Meriwether Fabrications: Tahoe Rim Trail - Brockway summit to the lake


Bigass trees and tons of moss just on the north sides of the bark.

Frame #5 at Watson Lake.

Wednesday October 25th.
I heard a huge winter storm was headed into Colorado for Thursday...nice! But in Truckee it was forecasted to be 60ish degrees with a 20% chance of rain. Sounded pretty nice so we planned for a day outdoors. In the morning, we did a hour or so hike up around the Martis Peak area with the pups. We didn't see a soul except for a lot of bear scat (our dog bear loves bear poop so he pointed each pile out to use as he tried to grab a bite to eat).

After our hike, I got a 'shuttle' up to Brockway Summit from Truckee since the ride I was going to do was a point to point. It's a short drive over Hwy 267 before it drops into the lake from Truckee. I was going to ride over there from the Martis Peak area but just didn't have the time to get it all done before the sun set...i'm hating the shorter day length! Two days previous, on my Dirty Harry ride, I got kinda turned around and barely made it back in time before it was totally dark. With my fitness (or lack thereof) and poor navigation skills (even with map and GPS) I thought it best if I left earlier and didn't try for such a huge ride. Ok...it was Mrs. Meriwether's idea...fine. I now carry an emergency blanket in my bike pack...it's light and you just never know.

The Tahoe Rim Trail from Brockway Summit going south to the lake (Tahoe) is around 20 miles. It's not a huge ride but I hadn't done it before and there are lots of old logging roads to get you confused along the way. It does have more down than up, but not by much - there's 2,450 ft of elevation gain and 3,200ft of drop. It starts out off Highway 267 and climbs back up towards the summit of the road heading west. The trail is smooth a lot of the way but has the classic grey granite of Tahoe all over the place and does have some technical spots but really not too many. It's so smooth in spots i could ride with my camera out taking video. It stays smooth, curvy and rolly trading off between up and down pretty consistently.

more tree porn

Past Watson Lake, the trail climbs to the high point of the ride at around 7,800 ft. where the trail takes a downturn to the south. Right as you start descending, you see the best view of Lake Tahoe so far. This is the best lunch spot, with rocks to sit on and stare out over the water (pic below).


Two things that were ideal to have this day - steel and wool.

Not too far after Watson Lake, it started to snow. Luckily I usually carry WAY too many things in my pack at all times. I always have my rain jacket but also had a spare wool short-sleeve jersey, a wool hat, warmer gloves, arm warmers, and a recently stashed headlamp and a few extra batteries for my GPS and such. I used them all except for the headlamp.

...and then it started to snow! So rad.

After a good descent from the high point, you traverse on an old road that has grown over mostly into a singletrack. It's pretty fast if you're pedaling. After a road crossing, there's a great climb up some smooth windy singletrack to "Painted Rock" which is the start of the section of trail that parallels Truckee River from far above. The overlook here is awesome, looking at the backside of Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley and at the Granite Chief Wilderness Area. The trail curves south and then southeast, following the edge of "Thunder Cliff's for awhile before finally descending into Tahoe City. This section of trail is more rocky but fine on a hardtail. All day I saw three people, two hikers at Brockway and one rider in the middle. Surprising for being so close to the lake.