First Lake Tahoe Hike

If you asked Drake, today was our first 'real' day in Lake Tahoe.  We came here for the peace and quiet and to HIKE.  Lake Tahoe has been buzzing with vacationers making most of the hikes overcrowded and difficult to access.  We've been waiting for after the Labor Day weekend to start hiking since when the kiddos go back to school, the numbers of people accessing the attractions drops like the proverbial stone.

When Sarah was about 13, the FWISD had this super calendar in which we had a "fall break".  It was a week in October, and we went to Lake Tahoe on an adult vacation.  The HEB school wasn't out, so we needed someone to care for Sarah in our home, so she could go to school each day.  We left Sarah with Stephanie, a family friend, who was a college student at the time since Sarah informed us she was 'too old to be babysat by a grandma'.  Stephanie was great, and she allowed just enough 'fun' stuff - including hanging out with college girls for Sarah to be really happy.

Lake Tahoe is when I learned I really like hiking, day hiking anyway.  This is where I bought my first pair of hiking boots.  Today we went re-hiking one of my favorite trails:  The Rubicon Trail.  It runs along a bluff at the edge of Lake Tahoe.  With some hikes, you trudge along a pretty ho-hum trail to get to the prize at the end - waterfall hikes are like that.  However, the Rubicon has beautiful views of what most people

consider to be the most scenic part of Lake Tahoe along three-quarters of the hike.  It's also fairly level with a slight downhill going and a slight uphill returning.  Just enough to let you know you've had a workout.

Now hiking for me is a real challenge.  First, I have to get into cardio shape which is difficult since in a fitness center it's mostly done on a treadmill or a cross trainer or a stair master.  All of those pieces of equipment make my feet hurt worse than usual.  However, I've been using the cross-trainer at the fitness center we joined and lumping it.  Next, it helps if you lift weights with your legs to develop those thigh and calf muscles.  That's no problem - I actually like weight machines.  Finally, I have to 'prepare' my feet.  Today, it took me 15 minutes to get my feet ready for this 3 mile hike.  I won't bore you with the details.

It was worth all the effort, and my feet aren't too bad after the hike - just normal pain.  A big plus of this house we're living in is there's a hot tub on the back deck.  I took a million pictures, of course.  This is the first trail of many over the next six weeks.  Here are the pictures of the Rubicon Trail

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/6054647278151115361?authkey=CNG55I_wk4WUKw