Segment 5: Kingsbury Grade to Big Meadow

Segment Length: 23.3 Miles

Start Elevation: 7,520 ft.

End Elevation: 7,300 ft.

High Point: 10,000+ ft. (shoulder of Freel Peak) 

Mileage sign at the Kingsbury Trail Head.

  At 23 miles and some change, this segment from Kingsbury Grade to Big Meadow was another beast of a run. The trail starts at the bottom of the Stagecoach Express chair at Heavenly and proceeds to climb straight to the top of the resort. You pass 9,000 ft. elevation right out of the gate on this segment and you stay there for 20 miles until you finally descend to Big Meadow at the end. Even though this is the longest segment I have run so far (by .1 miles) and it is well above 9,000 ft. for most of the distance, there are also consistent water sources which I have not had on my previous runs. After winding around the back of Heavenly Ski Resort, which is HUGE by the way, I reached my first creek that was flowing out of some stubborn snow fields. Learning from my runs from Brockway to Mt. Rose and Mt. Rose to Spooner, I forced myself to down about two liters of water before refilling my bottles and heading on my way. This turned out to be unnecessary as there were numerous other water sources, but I did notice a huge difference later in the run from staying so well hydrated. The trail climbs steadily for the first 5 miles to Monument Pass where the trail levels out and you finally get a break.

Job's Sister (Left) and Freel Peak (Right).

At the top of Monument Pass you get your first view of Freel Peak and Job's Sister. At 10,881 and 10,833 respectively, they are the two highest peaks in the entire Tahoe Basin. Even after 3 1/2 months of hot California summer there are still massive snow fields left over from last winter on both peaks.

Star Lake.

From Monument Pass the trail mellows out for about 4 miles before reaching Star Lake. Star Lake sits at the base of Job's Sister and is probably the most pristine lake that I have seen in the Sierra. Compared to the high lakes of the N. Cascades, a lot of the lakes that I have been to around here appear to be shallower and more stagnant. You also rarely see trout rising or swimming along the shore like you do at nearly every lake in the Cascade Range. However, it didn't take me more than 10 seconds upon reaching Star Lake to spot a nice size brown trout cruising past the logs at the outflow stream. I took a break at Star to drink some water and relax, and saw trout rising all over the lake in the middle of the day. I didn't see any larger than about 12 inches cruising in the shallows, but based on some of the splashes I saw out in the middle I have a feeling there are some nice ones in there. I am pretty excited to have found a nice fishing lake and I am definitely planning on heading back there with my fly rod and float tube this fall!

Freel Peak (10,881 ft.)

From Star Lake the trail climbs for a mile or two up to another pass at the base of Freel Peak. At slightly over 10,000 ft. in elevation this is the highest point on this segment and one of the highest points on the entire Tahoe Rim. After passing Freel Peak there are 10.5 miles of gradual climbs and descents through dense forests and in and out of meadows. This stretch of trail wasn't particularly strenuous but it was tedious and it felt like it went by in slow motion. On the other hand my legs felt great and I didn't feel at all dehydrated like I have on a couple of the other runs.

The last 2 miles descend steeply, dropping more than 2,000 feet in elevation to the Big Meadow Trail Head. This final 2 mile stretch is some of the most amazing single track mountain biking that I have ever seen, and I passed no fewer than 20 bikers hiking their bikes up the hill to enjoy the 2,000 vertical on the way down. I reached the Big Meadow Trail Head at 5 PM, and with plenty of time to catch a ride back to my car I figured my adventure for the day was over. I couldn't have been more wrong...


Big Meadow is off of Highway 89, a steep, narrow, two-lane highway with no shoulder. To add to the difficulty of trying to hitch a ride on a narrow mountain road with no shoulder, a car would only pass me once every 5 minutes or so. After an hour and a half, with the sun going down, I finally got two guys in their work truck to pick me up. They were heading to Sacramento and could only take me as far as the junction of Hwy 89 and Hwy 50 where they dropped me off. At this point I was happy to be out of the mountains but I wasn't out of the woods. With almost no daylight remaining I got a ride with another guy that could only take me to within a few miles of South Lake. This was great except for the fact that they were doing shoulder work and replacing the sidewalks from there all the way through South Lake. With no light and no place to hitch a ride I ended up having to walk 6 miles through all of S. Lake Tahoe to the bottom of Kingsbury Grade. Refusing to hike another 6 miles and 2,000 vertical feet to the top of Kingsbury, I posted up on the corner and waited for another 30 minutes before someone was willing to pick me up in the dark. After all was said and done I finally made it back to my car at 10:30 PM. As is turns out, running is the easy part!


