Hike: Mt Tallac Trail to Floating Island and Cathedral Lake – Lake Tahoe 2017

Statistics

According to my AllTrails.com recording of this hike (August 22, 2017), it was:

Distance: 5.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1201 feet
Moving Time: 2 hours 21 minutes
Total Elapsed Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
Average Speed: 2.2 mph

Like with Sedona, I love to hike in Lake Tahoe. I do just as much research about hiking trails around Lake Tahoe as with Sedona, and every year, I try to do at least two or three new trails along with a couple of my favorites. This past August, I found Floating Island and Cathedral Lake as new destinations to hike to, just outside of the Lake Tahoe area.

Some trails, I hike alone. Other trails, I hike with my brother or other family members who want to come along. But with Cathedral Lake, I looked forward to a solo hike and hoped for some solitude with nature.

Heading out to the Mount Tallac Trailhead, though, the weather report was insistent that rain was imminent, but the skies were only partly cloudy. I knew, though, that the weather around Lake Tahoe can change very quickly. Rainstorms can develop suddenly and either pass by in minutes, or linger for some time. I didn’t want to abandon my hiking plans and kept my fingers crossed that I had time to hike up to Cathedral Lake and come back before too much rain fell. I’d lucked out in the past.

This time I was not so lucky.

To Floating Island

The first part of the hike was nice – gentle uphill that was more or less straight heading south, parallel with the shoreline of Fallen Leaf Lake to the right and below. It was still partly cloudy, but as the hike progressed, part of the sky was getting darker. But to the north, the skies were still mostly blue. As the trail climbed higher, you could see more of Lake Tahoe to the north of Fallen Leaf Lake.

Eventually, the trail veered to the right away from Fallen Leaf Lake and snaked uphill a little more steeply. Shortly thereafter, the trail led to Floating Island Lake. It is a small lake, but very peaceful. The reflection of the trees surrounding the lake on the water made for some picturesque views.

To Cathedral Lake

Continuing on the trail, which crossed a small creek, you continue to climb uphill before leveling off upon getting to Cathedral Lake. It is roughly the same size as Floating Island, but surrounded by fewer trees. Shortly after I arrived there, it started to rain lightly. I thought about maybe continuing up the mountain and getting closer to Mount Tallac itself, but the rain was gradually getting heavier and heavier. Finally, I decided to stay at Cathedral Lake and wait out the rain.

The rain only got more intense. I was still mostly dry, though, as I found an area covered by dense pine tree branches to stand under, acting as a tall umbrella. Then, it started hailing. Then thunder and lightning. That’s when I knew I probably was going to have to wait for a while for the storm to pass. I wanted to sit, so I found another tree with some large roots protruding up from the dirt that would make a good seat, and it was also underneath some dense tree branches as well, so I could stay dry for a little bit longer.

But after sitting there for about half an hour, with the rain and hail getting more intense, the tree branches above couldn’t keep me dry for any longer, and water started dripping onto my back. I unfortunately didn’t bring my light jacket with me, so I only had a light long-sleeved shirt and a tank top underneath. With the hail, water, and wind that was picking up, I was getting cold. Huddled underneath the tree, I hugged my arms tight to my body to keep in as much heat as possible. The last thing I needed was to get hypothermia out here.

(Thankfully, I wasn’t really alone. Two young women had hiked up to Cathedral Lake shortly behind me, and had also huddled underneath a tree not too far away when the rain and hail started. And another hiker – and older man – came down to Cathedral Lake from Mount Tallac while we were waiting out the storm. If I needed help, I’m sure they would have been able to help.)

Heading Back Down

Finally, after an hour, the rain started to let up a little bit, but it didn’t fully stop. But at that point, the two young ladies decided to start heading back down the mountain, and I followed behind them not long after that. I was soaking wet and shivering, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a good idea to stay stationary like that. I needed to move and get my body temperature up.

The rain eventually stopped as I made my way down the mountain, and I even ended up passing the young ladies that were ahead of me. I was in a hurry to get back down the mountain as quickly as possible and back into my car where I could blast the heater. It was a long 2.6 miles back to the trailhead, and I felt like I wasn’t getting warm fast enough. I was still shivering.

I ran into a couple of older women about 1/2 or 3/4 of a mile from the trailhead, who asked how far they still had to go to get to the part of the trail where they could see Fallen Lake. At that point, the skies looked like they were ready to open up again, so I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for them to keep going. They saw that I looked pretty miserable, shivering and still wet (I’m surprised the mountain air wasn’t dry enough to make my shirt evaporate, but I guess if it was that dry, it wouldn’t have been raining!). They offered to provide help for me, but since I was less than a mile to my car, I said I would be fine.

I hurried as quickly as I could back to my car, almost running downhill at one point. Still shivering, I jumped into my car as soon as I got in. It took nearly two hours for me to get the chill out of my bones, even after returning to the resort where my family was staying.

Lesson learned: ALWAYS bring an extra jacket even when it is warm out, especially if there is a chance of rain. Also, maybe don’t hike if there is a chance of thunderstorms. But it was still a good hike and there were some GORGEOUS views to be had from the trail and at both Floating Island Lake and Cathedral Lake. Next time, I’ll go when it’s sunny and dry.