The home was a lot of fun to stay in overnight. All of the furniture was to the period (1950s) including many of the appliances. Unfortunately but quite expectedly, none of them worked (there were modern equivalents tucked away). What I did enjoy about actually staying in the Duncan House was the fact that you could experience the architecture as someone from the period would.

When we visited Fallingwater (separate trip), it was fantastic to see such a beautifully designed building and see the great views but you didn’t really get a sense of what it was like to live there. When you stick your bags in the closet or put your toothbrush on the edge of the bathroom sink, you really feel like you’re living there. It might be only for a night or two but you really get an understanding of how you would live in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. That’s a lot of fun.

For the birthday we had a catered dinner by Treetops, a restaurant in the resort. The food was delicious, everyone agreed, and Executive Chef Mark Henry did a fantastic job. He even stopped by the Duncan House to say hello (he knew our friend’s brother from when he delivered ice sculptures for them and their family often goes to dinner at Treetops).

I can imagine a lot of people wanting to check out Fallingwater (40 minutes away) and then continuing the Wright experience with a dinner at Tree Tops and a night at Duncan House (or Balter House or Blum House, which were designed by a Wright apprentice).

When she saw that France had an Eiffel Tower, she immediately thought of Las Vegas’ Paris casino with their Eiffel Tower. At the Paris Las Vegas’ Eiffel Tower, you can pay $10 ($15 at night) per person to go to the top and get a great view of the Las Vegas Strip. Was it possible to go up the Eiffel Tower in Epcot?

Sadly no. The Eiffel Tower is just something you can see in the distance.

I’ve annotated the map with a few of the lakes we’ve written about. Desolation Wilderness is the name of the general area in the Eldorado National Forest that we hiked and here are the lakes whose names aren’t labeled:

1. Floating Island Lake
2. Cathedral Lake
3. Lily Lake
4. Snow Lake
5. Granite Lake

It’s funny to think that we’ve seen so many of the lakes from the summit of Mt. Tallac, like Susie, Lake Ahola, and Cascade, but I’ve never seen them up close.

The Burg Stahleck was built in the 12th century and is capable of sleeping 168 people in a series of single, doubles, quads, and dorm rooms. We had thought about staying there but only the dorms were available and it was priced as much as our “hotel,” which was located squarely in the middle of the main street. There isn’t much to see in Bacharach itself, so you don’t lose much by staying at the Burg Stahleck, but it’s nice not to have to make the trek back up when it’s dark!

While at the top, we enjoyed a bottle of Reisling, of course, and chatted while watching the Romantischer Rhein.

For the rest of the week, we usually split our time playing board games, sitting in the pool or hot tub, and hanging out at the beach. I’m not a big beach person so my time was spent mostly playing games or lounging in the hot tub, but I did spend a day there it was great. At low tide there is plenty of room on the beach to pretty much do whatever you want.

The one risk of going to the area this late in the season are the hurricanes. We lucked out in that Hurricane Earl had just passed, barely touching our area, and we moved in a few days later. The weather was gorgeous, the water was a little cold, but all in all we had a fantastic time.

There are no major lakes or landmarks for the remainder of the hike, save the peak of the mountain, but it does offer some great rising views of several lakes along the way. You get to see plenty of Fallen Leaf Lake, Tahoe, and on the other side, once you crest the ridge of the most difficult part of the hike, there are Gilmore and Aloha Lakes. And, of course, there is Mr. Marmot (and his friends!) at the peak.

Cathedral to Mount Tallac

After our quick stop at Cathedral Lake, the hike begins it’s real ascension to the near 9,800′ above sea level that is Mount Tallac. The trailhead was at 6,480′ and Cathedral Lake is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,600′. So you’ve gone up 1,200′ of elevation in the span of 2.5 miles, with another 2,200′ of elevation to go over 2.5 miles until the peak. That’s a hundred story building’s worth of difference.

The hike can be strenuous and quite a bit of it is in full sun, on the side of the mountain, but if you are well protected (plenty of sunscreen) you should be OK. The air gets thin up here so be sure to take it easy, the last thing you want to do is get light headed and stumble on the gravel.

As you leave Cathedral Lake, there’s a section of trail that snakes through the woods before you open up to a gravely area that marks, what I consider, the hardest part of the hike. The photo above gives you a general idea of what this section looks and feels like. The footing can get a little loose at times, since it is gravel, but you should be fine as long as you are hiking carefully.

