Sierra Canyon Trailhead (11) to Marlette Campground (27)

Mileage: 16 miles, total 27 miles

Camp Elevation: 8,283 feet

I slept pretty well last night apart from being camped on a slope and occasionally waking up with my face pressed against the tent well.

The day started with a short climb which eventually broke out of tree line and onto a ridge. The views along the ridgeline were absolutely amazing and made the hard work yesterday worth it.

We then began an extensive descent through the forest down to Spooner Summit. It seemed a little strange that we were descending down to a summit but this refers to the high point of the highway that runs through that area.

There were small patches of snow throughout the forest as we descended but it had mostly all melted away. Most of the people we came across were all running low on water. One guy had his dog with him so I gave his dog some water. The dog then ran off and decided to eat the snow instead…

We then reached the bottom of the long descent where there were two car parks on either side of the highway. Given it was now midday and pretty hot, we decided to wait out the midday sun. We sat down in a shady spot to relax.

Most of the people we saw looked at us warily like some kind of hobos but a nice older couple walked past (Dave and Jane) and we got some info about the trail as they were Tahoe residents. They also gave us a bottle of water each. I appreciate they will probably never read this but, if they do, thank you!

Midday siesta over, it was time to start the hard part of the day. From here, we had a 5 mile climb to the top of Snow Valley Peak. The going was tough and we had to conserve water in the heat.

After what seemed like an eternity, we broke through tree cover and reached a ridgeline. At first, we had extensive views to the east towards Carson City and west towards Tahoe. The contrast couldn’t have been more striking as the east was completely desert whereas the view to the west was of pine forests and water.

We then climbed up to the top of Snow Valley Peak which, true to its name, had patches of snow at the top.

It was then a long descent down towards Marlette Campground and our stop for the night. We arrived into camp around 7pm pretty exhausted so it was time for dinner then bed after a long day.