Leon Turnbull Photography

Awhile ago my friend Jeremy told me about a better road to Bowman Lake than the horrendous Bowman Lake Road. I decided to try it out. I wanted to get back to Weaver Lake and I thought a backpacking trip there would be a great idea.

The new road is absolutely awful. Sorry my friend, it is awful. Well, I guess it is better than Bowman Lake Road, but that just tells you how horrendous that road is. I got to within 4 miles of Bowman Lake before I hit snow. I knew there would be snow and was hoping I could get to within 3 miles, so I figure 4 miles was pretty darn good. It would be a 7 mile hike from here to Weaver Lake. (6.7 miles to be precise). It is an easy hike and I arrived at Weaver Lake by about noon. It was a glorious day.

I saw a couple people at Bowman Lake but I did not see their vehicle. Did they drive up Bowman Lake Road? Is that road open yet? Normally that road is not open so early in the spring but I did see a lot of jeep tracks on the road I came in on. These jeepers can drive in the snow without difficulty. They can also leave a lot of trash. I know it was them because the trash was on the top of the snow and no one else has been up here yet this year besides jeepers. It is so bloody annoying. They have a vehicle. Why can’t they take their trash back with them? I must have picked up about 4 pounds (no exaggeration) and had to carry it out with me (on my back, not in my jeep).

No one had been up to Weaver Lake yet (but that would soon change). I found a great campsite at the outlet stream of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a couple Canadian Geese living at the lake here and I enjoyed their company for awhile. I ate my lunch and setup camp.

It was early so I decided I would go check out Weaver Lake Falls to see if I could get to it. I was definitely unsure about it. To get to the waterfall you have to first climb straight up a fairly steep cascade. At low flows it is not difficult but at high flows it is impossible. Right now the waterfall is at peak flow for the year and it most certainly would have been impossible to get up … however … there was a rope. With the rope I could climb up that cascade without too much difficulty, walking right up the middle of it in the water. It was fun! I made it up to the big drop, Weaver Lake Falls, 94 ft. high. Behind me coming up as well were a couple guys, I think the same ones I saw at Bowman Lake. I still did not see their vehicle so I guess they must have walked from Bowman Lake. They did not have proper shoes for climbing up the cascade but I am glad they did not leave their trash behind.

Now that I knew I could get to the waterfall I returned to camp for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed. I would come back in the evening to take my photos. My peace and quiet filled afternoon was rudely interrupted by jeepers who came up to the Weaver Lake area. They are so darn loud. I am so glad I made my campsite a bit off the road beside the outlet stream. I could still hear them but at least I could not see them.

After dinner I went back to the falls to take my photos. This time I was the only one there. Interestingly, a small tree had fallen down the cliff beside the cascade that you have to climb up. Did those two guys do that? It seems odd if they did that on purpose (not to mention stupid and dangerous). I have no idea what happened and maybe it was unintentional but they must have done something to destabilize the tree. Anyway I had a beautiful time in the evening at Weaver Lake Falls.

I got back to my camp at sunset and went to bed. It was a COLD NIGHT. The wind picked up tremendously. Not only was it cold but the wind made it much worse. I got almost zero sleep. Whenever I dropped off for a bit the wind would blast through and shake my tent all to bits, waking me up. I was not comfortable but not all that cold in my sleeping bag; I was prepared for the temperature but not for any cold wind. There had been no wind at all for this night in the weather forecast. I had been planning to do another hike in the morning but decided to nix that idea sometime during the night. I think it was a good choice with it being so cold and getting no sleep (and it would have been a hard hike). I woke up in the morning, my shoes were frozen (from climbing up that cascade), it was still cold and very windy, and not even my coffee could warm me up. I got back to the car by noon and drove home. It was a quick but awesome trip to Tahoe National Forest.