[pct-l] TRT

[wpseditor at charter.net (Richard Woods)]

Depending on snow levels, I think doing the TRT first is a fairly  
good plan. The Trail is somewhat dry clockwise from Tahoe City to  
Kingsbury Grade, and water can be spotty, especially later in the  
summer. I cached water at Tunnel Creek and took advantage of the  
Tahoe Rim Trail Association cache at Marlett Lake. Earlier in the  
year there is more snow melt, providing snow still lingers. However,  
you'll also be dealing with skeeters, especially from Meiss Meadow in  
the south up the west side in just about every low area all the way  
to Wade Creek and Paige Meadows.

If you're a fast hiker, you might easily do many of the sections in a  
day. The 32 mile stretch between Echo Lake and Barker summit is the  
likely exception, unless you are very fast. The average for the TRT  
seems to be 10 to 12 days, although I just read a story in the TRT  
Association Trailblazer that a runner just set a new record for  
running it in 45 hours, 50 minutes, without stopping.

  I highly recommend Steve Anderson's Trailview map of the TRT. There  
should be links at www.tahoerimtrail.org or www.takeitoutdoors.com.  
Elevation profile, with lots of notes for potential water, campsites,  
road crossings, trail junctions, mileage, side trips for peak- 
bagging, etc., GPS reference points. Mine is pretty dog-eared and  
marked up now, a reliable trail partner.

Rick