This photo so reminds me of the time Joe and I packed into Showers Lake, only to discover we forgot the bug repellent in the horse trailer. The trail starts at Schneider Camp Road on the north side of Highway 88 about twenty five miles outside of South Tahoe, and climbs to a ridge that surrounds the Meiss Lake basin, providing excellent views of Lake Tahoe in the distance. Then the trail drops down to Showers Lake, which is located on the Pacific Crest Trail. Not that it was a long ride in, but long enough.

We quickly determined the 'skeeters were more than we could handle (a particularly bad year as there were clouds of them!), so I hopped back on Apres and made a break neck race back to the truck and trailer to retrieve the precious commodity.

Lake Tahoe summers are hit with nightly thunder storms and this was no exception. Apres and I were bucketed with hail, rain, lightning and thunder as we ran down the mountainous ridge of the Sierras Pacific Crest to 88...and back up again towards camp (soaking wet by this time). Amazingly, the 10 mile rocky trip took only two hours with a ten minute breather at the truck round trip.

More on Showers Lake ---->>

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Right off HWY 88, east of Caples and Silver Lake.

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Plan on 4 hours by horseback, or 6 hours on foot and be sure to carry plenty of water and snacks. You have a long ways to go!

Showers Lake lies completely on the Tahoe Rim Trail, just northwest of where the Tahoe Rim Trail joins the Pacific Crest Trail, about two miles south of round lake.

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The worst mosquito infested place I know!

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One of my favorite old homesteads. Makes one wonder how they dealt with the winters up here.

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A little history regarding John Schneider, whom the cow camp was named after:

The bunkhouse was built for John Schneider in about 1921..... "Schneider was an immigrant German trapper who came to the ranch in the 1920s and stayed on as a ranch hand and jack-of-all-trades. Called "Coyote John" or "Hans," Schneider was well-known in the county in his later years working for Lorenzo Recanzone at the nearby Mill Ranch."

"Schneider became an informal member of the Recanzone family, who found in him a stout worker and loyal friend who was able to protect the Recanzone women and children when the men were working away from the ranch. Carlo Recanzone remembers from his childhood at the Mill Ranch when Schneider chased a threatening stranger away with his trusty "thirty-thirty" Winchester."

"And when Lorenzo Recanzone took the whole family back to Italy and France in 1919 to deliver a deceased relative to the old country, Schneider was put in charge of the ranch. A substantial amount of money was put in the bank in Winnemucca in Schneider's name, to be used as needed. When the family returned to Paradise not one dollar had been spent. Trustworthy men like Schneider had a strong role in rearing the youngsters and passing on knowledge of the ranch life and work. Carlo and his sister Angie Recanzone Genasci fondly recall "old Hans." As Carlo put it, "Old John was a grand ole guy for us." Schneider died in 1932 at the age of ninety and is buried in the Paradise community cemetery near the Recanzone family plots."

Quoted from http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/buckaroos/crview10.html

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Showers Lake is the highest lake in the "Upper Truckee River Basin" and seems to sit at the top of the world at 8,790 feet. A small lake, it's far bigger than it looks in this photo. At the far end, the water plummets 200+ feet over the edge of an old man made dam and you can overlook the Tahoe basin.

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...and yes, there's good sized fish in the lake too!

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It's hard to see, but that is dappled water flowing over the edge of the rock at the bottom of the pic. It is so beautiful here!

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Showers Lake is one of my favorite destination points around Tahoe, more so since it also has good angling for brook trout. En route, the trail passes through the Upper Truckee River drainage, and Meiss Meadows, riddled by many streams in the springtime, offering panoramic views of immense volcanic formations, expansive meadows with views of Round Top (10,381'), Elephant's Back (9,585') and Red Lake Peak (10,063').

This is part of loving the high country. Your view of the terrain does not just seek out the beauty, but also sees beauty in the logic of the terrain and its drainiges. To the observer this might reveal the most likely route, or possibly unlikely approach, and the nature and difficulty of the upcoming experience. A calculation of the investment you will have to put in, to get the view.

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