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I parked at the vista point parking lot overlooking Fannette Island
and Emerald Bay.
The lot is across the street from the Bay View campground. The
campground was closed for the winter, but the trail was open for
business.
A family was in the parking lot playing, but no one else was on
the trail. I saw signs of early season skiers and lots of footprints,
but no actual people.
Snow covered most of the ground. There were patches of bare ground
and also lots of patches of ice. For that I was glad to have my
trekking poles to improve my balance. No more falling as I had
the previous day.
After walking through the campground, I started up the trail.
To the left is the path to Cascade Falls. To the right lies a
trail into the Desolation Wilderness.
Animal prints in the snow
The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. When it slipped
behind the clouds, it added a definite sense of winter to the
trail. It was peaceful, and it had me looking forward to returning
with my snowshoes when the snow was deep enough.
Cascade Creek just above the falls
Falls starting to freeze
The trail goes south until it reaches Cascade Lake. From there
it skirts the northern shore, as views open up toward Lake Tahoe
and the mountains behind Cascade Lake. Soon I reached Cascade Creek, which
becomes Cascade
Falls and feeds Cascade Lake. I lost the trail at this point.
I basically walked upstream as much as I could until I couldn't
easily go any farther.
Cascade Lake
The creek was fighting a losing battle against the coming winter.
An entire still portion of a feeder creek was frozen. Water still
gushed underneath and around it, by the icicles and half-frozen
plants. Soil had the look of tundra. Above, snow-covered mountains
glistened in the sunshine.
Mountain above Cascade Falls
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