2nd Nevada Hike, Marlette Lake

Marlette Lake - August 8th, 2014

Lake Tahoe State Park - Incline Village, Nevada

Distance: 8.8 mi / 14.2 km (Round Trip)

Elevation Gain: 1,200 ft. / 426.7 m.

Highest Elevation: 9,400 ft. / 2865.1 m.

Dogs: Allowed

Difficulty: Moderate

Fee: $10.00/vehicle

We mentioned in the second to last post that our first experience hiking in the desert was kind of a mixed bag.  Also, it is pertinent to this post to mention that after a few weeks in the ugly valley part of the desert in which Reno and Sparks proper reside, Allison and I were both missing the lush environment that we had become accustomed to in the PNW. We both were having some misgivings, in that respect, about our decision to relocate to the freaking high desert.  Those feelings were happening up until the day we embarked on our first adventure to Lake Tahoe.  For those of you who have never gotten a chance to experience it in person, let me tell you that Lake Tahoe is an indescribable natural phenomena which is as immense as it is beautiful.  It was also our saving grace, keeping both of us from spiraling into a situational outdoorsman's depression.

Panoramic of Marlette Lake (click to enlarge)

Now I'd like to share a few interesting facts about Lake Tahoe.  #1. Lake Tahoe definitely has a huge sea monster living in its depths.  I know this because at maximum depth of 1,645 ft. it is the second deepest lake in the United States, and I also happen to know that any lake that large and deep has to come with a sea monster.  #2.  It is not only deep, but it is also huge, surface area wise, with a surface area just shy of 200 square miles.  #3.  It is high.  The lake itself sits at 6,225 ft above sea level and is surrounded by mountains that top out at 10,981 ft. above sea level.  All of these features combine to create a region where you can't look in any direction from anywhere even close to the lake without seeing an absolutely stunning view.  

Chris, Allison, Jan & Jaxxon

With that said, we were thrilled when our friend, Jan suggested that we take a short 45 minute field trip from her house in Sparks, NV up to Lake Tahoe St. Park to hike one of her favorite hikes in the area, Marlette Lake.  Now, while Marlette lake is a mere speck of a lake compared to Tahoe, it is also very very pretty.  

Being that the beginning of the Marlette Lake hike sits at a sizable 8,200 ft. of elevation with the hike's highest point being at ~9400 ft., and given the fact that the highest peak Allison and I summited in the PNW during the summer 2014 hiking season topped out at ~5000 ft. above sea level, we were both unsure of how our bodies were going to handle exertion at this elevation.  Luckily, as we had mentioned in the second to last post, we had been making a concerted effort to walk for 45-90 minutes almost everyday of the week to help get acclimated.  Honestly, I think that expenditure of time ended up really paying off.  Don't get me wrong, the Marlette Lake hike wasn't like strolling through Central Park drinking a latte, but even though we were both huffing and puffing during the 1,200 ft. of elevation gain, I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if we hadn't decided to do our training walks.

Here are the bikers I was talking about

The hike starts at one of the Lake Tahoe State Park's ranger stations right off of Highway 28.  There are several ways to get to Marlette lake, but we decided to leave the car in the parking lot of the rangers station and begin the hike from there.  The hike is out and back on the same trail, with the mid point of the trail being the lake itself.  The trail system in most of Lake Tahoe is shared between hikers, cyclists & horseback riders.  This combination can be somewhat infuriating, especially on particularly popular trails.  What it usually means if you are a hiker is you end up having to move off the trail multiple times throughout your hike to avoid getting in a collision with bikers who may or may not be following proper trail etiquette of alerting you of their presences vocally or with a bell and giving you the right of way.  While this was also the case with the Marlette Lake trail, it was also designed so that a little after the beginning of the trail, the path splits in two trails, one which is designated as hikers only.  This made for an overall much more pleasant hiking experience for the four of us.  

After being treated with beautiful terrestrial views through the first half of the hike, we arrived at the lake.  At this point in the day it was almost perfectly clear except for some brilliant white clouds in the sky.  This caused the water to be a brilliant blue which was especially cool when contrasted with the greens and reddish browns of the surrounding Sierra Nevada landscape.  Jan had packed us all of the fixings for some really upscale sandwiches.  After about ten minutes of meticulously constructing mine, I fumbled and I dropped my sandwich which exploded as it hit the ground, covering all of these awesome ingredients with a fine, inedible layer of tiny pebbles.  Needless to say, this was one of the most heartbreaking, earth shattering experiences I have ever suffered during a hike.  Luckily, I was able to salvage some of the materials and augment what was left with some leftover fixings the rest of the group didn't want.  Jaxxon also didn't mind eating a few little rocks and some dirt and ended up getting a nice little snack himself.

The day was so nice and the water was warm enough, so Allison decided to take a dip.  It was pretty neat to be at a lake that high up and be able to spend any amount of time in it comfortably.  That would never happen in Washington!  After her dip we explored the bank of the lake a little further and then began the journey back.  By the time we turned to head home, it had started sprinkling.  About half of the way back to the car we started hearing thunder in the distance which continued and became more frequent for the duration of the hike.  This was pretty much okay for everyone except Jaxxon who, believe it or not, is deathly afraid of thunder.  So, every time there was a thunder clap, Jaxxon would explode with barks and growls.  Needless to say, this situation, which happened every 200 or so feet for the rest of the hike wasn't really so nice for the rest of us.  Luckily we got to the car and avoided any real precipitation.

Overall it was a really great hike and really deeply influenced our feelings towards our new home in a really positive way.  We have since grown to really like even the uglier parts of our new climate and hiking region and we also continue to be pleasantly surprised by the stunning places we continue to find as we further explore the region.