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The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail
Backpacking past The South End of Stony Ridge Lake
Meeks Bay Trailhead Access to the North Desolation Wilderness
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| Trail guide section index | North: Stony Ridge Lake 2 |
South: Stony Ridge to Rubicon Lake | This Topo map | miles & elevations | Miles and Elevations Index | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | All forest-wilderrness | all pages |
Stony Ridge Lake
The chain of lakes we passed coming up from Lake Genevieve terminates slopily-but beautifully-at the South end of Stony Ridge Lake. |
Marshy Meadow at the head of the valley on the South side of Stony Ridge Lake
| Delightful meadow-quagmire at the South end of Stony Ridge Lake. The low rolling granite formations appear to chek and hold water above Stony Ridge Lake creating a nice marsh-meadow. |
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| You and I want to stay the hell out of this beautiful muck and mosquito factory, but it's Duck Heaven. |
below: Looking left while backpacking South at the Wet grassy meadow on the South side of Stony Ridge Lake Verdant Greens light up the wet marsh and grassy meadow on the South Side of Stony Ridge Lake. Movement in the water draws my eye, causing a pause in the pace. It's Ducks feeding in the Marsh. They too notice me, and take my measure. They decide to measure out a bit more distance between us, and move leisurely away. This wet mess on the South Side of Stony Ridge Lake precludes it as a location for good campsites. Find camping along the drier North and Northwest sides of the lake. |
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| Verdant green marshy meadow fills up the head of the valley North of Stony Ridge Lake. | Hiking past, I noticed movements in the marshy flow, it's Ducks! |
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| Ducks chilling, but moving away from Al. | I always stop and watch when the ducks are out. Hell, I try to observe everything. |
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| Always plan extra time for each day's backpacking so you can stop and watch the Ducks, and everything else that crosses your path. | |
Desolation Wilderness
Meeks Bay to Stony Ridge LakeNice hiking on Lake Tahoe's Western Shore. Stony Ridge Lake Elevation: 7800 feet, +1201' rise over Meeks Bay trail head elevation. Mileage: Southern side of Stony Ridge Lake is 6.62 miles South of Meeks Bay trail head. 2.26 miles South to Phipps Pass up 1000 feet of elevation. |
Into the Heart of the Desolation Wilderness Our easy hike out of Meeks Bay terminates at the South Side of Stony Ridge Lake. The hike up to Phipps Pass is a brief easy-grade intermediate difficulty hike. Climbing up to Phipps Pass will open up broad vistas of the Southwestern Shore of Lake Tahoe, and dropping down off the pass brings us into the Heart of the Desolation Wilderness. Middle Velma Lake is another 3.44 miles past Phipps Pass, which is 5.7 miles from the South side of Stony Ridge Lake. |
Nice Trail Work
| Nice use of granite slabs to cover busy creek across the trail. |
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| I could see that it took a lot of work to get to the point where these large granite "flakes" would cover the gap over the creeklet below. |
| This trail crew feature made me go off trail to get a better look at this pro bit of trail work. |
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| Side view of the build-up and cap-stoned section on the South side of Stony Ridge Lake. |
Video: Climbing from Stony Ridge Lake to Phipps Pass
Views of Stony Ridge Lake Climbing South towards Rubicon Lake
| Climbing South from Stony Ridge Lake. |
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| Climbing South from Stony Ridge Lake we can see the marsh at its South end. |
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| Climbing South from Stony Ridge Lake towards Rubicon Lake and on to Phipps Pass. Our trail followed along the Western, or left side of the lake. |
Backpacking North: Stony Ridge Lake 2 Backpacking South: Stony Ridge to Rubicon Lake
Stony Ridge Lake |
Departing the Southern Side of Stony Ridge Lake Southward presents us with a 2.26 mile hike up 1000 feet to Phipps Pass. The trail is nicely switchbacked at a gentle grade. The hike between Stony Ridge Lake and Phipps Pass is an intermediate level hike. The fine forest trails we have traveled on so far will now be decorated with the Great Granite Formations first rising out of dense forest, which characterize the lower part of the climb up to Phipps Pass. The higher up we go the greater the exposed granite features. Hiking Topo Map: Meeks to Genevieve Hiking Topo Map: Genevieve to Susie Lake |
Backpacking North Trail Guide |
Backpacking South Trail Guide |
Backpacker ForumsGeneral Backpacking Topics:TahoetoWhitney.OrgAdd your experiences, comments, or pictures about your Hiking Trips around Stony Ridge Lake:Section: Tahoe to Echo SummitSegment: Stony Ridge Lake |
North: Stony Ridge Lake 2 South: Stony Ridge to Rubicon Lake
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Backpacking Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney
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