Somewhere earlier this year I booked the yurt at Fallen Leaf Campground for the end of September. I was soooo happy to spend a night near the Tahoe at the beginning of the Fall. The weather promised to be cool but not cold. And I found a great trail we never hiked previously.

What I cannot think about is that we will find not a bright foliage but a cold first snow.
But let me start from the beginning.
The Fallen Leaf Campground starts to check in at 2 PM. We stopped at first at South Lake Tahoe shore, bought groceries and woods for the night, and arrived at the campsite right after check-in started.
I didn’t want to leave the car with the food inside. Bears are not rare guests in the Tahoe woods. So after going all groceries in the bear-safe locker, we drove to the Emerald Bay to hike Bayview Trail to Maggies Peak.
And what did we find there? The north side of the mountains was covered with the layer of snow. The sun melted the top, left the crust on the top of it and mud on the trail. I didn’t expect it. Though we wore the warm clothes but not warm for the snowy weather…
I had my heavy hiking shoes. But I had concerns about light Eugene’s Nike’s sneakers. And I was right. After just a mile they were wet. Though we continued.

The trail is uphill and moderate (not taking into account snowy-muddy conditions). After a mile, we reached the first point of view on the Emerald Bay. The goal was to hike to the top and on the way back stop there.
So we passed by Granite lake and continued our way to the top.


As soon as we reached the top point of the trail, my heart stopped for a moment. The view over Desolation wilderness, Eagle Lake, Emerald Bay, Fallen Leaf Lake, and Lake Tahoe from the same point is not a thing you see frequently 🙂

Snow covered the top of the mountain, but there was no mud. So we spent some time there taking photos and enjoyed the view.
The trail should be popular during the summer season. And definitely, should be closed during the winter.

And still, we needed to hike back. The sun turned to the low, and I afraid that the mud and snow start to freeze and become slippery.

I wanted to stop near Granite Lake. The lake looked so exciting from the trail to the top, I cannot miss the opportunity to check it with my own eyes.

And of course the close up on the Emerald Bay View.