On Memorial Day Weekend, we were blessed with some cold but clear weather, and to take advantage, we did some awesome Lake Tahoe hiking and climbed a pair of Tahoe peaks! The first of which was Ralston Peak in the Desolation Wilderness!
Located in the Desolation Wilderness, perhaps Tahoe’s most beautiful setting, Ralston is a relatively minor peak, but the views from the top are outstanding! While the north face was still covered in feet of snow, the trail, which ascends the southern slopes, was totally snow free due to the constant sunshine. It turned out to be a great late spring hike!
Miles/Elevation:
6.6 miles
2,791 feet vertical gain
About Desolation Wilderness:
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
At 63,960 acres, Desolation Wilderness is a relatively small designated wilderness area that contains alpine forests, lakes, peaks, and granite formations to the west of Lake Tahoe. Containing part of the Sierra Crest, the mountains of the wilderness create some of the most stunning panoramas in all of California.
Desolation is one of the most popular wilderness areas in California. Overnight usage is heavily regulated, and permits are required for all overnight use. For day use, hikers should complete free day use permits available at the many trailheads located around the wilderness.
Getting To The Trailhead:
The Ralston Peak Trailhead is located on highway 50. From the Tahoe area including South Lake Tahoe, follow highway 50 over Echo Summit and down the western side. From Echo Summit, follow the road for just under 6 miles until you reach the parking lot on the right side of the highway, across the road from Camp Sacramento.
From the west, including the Bay Area, Sacramento, and most of the rest of California, follow highway 50 into the mountains. Continue until you reach Strawberry and then Twin Bridges. From Twin Bridges, the trailhead is 1 more mile on the left across from Camp Sacramento.
The Ralston Peak Trail:
The Beginning:
From the parking lot, begin by hiking up the gravel fire road that heads deeper into the forest. The actual trail then takes a quick left turn, but we missed that turn and took a bit of a detour!
What you should be on is a pretty well graded singletrack that goes through a severely burned section of forest. The trail climbs consistently, but is never exceptionally steep or difficult, and in fact this is probably the easiest part of the hike.
In actuality, we missed the turn onto the single track and continued on the fire road. By the time I noticed that we had missed a turn, we had probably climbed over 100 vertical feet, so rather than turning around and losing that hard fought elevation, I found an alternate route up. The fire road continued up the lower slopes of the mountain, and eventually rejoined the actual trail.
This is bear country so make sure you’re bear safe!
The fire road actually wasn’t bad, and in hindsight, was probably a bit more scenic than the singletrack trail. The forest was still thoroughly burned, but the trees weren’t blackened stumps in the same way. Anyway, after about a mile and 600 feet of climbing, we reached the end of what I call the beginning of the hike!
At the one mile mark, you will reach a ridge and have a really cool view looking west down the valley. From here to the summit, you will have consistent looks out through the trees at the mountains and hills to the south and west. However, the incline gets really intense starting here!
The Middle:
The next 1.4 miles of hiking will see you gaining 1,400 vertical feet. That 1,000 feet per mile clip is pretty serious, and the trail is obnoxiously steep!
The forest through this section will continue to be burned, but as you climb, the trees naturally thin out, even without fire. This means that the views become more consistent, and as you climb they naturally become better too!
Fortunately, you will have plenty of time to enjoy the views because you’ll probably be making stops every minute or two! The trail is crazy steep through this portion, and while we weren’t in the best shape, hadn’t acclimated, and had hiked 14 miles the previous day, almost everyone who isn’t an insane athlete will be taking frequent breathers on this trail!
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
The trail is dusty, ashy, and loose. There are spots where on the way down you will be at risk of sliding straight down, but at least on the way up it just hurts your ankles! Just keep climbing, and if it feels like you’re moving slow, recognize that’s normal, and you’re probably still moving at a decent pace!
After 1.4 miles on what I’m calling the middle sector of the hike, you’ll reach a trail junction. Now, after the fire, it’s tough to see, but going left will drop you down into Desolation Wilderness. Stay right to continue towards the summit of Ralston Peak!
The End:
Past the trail junction, you’re on what I’m calling the upper section of the hike. From here, you have just under a mile and about 800 vertical feet of climbing to the summit!
While 800 vertical feet in a mile is still a steep trail, it honestly feels so much better. Maybe the gradient is more even or the trail is just better made, but it certainly doesn’t feel as steep up here!
You’ll also notice that the foliage changes in this top segment of the trail as well. The forest seriously thins as you climb higher and higher, and as a result, you’ll actually hike your way out of the burn scar and into some green trees. This upper, thinner, forest apparently was sparse enough to escape the flames, or maybe it was high enough that the air wasn’t thick enough to sustain the inferno. Either way, it’s certainly a nice change!
Check out the Stevens Trail in the foothills below Tahoe for great spring hiking!
