Leon Turnbull Photography

My plan was ambitious. A three hour one way hike from the Horsetail Falls parking area up to the top of the falls and onto Pyramid Lake, and then back down again before dark. All in all, hoping to see three new waterfalls in good lighting conditions. 2000 ft. elevation gain, in about 4 miles of hiking (1 way).

My wife and kids were up for the weekend in Grass Valley, helping look after nephew Soren, as mom and dad were in the hospital in anticipation of new arrival, India Sierra, who came into the world Saturday afternoon. So I had the weekend to myself, and perhaps that is one reason why I planned such an ambitious hike. I left the house around 10:30am, arriving at the trailhead just before noon.

My major concern about all this was actually just finding a parking spot. Horsetail Falls is one of the premier hiking destinations in the Lake Tahoe area, and is extremely popular on the weekend. I would be arriving at the worst time, noon on Saturday. I was praying for a spot, because I did not did not did not want to have to park the car a half mile or so away, which would turn a difficult 8 mile hike into a 9 or more mile hike. The parking lot was indeed full when I arrived, but thankfully, there was one spot available on the other side of the highway, as someone was just leaving. The bonus of parking here is also that I did not have to pay a parking fee, and it was only just across the highway from the main parking lot.

Twelve noon and off I went. As expected, the first part of the trail up to Horsetail Falls was very busy, with lots of people on the trail. Once I got up to the falls, I expected to leave most of these people well behind. Horsetail Falls was roaring, in prime form. Bryan Swan (of waterfallsnorthwest.com) and I both measured the height of this magnificent creation separately, and we came up with the numbers: 790 ft. At peak melt, this waterfall is absolutely stunning.

Now for the hard part. Getting to the top of the waterfall. It is a 1000 ft. climb to the top. I have been up to the top three times before, but this time, I had incredible difficulty. I could not find a good route, it just seemed very dangerous, and difficult. I do not remember it being this bad before (and I did this hike just last year). What happened? Am I just getting too wimpy in my old age, or what?  I was not the only one either. There were others who were waffling on the ascent. I examined three or four different routes, and they all looked bad. Finally, I just picked one and went up, very carefully. Usually coming down is a lot harder than going up, and needless to say, I was worried about the descent later that evening. This was not the route I have done in the past, so perhaps that was the problem, but I’m not sure. I do remember there was one difficult section on our ascent last year, but I do not remember having a lot of problems with it. Next time, I will try to find that other route and see if it is any easier or not.

Finally at the top, I rested. It is an easy jaunt over to Ropi Lake from the top of Horsetail Falls, then a bit of an ascent up to Pyramid Lake, but nothing too difficult at the least. Ropi Lake Falls was roaring as well. Gee, I sure would have liked to get a good photo of this waterfall in peak form, but it was in full sun. I’ll be thinking about making a return to this one at a later date. At Ropi Lake, I caught up to a group of about 10 boys, who as it turned out, were also on their way to Pyramid Lake. So much for leaving everyone behind at Horsetail Falls and having this hike all to myself. They were hiking at a good clip, but I passed them up, and continued up to Gefo Lake, and then on to Pyramid Lake. It took about an hour from the top of Horsetail, as I anticipated. There was no one at Pyramid Lake when I arrived, and the boys had disappeared. Where did they go? They were right behind me. Did they turn back?

I ventured to the waterfall at the end of the lake, cascading down from towering 9983 ft. Pyramid Peak. It is a really really tall cascade, about 400 ft. high, but you cannot see the entire waterfall from any vantage point. It was also flowing on the poor side, and I was quite a bit disappointed actually, as I was expecting a lot more flow. I made it up to a spot where it drops most significantly, essentially a 100 ft. drop in two major tiers separated by a long slide. The upper section was in full sun, but the lower 23 ft. drop was in partial shade. I estimated the falls would be in the sun until about 6pm. I could not wait that long, or I would be hiking back in the dark down Horsetail Falls, not something I had any desire to do. I decided to shoot the lower falls in partial shade, then head back to the falls below Pyramid Lake, which I knew was already in shade.

On my way back down, I saw the boys again. They were traversing down to the lake from high above the waterfall. They definitely took the long route to Pyramid Lake. They caught up with me, and I found out they had initially intended on climbing to the top of Pyramid Peak but decided against it, as they would be hiking back in the dark without any lights. Good decision, guys. They also told me (when I asked them) that there was not really any spectacular or significant drops of the waterfall up above where I could not see. Good.

The waterfall at Pyramid Lake was also on the low side, and it was also impossible to get a view of the entire waterfall due to the cliffs. I could only shoot the top portion of this waterfall, but at least it was in shade. The waterfall at Gefo Lake was also in shade when I got back down to it, a very tall cascade, and I think it would be very interesting at high flow, but not this day. I think I’d like to return here earlier in the summer next time I am up this way.

Back at the top of Horsetail Falls, I rested. I was extremely tired from the hike, and my back was killing me. I actually briefly considered (for maybe two seconds) just sleeping there at the top of Horsetail Falls. I didn’t think it would be too terribly cold, or there would be too many mosquitoes. Hmmph, but I had to go play drums in church first thing in the morning.  I had to suck it up and get back down, and I had an hour before dark. The descent was easy. I found the “proper route”, and made it back down in very good time. The dangerous section also was a lot easier going down then up (usually, it is the other way around). I did not shoot Horsetail Falls, as it was already almost dark (and of course, I was super tired). As it is, I did not get back to the car until well after dark. What an incredible day in the Desolation Wilderness.