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Spent the weekend in Tahoe, visiting my parents. On the way, I took a short (2 miles each way) hike from Carson Pass (just over 8500' elevation) to Winnemucca Lake. Nice. But the big surprise for me was the outstanding yellow and orange colors of the Aspen trees in Hope Valley. Any SF Bay Area or Sacramento folks ought to consider going up there this week. I took some photos; I'll probably put them in my other blog, later this week.

Here's a Sacramento Bee article from last year ... http://cgi.sacbee.com/travel/shorttrips/fallcolor.html

Took US 50 to the Mormon Emigrant Trail, which is the only "* Emigrant Trail" over the Sierra that I know of that led EAST. The Mormon battalions were released from service and were headed back to Utah. It was they who named Hope Valley and the nearby Faith Valley and Charity Valley. Near the Blue Lakes, it's all the upper basin of the West Fork of the Carson River. Beautiful country.