See the fish?)

Raven enjoying the view.

We decided to do the Nature Trail another time.

I hope you are enjoying the Trail Series.  Please feel free to comment or send a message.  I love getting those.

Trail Series - Tahoe Meadows Interpretive Loop Trail

Today I decided that I needed an easier hike than Loch Leven.  And, I still ended up getting wiped out physically.  That's okay because this was beautiful, and easy and even Raven had a great time. 

As you can see from the first sign, this trail is only 1.2 miles long.  It is relatively flat, only a 2.5% grade around the trail.  What I enjoy most about this trail is that it is accessible by strollers and even wheelchairs if one is feeling adventurous.  In fact, there was a lady with a stroller on the trail today.

After walking a short distance, one can choose which way to go on the trail, the easier way, or the not easier way.  Either way you take will get you back to the original place (hence the word LOOP, lol).

Some of the most beautiful places in this country are found right here in Nevada around Lake Tahoe.  They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, so I will let my pictures do the talking for me.  Raven is a ham when it comes to the camera, so without further ado:

Tahoe Meadows Interpretive Loop Trail:

This map gives other alternatives to the trail.

With all the rain last week, there was
actually some water in the runoff creeks.

Raven wanted to be in most of the pictures

The meadow looks amazing after a rainstorm.

My superstar on the bridge.

Gorgeous flowers everywhere.

These signs were along the trail and gave valuable
information about the habitat and animals that live there.

A beautiful view of the meadow.

I'm always down to take pictures of
critters that will pose for me.

A very small, but interesting
waterfall along the trail.

I definitely recommend this trail to everyone, no matter what their skill level.

For those who wish to view all of the photos taken today, you can visit them here.

Introducing the Trail Series! LOCH LEVEN

I've been wanting to go for a while on a hike somewhere.  I did a search online to find out where some of the trail heads are around the area.  I found a page that listed several trails that claimed to be around Lake Tahoe.  I live very near there, so the trip wouldn't have been bad.  Instead, I chose a trail head that was on that list, but was nowhere near Tahoe.  Okay, I can forgive the misinformation about the location, and I can even forgive the terribly vague directions on where the trail head actually started.

What I can't forgive was the misinformation about the difficulty of the trail.  This trail was listed in a top ten trails for easy trails.  NO.  This trail was difficult for a beginner, which I am not.  I'm more of an intermediate hiker, and a bit out of shape, but I would not recommend this trail for a beginner.  With that in mind, I give you:

Loch Leven Trail (Located in Big Bend) Exit on the Big Bend Exit and go south and follow the road past the Lodge.  There is a gravel parking lot on the north side of the road with a restroom facility.  The trail head is across the street.  It is easy to miss (well, it was for me) so here is a picture of the trail marker. 

I'm no expert on hiking, so I can't give you any specifics on how much of a climb this trail is, but it goes up the side of a mountain, so, yeah, the climb is rough in spots.  I was literally rock climbing at one point!  That was a challenge for sure, but I made it through. 

I am sad to say that I didn't make it to the lakes where the real views are supposed to be.  I did make it to the pond area, which was beautiful in its own right.  It was shaded and had plenty of rocks to sit on.  (Hey, what can I say?  I look for practicality when hiking.)

And for those who say that I shouldn't go hiking alone, perhaps you are right, but it isn't as though there wasn't anyone around.  I ran into about half a dozen hikers along the way.  Most of them passed me by rather quickly.  No worries about that.  I'll get there one day. But, I was perfectly safe.  

There were several stacked rocks that acted as trail markers.  There were times that if I hadn't seen them, I might have gone off the trail.  Actually, I did end up off the trail toward the end and found myself on the road a bit.  Slightly off course, but no worries there.

 I remember the days when I used to take Raven hiking.  We lived in Incline Village at that point, and there was always opportunities to go hiking.

The only thing I was worried about was the unevenness of the ground.  Those who have know me for a while know that I sprained/broke both of my ankles (my right one twice) all within a year of each incident.  I don't do well over uneven ground, so I had to pay very close attention to the ground.  Especially on the way down.  It was easier going up than it was coming down.  Especially coming down the huge boulders that were in the way of the trail.  I almost lost my footing coming down, and that hurt my ankle a bit, but I made it without too much trouble.

I am looking forward to going on this hike again soon.  I know that I'll get in shape enough to make it to the top where the three lakes are.  Hopefully, when I get there, there will be water in them!  Either way, I know that the views will be beautiful.