Have you ever been to the highest point of Lake Tahoe?
After traveling in a van for the last four months through Alaska, I am back in Lake Tahoe for the next month. For my first day back, I wanted to load it up with adventures!
Meeting up with a few friends, at 5:45am (which is way to early!) we all watched the sunrise over Emerald Bay. Without a plan, we enjoyed some coffee, watched the sun rise, and hiked around the Eagle Falls area.
As our bellies growled, we headed for breakfast burritos in South Lake Tahoe. As a group, we chose Jalapeno’s Taqueria, as we had heard it was good and I must say, the chorizo, egg, and potato burrito hit the spot.
Hiking Freel Peak in Lake Tahoe. Photograph by Dalton Johnson
As we ate, still without a plan, ideas started to fly, but only one stuck. The conversation kinda went like:
“Hey, how does hiking to the summit of Freel sound to you all?” a buddy asked.
“I’m in!”
“Sounds rad to me!”
Scarfing down our burritos and loading up in the van, we headed to the trailhead for Freel. The highest point in Lake Tahoe. With hopes of being on the summit of Freel for sunset, we packed a few snacks and headed out on the 10 mile hike.
As the miles passed under our feet, we moved up. Reaching the saddle just before the turn off for the summit.
“Snack break?!”
“Yes PLEASE!” I said.
“I’d love to get some of these rocks out of my shoes.”
Cheeze-it’s and a granola bar, not the best snack mix but it went down the hatch. With only one mile left until the summit of Freel, we had to hike quickly, for the sunset was only 30 minutes away.
Working hard, huffing and puffing, we moved across the rocky terrain. Using hiking poles, we kept our balance and leaned into them to cover the last mile, quickly.
“Woooo”
“Yeww yewww Yeww”
“Ow ow”
We all were shouting into the wind from the summit of Freel Peak in South Lake Tahoe, where we watched the sunset from the highest point in Lake Tahoe.
After taking in the views our last adventure of an epic day in Lake Tahoe was to hike back to the van in the dark.
Fun Fact: The highest point in the Lake Tahoe area is Freel Peak which sits at 10,886 feet of elevation.
We reached the summit of Freel Peak in Lake Tahoe for sunset by hiking. Photograph by Dalton Johnson
Do you want to Hike Freel Peak?
Good things to know before hiking Freel Peak:
The road to the trailhead is hard on your vehicle
Use a high clearance vehicle for the approach to the trailhead
This hike is difficult and in direct sunlight, bring water
There is limited and seasonal water on this trail, do not plan on refilling your water
You can camp at the trailhead
The trail is apart of the Tahoe Rim Trail
You can camp at the summit of Freel Peak
What you need to hike Freel Peak in Lake Tahoe:
5-6 hours
Here is the AllTrails link to the hike:
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/freel-peak-from-armstrong-pass