The Tahoe Rim Trail 6/27 & 6/28

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Around the rim of Tahoe we went. It was picturesque, high, windy, wild flowers were going off, we got to see the headwall of Squaw Valley Sky Resort without any snow on it. Do you know that highway 80 was built in the 60's to accommodate the Winter Olympics held at Squaw? We saw Alpine Meadows Ski area as well. The trail skirted under one of the chair lifts of Squaw. Last time we passed through this way we camped under this very chair lift. 

Can you see the chair lift? Alpine with Big Blue in the back ground. 

(TC ordered a sleeping bag near this spot thanks to cell reception & Nick at Down Works in Santa Cruz)

Amazing terrain HeadWall at Squaw. 

This is what you get when you mix DIrty Girl with FC

This area should be called Mule Ear Rim Trail. For as far as the eye can see, acres and acres of mule ears are blooming.Their leaves are big and look like mule ears. They are grey green, soft and fuzzy. In a month or two from now they will be crispy and dry, rattling in the wind making raspy sounds.Their flowers are golden yellow and look like big daisies. Amongst these rattlers are the occasional Mariposa lily, cream colored with a brown and orange marking inside. Another popular flower when not blooming looks like a tight dull purple, fuzzy raspberry. When blooming it sprouts a white Afro hair-do and the purple mainly disappears. TC took a picture of some. Any ideas?

Pacific Onion

Afro-do? Now: Desert Mint

How about these? Sulfur Buckwheat

Balloon Milkvitch also called Whitneys Milkvitch  (Chinese Lanterns anyone?)

      As we walk the rim we see the splendid blue of Lake Tahoe. It's an impressive lake. We have been going toward it and circling it for the last three days. We will see it for the last time as we get closer to Donner Lake over by the famous Donner Pass.

One last view. 

      As we walk the trail we hear stories from your lives like : people being diagnosed with cancer; babies being born: uteruses prolapsing and pesaries are being inserted; prostates are becoming enlarged and causing pain as ureters are squished and pee is pooling. Nothing like the relief of a catheter freeing the pee. Friends getting married (congrats to Twig and Nancy); people  buying speedboats to pull their growing children over the water at high speeds; a promising graduating high school student with university scholarship potential is deciding that girls are more fun so now he is working two jobs and planning on moving out of mom's place; people buying brand new RV's to come visit us; recovering alcoholics divorcing their alcoholic husbands; an experimental stem cell procedure to increase circulation; Brazil being in the semi-finals of the World Cup; Jennifer Aniston hooking up with the wrong guy. Everyone's life is continuing. 

Trail Angel Reno Dave. Delivering beer & sodas from his bear canister filled with ice. A very welcome trail magic moment!