Cascade Falls-July 25th, 2017

Emerald Bay

        The Mayor got an early start to beat the crowds.  Parking at the Bayview Trail head gets tight during summer months as visitors descend on this particular site, given its notoriety and proximity to South Lake Tahoe city.   We were able to park wherever we wanted at 8am.
       We packed some water and off we went.  We knew it was a short hike, but rocky and uphill most of the way to the falls.   In about 45 minutes we could hear the water as it moved down the cliffs of Desolation Wilderness into Cascade Lake on its way to Lake Tahoe.   The sun was up and quite warm without a breeze.    We were alone on the much traveled  path as we traversed the granite faced walls on the uphill side of the path.   Cascade Lake was on our left.
      We approached the falls with trepidation, but, there wasn't much to avoid as most of the snow melt was in the old channel carved by years of runoff from up above. 

Cascade Falls w/ Lake  in background

       We circled around until we found a good spot for some photos(see above).  This was a great day to start with a hike to a new spot.   Quite a bit of snow remains up above so the falls will be running for a few more weeks. 
      On the way back to Tahoma we stopped at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center.  A summer trail crew was hard at work clearing brush next to the paths.   Several groups of students were in the Stream profile, one of the few in the entire area, or maybe the only one.   Not a lot of fish in evidence, but a few mature trout enjoying the rest stop.
      Get there early.