On TRT Day 12, we filled up with 3.5 litres each, knowing that we had a long dry day ahead of us. Looking at the distance and elevation a few weeks later, I’m surprised this day did not stand out as tough, it didn’t at the time. In fact, I remember little from this day, except that I was wrapped in my own thoughts.
Towards the end of the day, as we approached 9,000ft, the views opened up and our ever-present companion, Lake Tahoe, came back into view. From this vantage, the entire lake was visible and we called out distant peaks we’d passed over the last 12 days – amazed at how distant they now seemed.
We were treated to a final beautiful sunset and headed down to Mud Lake (best done from the furthest Eastern side) in the twilight to set up camp. Despite the gloom, we were old hands at this now, and everyone knew exactly what and how to do it – a well oiled machine.
- Watson Lake (Elevation: 7,962.89 ft. Lat: 39.225493 Lon: -120.137601)
- Mud Lake. (Elevation: 9,395.08 ft. Lat: 39.293921 Lon: -119.955811)
- Start Time – 9:30am End Time – 7:30pm
- Trail miles according to AllTrails – 17.3
- Elevation Gain according to AllTrails – 3812
Map data
jollytrails.com 