Lake Tahoe - snow-ride including Flume Trail

With two full days in South Tahoe City nearing the middle of summer, it was a great opportunity to check out a few of the legendary longer rides in the area. But this winter just gone being the winter that never stops giving (or taking, depending on your point of view) I ended up dealing with a bit of snow. Today I planned to ride from Mt Rose, along a bit of the Tahoe Rim Trail, the well-known Flume Trail & then down to Chimney Beach - as recommended by Mountain Bike Bill. However, when we got to the trailhead at Mt Rose it was completely snowbound so riding across Tahoe Meadows was not an option. We went back down the highway a little way to where I'd seen a rider go into the forest as we drove past. With the TRT on my GPS, I was pretty sure this random unsigned trail would link up to the TRT somewhere. But every hiker I passed (two couples) said that this wasn't the case. But it was a gorgeous day & I had about six hours until Valerie would pick me up someway away, so I pressed on. For about five kilometres the trail traversed around at about the same elevation & I crossed quite a few patches of snow & some heavily running streams.

There were quite a few fallen trees to negotiate too - this one I ended up squeezing my bike & then me under (it's bigger than it looks - easier to go under than over).

As I continued traversing I was generally 800 to 1000 metres from the trail I wanted to be on, which I assumed would be on the top of the ridge. As I was starting to look for an easy route up, I came across what looked like a big fire-break. It was steep, but clear of trees & more importantly, snow so I decided to head up it. Part-way up this exceedingly steep slope, I realised that it was a ski run (probably blue or black) & at the top would be a chairlift & I should have looked for a more manageable service road. So for about half an hour I slogged up Great Flume, gaining 250m vertical in one kilometre horizontal.

I was glad to reach the top of the chairlift & have a snack. Views off the east of the ridge were to Washoe Lake.

I found the TRT & was pleased to riding along it for a while. That was short lived as the hard-packed snow patches got larger & larger. But with such great mountain scenery & a pick-up at the other end, I was more than prepared to battle through extended periods of hike-a-bike - after, when would I ever be back in Tahoe doing the Flume Trail? Hardly an opportunity to pass up, even if it was exceptionally slow & tough going.

For quite long periods I was walking on steep snow slopes, eventually I found the trail intersection to the Flume Trail - a good spot for lunch. This sign was interesting - I hadn't seen another person on the trail, I was the only one mad enough to be up there.

Dropping down a little to the Flume Trail, I finally saw some other riders - they had biked up a much easier way from Incline Village apparently. As I expected, given the history of logging in the area, the Flume Trail follows the path of an old log flume that used to run around the side of the ridge. As a mountain-bike trail purely it's not particularly intersting, even in my slightly fatigued state I could cruise along it (slightly uphill in the south direction) in a high middle-ring gear (it seems two weeks at sea-level hasn't completely killed my mountain lungs). But the scenery is something else. With that damn snow still capping the peaks on the far side of the brilliantly blue lake it was gorgeous.

At the end of the Flume Trail, there's a little climb up to Martlett Lake. The lake must be full of snowmelt - as this is the trail.

Just as my socks were starting to dry from the previous snow crossing, they were soaked & cold again. But it was still warm out & I had many more patches of snow to avoid around the edge of the lake. With a mostly rideable climb away from the lake & the largest snow patch of the day to cross I was ready to leave the fireroad to Spooner Lake & find the downhill trail to Chimney Beach. 

Climbing up there was still more snow to negotiate. As before, the snow started to get a little thinner as I descended through 2400m & I could finally start ride & therefore enjoy the downhill singletrack. There were a few more spots of snow to negotiate in the shadier areas, but mostly I could ride around or over it. Dropping about 600m in 6km the ride was great fun & easily the best part of the day. It wasn't overly technical, but there were plenty of big bermed corners & some water bars to get a little air off.

Definitely a ride I'll remember for a long time, with an average moving speed of only 8 km/hr it was plenty slow - but on such a stunning day & with gorgeous scenery & a brilliant downhill to finish, it was all well worth it. Just perhaps I'll return when it's proper summer.

From late in the day, when there wasn't so much snow around.