After our Emerald Bay hike, we headed back to our room for some hydration, a little stretching and a good breakfast before our big hike of the day.  We heard from a women working in our resort about the Shirley Lake Trail.  If you take the 4 mile trail that climbs 3000 feet to the high camp, you can take the tram back to the resort for free.  That saves us $36.00/piece for the tram and gives us the length of hike that we were looking for.

It started off as a nice walk through the woods, watching for the blue marks that kept us heading in the right direction.  We met a couple from Sacramento that does this hike often and they were my cheerleaders throughout our journey.

Pretty soon after I took my first water break, things got more difficult.  Now, I’m not in the best shape, but I’m not totally out of shape either.  This was hard.  We hit a granite slab that was just like walking up a steep ramp for what seemed like an eternity.  Thanks to our new hiking friends and my super awesome supportive husband, I didn’t end up killing anyone or crying.  I just stopped every 2 minutes to drink water and rest my legs.

The thing that about put me over the edge was the “MapMyHike” app that Justin was using.  It announces how far you’ve come and I heard it say 2 miles… that was only halfway.  I had a small meltdown, but then we got to Shirley Lake and I found my second wind – I have a Cliff Bar to thank for that.  Well, that and the fact that my Sacramento friends advised me that there was beer at High Camp to celebrate my first big kid hike.

After our little break at the lake, I was ready to conquer the rest of the hill.  I pretty much blacked out the rest of the hike until the trees broke and the view happened.  It was worth the pain.  High camp has all kinds of fun places including a pool, a skating rink and a bar/restaurant.  We celebrated with our new friends with Heineken’s and a Mai Tai and lots of water.  Then we boarded the tram for the nice quick ride back to the resort.

Turns out that a hike like that can burn up to 1200 calories.  We spent our last night in Tahoe drinking, eating and enjoying a few different lake front spots.  The problem with me waiting to write these recaps for weeks is that I totally forgot the bar we got my favorite drink at – the drink is called a Wet Woody – anyone?
OK, so get to Tahoe.  Visit Emerald Bay.  Stay at the Village at Squaw Valley and hike the Shirley Lake/High Camp trail.  Enjoy a wet woody.  And you should probably invite me to come with you.  I loved everything about our few days there.  
A Compass Rose