Lake Tahoe comes and goes from view on the Tahoe City North trailhead. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Lava. It always surprises me when I see it in Tahoe. I think of these mountains being all about granite.

Lunch on this particular hike at the end of September was a contrast in terrain. While much of the route was through a conifer forest, as is typical in the basin, lunch was in a lava field known as Lava Cliffs.

Lava isn’t actually rare in the Tahoe area. Mount Pluto (elevation 8,617) at Northstar ski resort in Truckee is an extinct volcano that erupted about 2 million years ago.

Hikers search for a slab of lava for a lunch spot. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

“Lava flowing from Mount Pluto on the North Shore, then formed a barrier or dam across the basin’s ancestral outlet, the Truckee River. Water from snowfall and streams flow into the basin, gradually creating a lake several hundred feet higher than the present lake. Eventually a new outlet was eroded from the lava dam creating the present path of the Lower Truckee River,” the U.S. Forest Service’s website says. “Following the faulting and volcanic period of the basin, an Ice Age developed. Huge glaciers formed and moved down the V-shaped canyons on the western side of the lake. These glaciers scoured away loose rock and reshaped the canyons into broad U-shaped valleys. The rock and gravel left behind at the sides and end of these melting glaciers are called moraines. As these glaciers melted away, they also left behind brilliant bays, jagged peaks, glacial polished ridges and crystal clear lakes.”

While sitting on these rocks Lake Tahoe is off in the distance. It was idyllic, as are so many points along the Rim Trail.

Lake Tahoe isn’t actually the focal point of the trail, though it does come into view rather quickly. Soon, though, it is behind us and the forest the main feature.

Despite the volcanic rock, the trail is dirt, with a soft layer of pine needles making a cushion of sorts.

Kae and Brenda hiking a section of the Tahoe Rim Trail on Sept. 24. (Image: Brenda Knox)

One section appeared to have been thinned because the trees were not as close together, which led to more ground cover growing. As the sun filtered in it was like a spotlight on the green foliage, with some of it beginning to yellow with the changing seasons.

At one point we could look down to see the Truckee River looking shallow and practically stagnant, while looking up was High Camp at Palisades Tahoe.

This was my first time on this section of the TRT, which is why I was excited to do it.

We started at the Tahoe City North trailhead off Fairway Drive near Highway 89.

This intermediate rated guided hike was sponsored by the Tahoe Rim Trail Association. Most of the 13 hikers were not from the area.

Sunlight filters through the pine trees to the forest floor. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

The $10 fee was well worth it to explore another part of the Rim Trail with zero stress and the three leaders going at an easy pace, taking a leisurely lunch break, and turning around so we completed just more than 6 miles.

The hike had been billed as about 900 feet of elevation gain. Considering the bulk of that was at the get-go, I’m sure we hit that mark.

The trail was upgraded in 2018.

“Using approximately 40 tons of granite; 50 volunteers donated more than 800 hours to transform the Fairway Drive trailhead in Tahoe City (Tahoe City North). The trailhead serves as the symbolic and often physical beginning to the trail as it is located at mile marker zero,” TRTA’s website says. “Unfortunately, heavy winter storms and high use had resulted in a trail and trailhead that were unsafe and unpleasant for hikers, bikers and equestrians as they were forced to navigate rocky, loose trail, tripping hazards, and eroding terrain.”

No complaints today about the trail–only kudos to those who continue to maintain this trail that wraps around Lake Tahoe.