Thanks to everyone that gave me a ride. Especially Evan, who picked me up in the dark and took me to my car. I hope you enjoy the 6-pack of Mirror Pond.

Segment 4: Spooner Summit to Kingsbury Grade (SR 207)

Mileage sign at Spooner Summit Trail Head.

Segment Length: 14 Miles


Start elevation: 7,150 ft.


End Elevation: 7,920 ft.


High Point: 8,866 ft. (South Camp Peak)

Lake Tahoe with the distant peaks of the Desolation Wilderness.

This segment, from Spooner Summit to Kingsbury Grade, proved to be somewhat of a break compared to the previous three segments. At just over 14 miles, it is significantly shorter and also lacks the brutal elevation gain and loss that I have encountered thus far. Even though this segment is "easier," it still starts off with a gradual six mile climb to the top of the ridge before leveling out. There isn't a whole lot to look at for the first six miles which makes it seem like a longer than it really is, but once you reach the ridge it is all worth it. When you approach the top of the ridge you ascend out of the trees to a view of the entire Tahoe Basin. Looking straight across the south end of the lake you can see all the peaks of the Desolation Wilderness, including Mt. Tallac, Pyramid Peak and Dicks Peak. Looking south you can see Heavenly Ski Resort and Freel Peak, the highest peak in the Tahoe Basin.

Boulder fields along the trail.

The trail winds along the top of the ridge for a mile or two before dipping back into the trees for the remainder of the segment. The final 6 miles or so traverses steep mountainsides and winds through huge boulder fields, but the trail itself is pretty mellow. This is one of the few stretches so far where I have felt like I could afford to bump up my pace and let it fly a little. I cruised at about a 7 minute mile pace for the final 6 miles, and for the first time running the Rim it was nice to not have to worry about running out of energy or water.

View of South Lake from the trail.

 The distance of this run is listed at 12.2 miles, but they recently added an additional 2 miles to avoid having to walk down the road to the trail head for the next segment. I will gladly take an additional 2 miles of trail over having to run on the road any day.


Thanks to Tony for driving me from Kingsbury Grade down to S. Lake, and thanks to Ward for driving me from S. Lake back to my car at Spooner Summit.

Segment 3: Tahoe Meadows to Spooner Summit

Segment Length: 23.1 miles

Start Elevation: 8,740 ft.

End Elevation: 7,150 ft.


High Point: 9,214 ft. (Snow Valley Peak)

Mileage sign at Tahoe Meadows.

At 23.1 miles, this segment from Tahoe Meadows to Spooner Summit is the longest of the three that I have run so far. However, with a higher start elevation than end elevation, I was very excited to not have to run uphill all day (see Segment 2).  Starting at Tahoe Meadows the trail winds along the top of the ridge with great views of Lake Tahoe on one side and the Carson Valley on the other. 

View of the Carson Valley from the ridge.

 All of the climbs and descents are relatively gentle for the first 9 1/2 miles to Tunnel Creek Road. I wasn't trying to run particularly fast but I ended up making it to Tunnel Creek in under an hour and a half. Its amazing how quickly you can cover ground when the trail isn't climbing straight uphill. 

Mileage marker at Tunnel Creek.

Feeling like I was ahead of schedule I decided to stop for a snack and hang out with a couple mountain bikers who had caught up to me. It seems like I get the same reaction from pretty much everyone I run into on the trail when I tell them what I am doing. Its always something like, "Oh, cool. Wait...What?!?" I talked to those guys for a few minutes before they headed down Tunnel Creek Road toward Incline Village and I headed on my way.

One of the Twin Lakes.

Only 1/2 mile after Tunnel Creek I reached Twin Lakes. I only found one lake, but judging by the name I'm sure there was another one near by. It was actually a pretty cool spot with all of these randomly placed white boulders everywhere. Learning from my last run, I drank all of the water that I had and filtered more before leaving Twin Lakes. I was glad that I did as the trail climbed for a solid 2 miles back to the top of the ridge.

Abundance of Lupin.

Once on top of the ridge, the trail flattened out again and traversed across mountain sides of the thickest wild flowers I have ever seen. The huge snow year has provided lots of extra water late into summer, and there are literally entire mountains colored purple with Lupin. Of all my time hiking in the mountains I have never seen anything like it. 

