And There Rose the Ever Farther Summit . . .

10.25 miles, 2303 elevation gain

This was the fifth Lake Tahoe Six Peak Challenge hike our Bay Area group was tackling in our 7-day trip to Lake Tahoe.

The days had started heating up, so we got an early start on Mount Rose. As we started out, the moon was high and the sun was hitting the mountains around Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful start, especially as the wildflowers were blooming.

Once we passed the waterfall, we had a slight hiccup in trying to find the trail, but eventually made it back on trail after a glimpse at AllTrails. Although there is some steepness past the waterfall and prior to the turnoff to the summit, it’s not too bad. However, when you hit the turnoff — 1 mile to go — the trail gets steeper and exposed and it becomes difficult to determine how much further there is to go because you can’t see the summit.

For a good part of the last mile, you are traversing up a path in a rock field and seeing the people below you and the people above you . . . wondering how much further there is to go. The summit has a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe, but we couldn’t help compare it to Mount Tallac, whose summit invites you to linger. With Mount Rose, we took our pictures and had a bite to eat and headed back down — it was a bit windier and colder than Mount Tallac had been the day before.