Motivated by friends and a fourteen year old map I headed to Nevada on Wednesday for  a mountain bike adventure in the Sierras east of Tahoe to the Marlette Lake basin. One of my fellow outdoor cohorts went with me and we quickly discovered that nearly the first five miles was uphill. The whole way though we were greeted by aspens in the midst of changing colors, displaying an explosion of shades of yellow with some orange mixed in. As we progressed up the hill we were greeted with incredible views of a meadow surrounded by the mountain tops.

On the way to Marlette Lake

Marlette Lake

     After we finished the climb we arrived at Marlette Lake, a bit low but beautiful none the less. From there we headed around the west side of the lake to the Marlette Flume trail. Dangerous to be sure, though not for the reasons you may think. It did have a sheer drop off of several hundred feet, but the real danger lay in the stunning and spectacular views of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierras to the west that could so easily be distracting. I had to stop several times just to take it all in. The trail wound along the mountainside eventually taking us to a junction.

One of the many grand views along the Marlette Flume trail

     We decided to take the Red House Flume trail back to Marlette Lake. More hill climbing following a sandy descent taking us close to the nearby Hobart Creek reservoir ensued. We eventually came to a small dam that we carried our bikes across and began to ascend once more. The uphill was steeper than the first climb, so steep my companion’s tires began to spin in the loose dirt as he rode. After reaching the summit we cruised back down to the lake to enjoy a brief rest and enjoy the company of some fellow mountain bikers we met. We finished the day by enjoying the descent back to the trailhead and then headed back to Folsom to enjoy free sandwiches from Firehouse subs. After I got home I watched the sunset and wondered at this amazing world we live in.

Me, amazed

     The day after I decided to continue my mountain biking hijinks and rode over to Doton’s Point on Folsom Lake. More technical than the previous days ride, though not by much, it was also a fantastic ride. The ride was a  mix of fire roads and single track with scenery special in it’s own way. I recommend checking it out for local adventures, Especially since it had me declaring this more than once:

     I’m slipping in another movie recommendation this week: Fury. Yup, that movie about tanks in World War II. The cast was great, even that kid from the Transformer movies I don’t really care for. It does have a lot of gore, but what do you expect? War isn’t pretty. I won’t say anything else other than if you have to go to the bathroom during the movie, DON’T. Every scene has something you don’t want to miss.

     Until next time dear readers, get up, get out and