Endless fields of Lupin near Snow Valley Peak.

Marlette Lake with Tahoe in the distance.

With roughly 9 miles left Marlette Lake came into view. I had been banking on being able to refill my water bottles at Marlette but that didn't work out so well. I didn't realize it, but without taking a several mile side hike this was the closest I would I get to the lake. This was unfortunate considering I only had 16 ounces of water left with 9 miles still ahead, including a climb over Snow Valley Peak (9,214 ft.).

A lone tree on Snow Valley Peak.

I slowed my pace a little for my ascent of Snow Valley Peak to avoid getting too dehydrated. I didn't want to risk cramping up again like I almost did on my last run. If there is one thing I am learning it is that the Sierras are very dry and you can get in trouble quickly. Its not like what I am used to in the North Cascades where you cross a creek every couple of miles. From now on when I find a water source I am going to drink until I can't drink any more, because chances are I won't see another drop for miles. Luckily, I had just enough water to get me to the summit of Snow Valley Peak. From there it is a brutal, but easy, downhill cruise for the final 5 miles to the Spooner Summit Trail Head.

Mileage marker at the Spooner Summit Trail Head.

Hitching a ride from Spooner Summit back to Mt. Rose ended up being surprisingly fast and easy. Thanks to Jose for driving me from Spooner to the intersection of Hwy 28. Thanks to Oscar for driving me from there to the bottom of Mt. Rose Hwy. And thanks to Murray for driving me to the top of Mt. Rose. It was a long day on the trail and it was a relief not to have to spend more than a couple minutes on the side of the road!

Segment 2: Brockway Summit to Tahoe Meadows

Trail map at the Brockway Trailhead

Segment Length: 19 Miles

Start Elevation: 6,900 ft.

End Elevation: 8,900 ft.

High Point: 10,338 ft. (Relay Peak)

Mileage sign at the trailhead.

After taking some time to rest my knee and working 7 days a week for 2 months straight, I finally got a morning off to tackle my second segment of the Tahoe Rim. This segment, from Brockway Summit to Tahoe Meadows at the summit of Mt. Rose Highway, turned out to be the most punishing 19 miles I have ever run. Hands down.

9,000 ft. Only the toughest trees and baddest trail runners survive beyond this point.

Starting at 6,900 ft., the trail climbs for 15 straight miles to the summit of Relay Peak, the highest point on the Tahoe Rim Trail at 10,338 ft.  Some parts of the climb are steeper than others and there are a couple brief flat spots, but overall it is a relentless ascent for the entire 15 miles to Relay. The first 7 miles climbs steadily to the head of the Martis Valley at roughly 9,000 ft. At this point the climb mellows out a bit 

Head of the Martis Valley. Still plenty of snow.

and the trail traverses the ridge toward Rose Knob with beautiful meadows and incredible views of Lake Tahoe. The 2-3 miles along the top of this ridge was by far my favorite stretch of the Tahoe Rim that I have run so far.

Steep meadows and amazing views along the ridge near Rose Knob.

Mud Lake

At the 11 mile mark I reached Mud Lake. Mud Lake was my only source of water for 19 miles and its a good thing I didn't blink. Mud Lake is more like a mud puddle, and it is a couple hundred feet below the trail. I scrambled down to the lake and filtered some nice, warm water from the insect larva-infested pond. It was better than nothing though, and I would have been in trouble without it.

Mt. Rose Hwy in the distance. Unfortunately it wouldn't be that easy.

After Mud Lake it gets brutal. The trail is very rugged and exposed, and it dips down a couple hundred feet just to make sure that the final push to Relay Peak thoroughly destroys you. There is one point where you reach the top of the ridge only to turn the corner and realize you still have 400 vertical feet and another mile to go. At this point all you can do is put your head down and keep charging. Despite being pretty exhausted, I stubbornly managed to run every step of the 15 mile climb to Relay Peak. 

Mileage marker near the summit of Relay Peak.

