Leanne had a golden weekend (what we call a weekend with two days off in residency), so we decided to make the most of it. Thursday night we packed our bags and Friday, right after work, I headed to Sacramento to pick up Leanne from UC Davis. From there we headed toward South Lake Tahoe, CA.

We checked into an AirBnB that accepted puppies. The plan originally was to ski since the slopes are normally teeming with fresh powdery snow by this time, but this has been an unusual year. Snow came really late and really little, so most slopes are still closed and the snow is not yet great for skiing. This did not deter us! We decided to go hiking instead!

We picked a hard 10.5 mile trail, out and back, that took us from the ground all the way up to the peak of Mount Tallac! We started at an elevation around 6000 feet and climbed up to 9000 feet!

The trail was hard but was breathtakingly beautiful. Miles had an absolute blast as well!

After an incredible effort, climbing jagged rocks and hardened ice for which we had to attach microspikes to our shoes to climb, we finally got to the top! Miles, amazingly at only 8 months old, also made it with us!

The views at the top were so gorgeous that words cannot describe it.

The problem came on the trek down. By the time we finally made it up, it was already well into afternoon. The sun would be setting by 4:30pm and if we didn’t go fast down, we could get stuck on the trail at night. South Lake Tahoe gets below freezing at night and the woods in the dark can also be dangerous due to bears and other wildlife. We had to get down the mountain and without delay. Those 5 miles down were the fastest I’ve ever hiked.

We were at the end of the trail when it got dark but we were close enough to use flashlights and make it through. Taking off those boots and taking a hot shower after that crazy all-day hike (from 8am until 5:30pm) was the best feeling ever.

The following is the documentary I made that captures the hiking experience. I can’t wait to climb the next mountain!