Our 2026 visit to the Lake Tahoe Sierra Nevada area marks 15 years of annual visits to this special area. We enjoy the cooler weather, the wildflowers, the alpine lakes, and the hikes in the Sierra Nevada – a special place.

Karin is enjoying the Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittate) along the Mt Rose highway. Nearly all parts of this plant were used as food by various Native American groups. The roots may be baked or steamed and eaten, as well as the young shoots. The immature flower stems could be peeled and eaten; the flowers themselves are good browse for wildlife. Balsamroot seeds are nutritious and oil-rich, another good source of food. The root could be used as a coffee substitute. It was also used medicinally. We see this flower early in the season.

 

Another early bloomer is Brewer’s Mountain Heather (Phyllodoce breweri), a matlike shrub in higher elevation areas – it is native to California.

 

Karin is making her way up the Sagehen Creek trail north of Truckee through a field of Wooly Mule’s Ears (Wyethia mollis). The seeds are edible and taste similar to sunflower seeds.

 

We found this field of Meadow Penstemon (Penstemon rydbergii) along the receded shoreline of the Stampede reservoir at the end of the Sagehen Creek trail. A portion of the blooms were at peak and a portion were dried up. We saw this curious state with other wildflowers, possibly due to some early warm weather followed by cold weather again?

 

Purple owl’s clover (Castilleja exserta) is an annual in the same species as the Indian paintbrushes. Like other related plants in the family, purple owl’s clover derives some of its nutrients directly from the roots of other plants.

 

Each year we have noticed certain wildflowers are more plentiful – this year, the paintbrushes were noticeably plentiful. This photo was taken in Page Meadow on the west side of Lake Tahoe.

 

When I was processing this Tahoe Meadow photo, I noticed “something” sticking out of the ground a little to the right of the center, in front of the trees and next to the purple Meadow Penstemon. If you zoom in, you can see a Yellow-Bellied Marmot on it’s hind legs looking around. I did not notice it when I took the photo. Then, I also noticed 2 more to the right and further away in the meadow – can you find them?

 

The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) passes right along Watson Lake. There is an “almost paved” forest road right down to this lake. We like to hike in this area because it is quiet and there are wildflowers along a creek. This morning there was no wind, providing a nice reflection in the still lake surface.

 

The Cedar Trees in the Tahoe area are enormous!

 

This Hairy Arnica (Arnica mollis) has both gone to seed and has new blooms (Near Watson Lake).

 

Randy in a field of Wooly Mule’s Ears on the TRT near Watson Lake.

 

There is a web of trails along the northeast side of Lake Tahoe that we hike early in the morning before the area is swamped with beach goers. A good portion of the east side of the lake is public land and has some shallow sandy bottom areas with the submerged boulders – a pretty sight. This year the Lake level was very high and there was almost no beach. This photo is of Secret Cove (known to many and is a clothing optional area). By the way, the water temperature is rarely above the mid 60’sF.   I swim in the alpine lakes around Tahoe, but Lake Tahoe is a bit cold for my taste….

 

The TRT/PCT north of Barker Pass is a favorite hiking area for us for both the views and wildflowers. The mountain range in the background is part of Desolation Wilderness. I did several hikes in this area – see also another photo below.

 

Lake Tahoe can be seen from the PCT/TRT just north of Barker Pass.

 

A relatively short/easy trail with a great view of Lake Tahoe is the TRT from Brockway Pass to Picnic Rock.

 

Another favorite trail is the TRT to Rose Meadow. At the right time of year, along the way on this trail there are patches of wildflowers. Featured here are Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) and Scarlet Gilia (ipomopsis aggregate).

 

I hiked from the west side of Lake Tahoe up into Desolation Wilderness to a series of 3 alpine lakes: Lake Genevieve, Crag Lake, and Hidden Lake. I had Hidden Lake all to myself and had a nice swim followed by a nice lunch. This was my longest hike of this trip at 12 miles and 1500ft elevation rise.

 

Incline Village on Lake Tahoe resumed fireworks this year! Actually, they were supposed to resume last year but there was a wind storm the night before that sank the barge – It is so dry in the Sierra Nevada that it would be a significant fire risk to launch fireworks from land so this is typically done from barges anchored offshore. Note the tall pines in the foreground.

 

A view across Tahoe Meadow from the Meadow Loop trail.

 

Round Top Mountain (10,381 ft) from the Pacific Crest Trail between Carson Pass and Meiss Meadows – one of the few places we saw snow this year.

 

These two paddle boarders were checking out Sunset Cove along the east shore of Lake Tahoe. Where the water is shallow and has a white sand bottom with the white/grey granite boulders, it makes a beautiful sight.

 

Lake Aloha in Desolation Wilderness:  I had visited this lake once in 2018 while hiking a long segment of the TRT but did not have time to stay very long (this TRT segment was almost 20 miles in one day), so I vowed to hike to this pretty lake again. This time I had lunch and a swim in the crystal-clear water. (the swim was fairly short as the water was still pretty cold). This lake is along the segment of the combined TRT and Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) on the west side of Lake Tahoe.

 

While hiking from Lake Aloha to Lake In The Woods, I found these Great Yellow Pond Lilies (Nuphar polysepala) in an adjacent pool.

 

One of may last hikes was another great vista of Lake Tahoe from Rose Knob on the north end of the lake, a nice but steep trail.