Hike #20 – Snowbowl Trailhead South – 19 Miles

 And up we go. Having a desire to summit Humphrey’s Peak 12,633 feet,  we were back in the Tahoe last Tuesday, July 25th. Unfortunately, it was rain, rain, rain as we approached Flagstaff, the peak completely covered in clouds. Oh well….. plan B.  A 19 mile hike connecting back to Hike #19. Tom and I about a year ago did the Kachina trail that comes out of the snowbowl parking lot and just loved it. If you want to hike anything… do that trail. Simply awesome.  So second to that, the AZT passes about a mile south of the Kachina trail, springing off the Aspen Loop trail from the Snowbowl parking lot. Park in the lower parking lot on the left. The trailhead is east of the food trailer. This AZT hike, hike #21, was as I like to call a fishbowl hike; down down down then up up and up. The first section of the trail coming off the Aspen Loop trail is simply gorgeous. Alpine scenes, aspen trees, grassy pastures, ferns all over the ground. Then you go down off the mountain about 1500 feet in 5.5 miles and hike across the Snowbowl road that you drove leading up the parking lot. We hiked about another 4 miles past the road to the turn around, ate lunch and then headed back up the hill. The elevation gain was not horrible heading back up. About a 6% grade on the 1500 feet gain but it stretched out over 5 miles, The climb will start after you get past the road again. The trail is well used and easy to follow and the whole hike mentally went actually pretty quick. We did get rain on and off all day but nothing too scary. No thunder or lighting, just rain. Actually found a new appreciation for the Six Moons hiking umbrella… Finishing the hike, the only surprise we had was the 1 mile back up to the parking lot on the Aspen Loop trail…. kind of forgot about that coming down. Putting the total hike mileage at nearly 21. All in all a great hike. Maybe Humphreys Peak next week……