Here’s the view of Fallen Leaf and Lake Tahoe from here, the woods below are where you emerge after hiking up from Cathedral Lake:

Once you get to the crest of this ridge, the hiking gets progressively easier (until you reach the last 100′ or so). So if you’re going to push yourself through the gravel area, use this next section to rest a bit, by taking it a little easier, as you continue on. Depending on the time of year, this area will still have a lot of snow. It was mid-July when we went and we walked through sections of snow.

Here’s the final trail marker for Mount Tallac (to the right, to the left is the trail to Gilmore Lake – this is a great place to drop your packs if you’re day hiking, hide them behind some trees and they should be fine:

The hike from here goes from dirt to scrambling over large boulders until the summit. The views are spectacular so be sure to take plenty of photos. Here are a few of our favorites shots from up on high:
Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake

Emerald Bay

Gilmore, Susie, and Aloha Lakes

And of course, Mr. Marmot!

The Descent

The descent is less interesting as we didn’t take quite as many pictures, mostly of the abundant wildflowers we’ve seen. Since we were staying near Stanford Sierra Camp we decided to hike towards Gilmore and Grass Lakes for our descent, stopping briefly at Gilmore for a break. It’s a pretty long hike back that, I believe, takes around 6 miles but doesn’t contain the steep elevation changes we enjoyed on our way up.

The hike essentially mirrors the return hike from Grass Lake, though we don’t pass it, we meet up with the hike at the split (for Grass Lake you turn left, Mt Tallac you turn right… we meet up with the trail there). From there it’s the familiar return past Glen Alpine Resort to the Lily Lake trailhead and then on to the cabin for a nice shower and beverages!

How high is Mount Tallac? 9,739 feet above sea level though the trail starts at around 6489 feet, so you’re talking around 3,250 feet of elevation gain. It’s considered “difficult” by the US Forest Service but it’s totally worth it!

Mount Tallac Trailhead

To reach the trailhead for Mount Tallac, head north on CA-89 from the intersection of CA-89 and U.S. Highway 50. After about four miles, you will see a turnoff on the left for Camp Shelly and the mount Tallac trailhead. On that road, take the first left fork and then stay on the right on Forest Road 1306. You’ll run right into the parking area and the trailhead. Get yourself a wilderness permit for a day-hike.

Hiking to Floating Island Lake

The first bit of the hike will test you at altitude but it isn’t too difficult otherwise. You will get onto a ridge about half a mile in and it gives you a great view of south Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake (below is a shot of that view of Fallen Leaf Lake, Tahoe is to the left beyond that tall tree). We’ve always hiked this area in the early morning on our way to Mount Tallac (to reach it by noon, you’ll want to get going early) so our views are always with that morning sun and absolutely gorgeous. The trail follows the west side of Fallen Leaf Lake and you enter the Desolation Wilderness right before you reach Floating Island (there will be a large sign). Enjoy the views and remember the lake, because it’ll look small as you hike up to Mount Tallac!

Floating Island Lake is about a mile and a half away from the trailhead and you’ll almost happen on it without realizing it. The origins of the lake’s name come from a 20′ diameter “floating island” of grass and shrubs back in 1890. When we visited four years ago, there were a few “islands” floating about but we didn’t see any this time around.

Cathedral Lake

If you continue on the trail, Cathedral Lake is a little over half a mile away (over 2 miles away from the trailhead). There’s a bit of an ascent but it’s an otherwise manageable trail through partially shaded woods and plenty of wildflowers.

I’m a big fan of Cathedral Lake despite it’s somewhat smaller size. I think the far side of the lake, from where you come upon it, and it’s wall of rock is impressive to look at. The lake is named after Cathedral Peak, which is itself part of the Cathedral Range.

From here, we make our ascent towards Mount Tallac – which will be a post for another day!

Many of the trails in south Lake Tahoe are interconnected. The Glen Alpine Trail gives you access to Grass Lake as well as Susie Lake (4 mi.), Heather Lake (5 mi.), Aloha Lake (6 mi.), Half Moon Lake (4.5 mi.), Alta Morris Lake (5.2 mi.), and even Mount Tallac (6 mi.) if you are so inclined. In fact, since our cabin is so close to Lily Lake, we went along this trail on our return hike from Mount Tallac.

You start at Lily Lake, where you’ll be expected to “sign in” at the trailhead (just fill out a Wilderness Permit form and drop it into the box), towards Glen Alpine Falls. The hike starts at 6,560′ and gets as high as 7,240′, so if you haven’t acclimated yourself to the higher altitudes, you might want to wait a day and use this as your hiking appetizer. If you hike a lot through wilderness (not clearly marked trails), you will be fine; if you hike a lot on pavement, this is a little trickier than that.