 From the top of Relay it is either 4 miles down the gravel road or 4.7 miles down the trail to Mt. Rose Hwy. Even though both are considered to be the Tahoe Rim Trail, I decided to take the trail and run the extra .7 miles. Unfortunately, taking the trail adds an additional climb and my legs had already decided that they weren't going to climb anymore. I started feeling a twang in my hamstrings as if they were about to explode into severe cramps, so I took a few minutes to sit down and work it out. A couple guys that I had just passed caught back up to me and asked me where I had started running. Astonished that I had run from Brockway they started hooking me up with water and almonds and trail mix and all kinds of good stuff. The older guy was named Hans and apparently he owns a natural foods store in Reno and has bicycled around the world 4 times. He invited me to take a tour of his store the next time I'm in Reno and I might have to take him up on that. The extra calories were a life saver, and after a few minutes of rest I was able to coast the final 2 miles to the trail head at Mt. Rose Highway.

Mileage sign at the Mt. Rose Trailhead.

Thank you, Tori, for giving me a ride back to my car! I don't think I had the energy to hitch after that one.

Speed Bump

       During the final 3 or 4 miles of my Brockway to Tahoe City run last weekend I started noticing a pain in my right knee that became increasingly intense. By the end of the run it was actually pretty severe, but the pain faded immediately once I stopped running. I had hyper-extended my right knee playing soccer years ago which caused my patella tendon to slip out of place. It has never been a problem before, but I think overuse from running so much put a little too much stress on it. After taking a whole week off to let it rest, I went for a run up Mt. Rose a few days ago to test it out. It felt fine for the first 2 miles, but then gradually started hurting again. I immediately turned around and started walking back, and by time I got to my car I was totally pain free again.


I told my friend Tattie about my knee, and she put me in touch with her good friend Gordon Ainsleigh. Gordy is a trail running legend and the pioneer of the Western States 100-miler. He told me that running 12-20 miles every other day is nuts and I should significantly cut back on the distance of my training runs. He also suggested some vitamin supplements that would probably help.


So after a few more days of rest, icing, and chomping down Calcium and Magnesium tablets that taste like chalk, my knee is starting to feel a little better. I am going to try to put in 5 or 6 miles today and see how it feels. I hope it won't hold me back too much longer.

Segment 1: Brockway Summit to Tahoe City

Map at the Brockway trailhead.

Segment Length: 19.2 miles    


Start Elevation: 6,900 ft.


End Elevation: 6,300 ft.


Highest Point: Approx. 8,200 ft.




       I started running the Tahoe Rim yesterday as planned, with the segment from Brockway Summit to Tahoe City. Coincidentally, it is the first segment to be mostly free of snow this summer. I still encountered some patches here and there but not enough to cause any problems. This segment starts by climbing from Brockway Summit up along the hillside west of Highway 267. It then drops for a couple miles to the bottom of a valley before gradually climbing to Watson Lake. The first 6.7 miles to Watson Lake were tedious, as I have run that stretch a dozen or more times over the past few weeks. Not knowing whether I would have water access later on down the trail, I stopped to finish off my water and re-fill out of the lake. Its a good thing I did because the next water source wasn't for another 12 miles, only 1/4 mile from Tahoe City.

Watson Lake.

As I started the gradual climb out of Watson Lake I got a serious second wind. Something about running a trail that I have never seen before gets me really fired up, and thinking about the 7 other segments and 160 miles of new trails gave me a boost of energy. The next 5 or 6 miles of the trail were beautiful but pretty uneventful. It traverses along the mountainside for a while, followed by a few gradual descents and climbs in and out of valleys. There aren't any lakes, streams, or high peaks on this stretch, but still great scenery and some amazing views of the lake.

View of Lake Tahoe from somewhere above Carnelian Bay.

After an hour or so of meandering through the hills I reached a dried up creek with a sign saying I had 8 miles to go. From there the trail climbs for at least a mile with no shade, and after 11 miles my legs felt like they could go 100 more. At the end of the climb the trail reaches a high point overlooking the Truckee River, with incredible views of Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. At this point the trail starts wrapping back to the south toward Tahoe City.

Very aggravated momma grouse protecting her chicks.

With about 4.5 miles left I reached a spot where the trail split in several different directions with no TRT trail markers. As I was playing "eeny meeny miny moe" in my head I saw a couple mountain bikers coming up the trail. As they rode up to me and stopped I realized it was none other than pro skier Ingrid Backstrom and Sherry McConkey, the wife of skiing legend and Tahoe hero Shane McConkey, who died in a tragic skiing accident in Italy two years ago. They pointed me in the right direction and I headed off on the home stretch to Tahoe City.

Mileage sign at the Tahoe City trailhead.

A special thanks goes out to the SUV full of girls that was willing to pick up a guy covered in sweat and dust and take him back to his car. It was very much appreciated.