Tahoe Spring Snowshoe Trip, April 2002.

Dave Anderson and I spent a long weekend climbing mountains by day and sleeping in seedy motels by night. The story of this intense human drama—two men struggling to find a casino buffet with edible food—can be read in Dave's excellent trip report.

On day 1 we did a little training hike on the Sierra Crest Trail south from Donner Pass. After about a thousand feet we topped out just above the Sugar Bowl ski area. Dave found a fine conglomerate boulder to practice his skills on.

Day 2, and the weather turned clear for our attempt on Pyramid Peak, a seven mile round trip with about 3,500' of altitude gain.. Luckily we were lead by Bob who had done it about 20 times. The route started up the bare granite approaches to Horse Tail Falls.

After about 45 minutes we were up on a snow-covered ridge. The panorama below shows some of our party with the falls in the background.

Our first view of Pyramid Peak can be seen in the distance in the second photo below.

Looks like we're reaching the summit, but actually it was just the top of that little cornice...

As we approached the summit the weather began to close in, and the snow gave way to scree fields. We ditched our snowshoes for the last 800' to the summit, where our fearless leader Bob (wide brimmed hat) surprised us with "Summit Brownies".

Then it was all downhill, by foot and backside.

We got a little rain as we descended back into the valley of Horse Tail Falls, but the sun came out in the end.

Relaxing with Columbo and beverages later that evening.

Day 3, and we set off to climb Mt Tallac, the biggest and most obvious mountain fronting Lake Tahoe on the California side. It was the warmest day of the three, and by the time we got to the first ridge it was time to strip down.

The views kept getting better, and soon it seemed like we were looking down on Lake Tahoe from space. Dave prays at the altar of muscle fatigue for strength for the last pitch...

The summit was crowded with skiers and snowboarders who had carried their sticks all the way up on their backs. Note the dog making the most of the spring sunshine.

Time to descend. The snow was soft, but Dave still made a fine butt-path down the first big bowl. The first two photos are separated by only 30 seconds in time.

I buried a couple of rewards in the snowbank by the car for consumption upon our return.