Upper Glen Alpine Falls

The first milestone on the trail is Upper Glen Alpine Falls (you passed Lower Glen Alpine Falls along the road towards Lily Lake), also known as Modjeska Falls, named for 19th century Polish actress Madame Helena Modjeska who performed at the springs in 1885. It’s about half a mile from the trailhead and along dirt and gravel roads, though you won’t need to dodge any trucks as the area is for authorized park vehicles only, and no more than half a mile away from the trail head.

As you continue along the trail you’ll see structures associated with the Glen Alpine Springs, which was once a resort built around the mineral spring that still operates today. When we visited four years ago, we were able to drink from the springs (without digestive incident, though the water smells strongly of sulphur). This year, because of all the precipitation, the springs were flooded and thus undrinkable. It was once a renowned resort developed by Nathan Gilmore (of Gilmore Lake fame) with a 16-room hotel, though a fire destroyed most of the original buildings in 1921. (this bit of history courtesy of Rich Moreno and TAMC)

Onward and Upward!

If you continue on the trail, you’ll begin to follow the Glen Alpine Creek that connects Lily Lake to, among other lakes, Grass Lake, Lost Lake, and Triangle Lake. Be sure to look for the trail markers, carved 4″x4″ beams, as they direct you towards which leg of the trail to take. At about a mile and a half into the trail, you will reach an intersection. To the left is Grass Lake, to the right is the ascent to Mount Tallac. Go left.

Also, at several points along the trail you will be asked to cross two creeks, so bring waterproof boots, and traverse a pair of fallen trees across the creek, so bring your sense of balance. We’ve always hiked it in mid- to late-July so trail conditions may vary earlier and later in the season.

Here’s what the pair of trees cross looks like (it’s not particularly difficult and you can take it very slowly):

The hike also takes you through a long section of unshaded rocky areas that isn’t necessarily challenging, other than some uneven footing, but does mean you should wear plenty of sun protection.

Grass Lake

Grass Lake itself is a treat to see as it’s huge and freezing (it’s fed by glacial water from the mountains), but a great place to dip your feet in and have yourself a snack. We took plenty of photos of the various flora and fauna near the lake, for your visual enjoyment!

We also found this little guy floating along!

The Grass Lake hike along the Glen Alpine Trail is considered Moderate by the Forest Service but most consider it a pretty casual day hike since it doesn’t ascend very much, or very quickly, and affords some nice views along the way. If you’re an avid hiker, put this on the list for one of the first days you’re in the area as a little appetizer.

Along the way you’ll be treated to a view of some waterfalls:

But mostly it’ll be on a road, dodging a few cars, seeing a few sun-bleached trees:

Until you reach the lake:

If you’re looking for something nice and relaxing, this little paved hike is perfect.

This post summarizes our hiking in south Lake Tahoe, more in-depth posts of the hikes, along with pictures, will soon follow!

Lily Lake

Over the course of four days we enjoyed many of the local hikes visiting several of the lakes in the area. We took the first day to acclimate to the higher elevation and then set off to Lily Lake, a short hike away. When we last visited four years ago, we went to Lily Lake our first day!

Grass Lake

The first “real” hike we took would be a day later when we passed by Lily Lake and made our way an hour and a half away, past Glen Alpine Falls, to visit Grass Lake.

Emerald Bay

On our “day off,” we decided to take a scenic drive near at Emerald Bay, off Lake Tahoe, and hike a portion of the Rubicon Trail. This is the first time I’d seen Emerald Bay up close, usually my view of it is from the top of Mt. Tallac, so this was a delight. The Rubicon Trail was a little uneventful but was a nice appetizer to the hike we were preparing for the next day.

Mt. Tallac

The hiking climax came on Thursday when we set out early, around 8am (OK, it’s not that early), to hike the imposing Mt. Tallac. Peaking at 9,735′ above sea level, Mt. Tallac offers one of the most breathtaking views in the area. We hit the trailhead, located at 6,480′, early and were able to make it to the top, over 4.8 miles away, in less than four hours. We then trekked down through the wildflower fields towards Lily Lake (past Gilmore Lake) and home.

All in all it was a successful week of hiking, no major blisters and no injuries (minus a few twisted ankles). Full posts with more pictures will follow so keep an eye out if you’re interested in seeing the views of these hikes.