Looking up, I had also noticed something weird: some of the trees appeared to have gray needles on them. We weren’t quite sure what we were actually looking at, were they ashy, snow covered, frozen? We didn’t have an answer, but once we hiked up to these upper slopes, we figured it out!
All of the plants on the upper slopes of Ralston were covered in a layer of ice. Apparently, there was a seriously hard frost the morning or night before our hike, and by the time we were here, the ice was slowly melting, and chunks were falling on our heads! It was definitely a new experience for me, but now I’ll know what I’m looking at in the future!
Anyway, continue hiking up the mountain, and make sure you turn around from time to time to take in the epic views looking south that you’ll now have, and before long, you’ll arrive at the base of the summit “block.” I put block in parentheses because it’s not so much a block as a pile of small, loose, rocks!
I hesitate to even call the final approach to the summit a scramble, but I guess I would call it a very easy class 2. The easiest route to the summit is up the left (western) side. If you’re careful, you may actually find the light use trail that somewhat leads through the rocks. We didn’t take that route and instead blasted our way straight up the slope. Again, this hardly counts as a scramble, so you’ll make it just fine!
The High Meadows to Cold Creek hike is a great moderate option in Tahoe!
Once at the summit, the views in every direction are absolutely stunning. Cresting the summit, you’ll gain your first view of the day at the main body of Desolation Wilderness and Lake Tahoe in the distance. Desolation was still largely ice and snow covered which only added to the splendor!
For the most iconic Tahoe hike, you have to check out the Rubicon Trail!
Mt Tallac, further in the distance on the far side of Desolation, towers over the more proximate valleys, and peaking out around the side of Tallac was the stunning blue of Tahoe itself!
Looking east, looming large were the trio of Freel Peak, Jobs Peak, and Jobs Sister. The triple summit day of those 3 wrecked me last summer, so it was nice to be admiring them from a distance! Looking south yielded better versions of views we had been seeing all day, and to the west the Sierra Nevada foothills faded into the distance!
Check out the Martis Peak Trail for a gentler Tahoe summit hike!
This summit may not be the most spectacular itself, but it provides you with an incredible vantage of some of the best scenery California has to offer! We took it all in, had some snacks, and eventually headed down for the hike out.
Hiking Out:
From the summit, the hike back to the trailhead is a simple return back the way you came. Once off the summit block, the first mile should go quickly down the upper slopes of the mountain. The toughest and slowest part of the descent comes through the middle sector.
As you would have already experienced, the middle sector of this climb is the brutal part, and that brutality will know wreak havoc on your knees! The trail is steep and usually loose and sandy, so you will likely find yourself slipping through the steepest and most precarious areas!
Take it at your own speed, and make sure you get through it safely. This descent is only a bit over 3 miles, so even if this part of the hike takes awhile, you still won’t be on the trail for all that long.
Once you’re done with the middle sector and on the final mile it’ll go by fast. The singletrack over the final mile only loses 600 vertical feet, which makes for a very comfortable descending grade. Before you know it, you’ll see the flashes of windshields through the trees, then your own car in the parking lot, and then you’re done!
Verdict: 9/10
When you consider the fact that this hike is only 6 miles and change, it’s pretty fantastic. Ralston itself may not be the most imposing summit, but the views from the top are exceptional, and there aren’t many mountains with significantly better views. Even better, you’ll have really nice views most of the way up!
While the views of this hike are exceptional, there are drawbacks. In places, the trail is excessively steep. Like seriously, it gets ridiculous in spots. And unfortunately, this area recently saw serious fire damage, and that scar is still very prevalent. In fact we were stirring up ash during most of the hike.
All together, this is a really really good hike. Is it the greatest trail in California, or the best summit hike in California? Certainly not, but it is a really good 6 mile hike!
Pros:
- Great views
- Awesome summit
Cons:
- Extremely steep
- Burned forest
Alternative Hikes:
Freel Peak, Jobs Sister, Jobs Peak Loop
The High Meadows To Cold Creek Loop
When To Hike Ralston Peak:
For a brutally long day, complete a triple summit day of Freel Peak, Jobs Sister, and Jobs Peak!
While the Lake Tahoe area is a haven for athletes at all times of year, hiking is best done here in the warmer months. Tahoe is famous for its massive snowfall, so trails can be snowed in into the summer.
This hike is pretty high in elevation, so snow will linger up here later than the nearby lower elevation areas. Most years, expect to still be encountering snow well into May, with conditions becoming reliably snow free in June, though you may be able to hike it without snow earlier. Snow is possible anytime during the year at high elevation, but conditions should be snow free until late September or October.
This hike can be done anytime there isn’t a ton of snow on the ground, and even then could make for a nice snowshoe hike or cross country ski outing! I would personally recommend this hike between June and September, and the broader Tahoe area anytime between June and October.
Be aware there isn’t much for shade on this hike, so on especially warm days, it will get hot!
Links For Further Reading:
Ralston Peak – California | AllTrails
Ralston Peak : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost
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