18. Crag Lake and Rubicon Lake

Length:	16.2 miles round trip
Hiking time:	2 days
High point:	8,200 feet
Total elevation gain:	2,100 feet
Difficulty:	moderate
Season:	early July through early October
Water:	available from Meeks Creek most of the way; purify first
Maps:	USGS 7.5' Rockbound Valley, USGS 7.5' Homewood, USFS Desolation Wilderness
Information:	Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

This backpack trip features both peaceful, easy walking near delightful Meeks Creek and visits to six high Sierra lakes. You must obtain a permit for this hike. Call Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit for more information.

On Highway 89 drive 0.1 mile southwest of Lake Tahoe's Meeks Bay Resort (11 miles south of Tahoe City and 16 miles from the interchange of Highways 89 and 50) and park at the signed trailhead. Day hikers can fill out self-issue wilderness permits here.

Walk around the locked gate, then stroll along the level dirt road to the signed trail junction at 1.3 miles, where you bear right on Meeks Creek Trail. Watch closely for an eye-catching handful of rare red snow plants (protected by law) that decorate the dry chaparral hillside, and then at 1.7 miles climb to a view of Lake Tahoe.

White yarrow and red wavy-leafed paintbrush border Meeks Creek at trailside at 2 miles, then you pass through a field lined with mysterious dead, white-limbed trees at 2.3 miles. The steady sound of Meeks Creek accompanies a 0.5-mile trek into a wide basin where huckleberry oak prospers in the sunny sections and thimbleberry thrives beneath the shade of western white pine and Jeffrey pine.

Cross the wooden bridge over Meeks Creek at 3.3 miles. Swing away from Meeks Creek and into a white and red fir forest, then walk past pinemat manzanita to the welcome return of Meeks Creek at 4.2 miles.

A king-size campsite awaits at 4.7 miles near the north shore of Lake Genevieve, where the shallow lake's waters reflect Peak 9054. Keep left at the signed trail junction just past two campsites near the lake's eastern shore.

Another campsite awaits 0.3 mile farther at Crag Lake next to the dam's spillway. Peak 9054 also hovers above this lake, which features a peninsula on the south side. The trail skirts the eastern shore past several campsites nestled under red fir and western white pine.

The path now briefly climbs to pond lily-covered Shadow Lake, promptly followed by another mysterious stand of bare, rotting tree trunks at 6 miles. At 6.6 miles the main trail reaches the western shoreline of Stony Ridge Lake at 6.6 miles, which features two good trailside campsites. To the east Rubicon Peak towers above the lake, along with siblings Peak 9269 and Jakes Peak. Native fescue grasses abound, as do Sierra juniper and western white pine. Look for camping sites on the south side.

Climb gently through forest and meadow, cross a stream, then begin negotiating a series of steep switchbacks at 7.8 miles. Reach gorgeous Rubicon Lake at 8.1 miles, where you'll enjoy refreshing swimming and mountain views. A good campsite is located close to the lake under lodgepole pine and mountain hemlock.