Lake Tahoe: Spooner Lake Trail

We had a blast hiking through Emerald Lake's Rubicon Trail (see post HERE) and our relaxing first day in north Lake Tahoe (see HERE). We were eager to hit the trails again Tuesday morning and started with Spooner Lake Trail.

The Spooner Lake Trail is an easy, well-maintained 2.1 mile trail on the east side of Lake Tahoe. It connects to more strenuous hikes (Marlene Lake and Flume Trail), but we were looking for a short morning walk to get us warmed up for some more Emerald Bay hiking later in the day. 

I had heard about the vibrant golden hues of the aspen groves in Spooner Lake and the Instagram photos from recent hikers had me with a serious case of heart eyes😍, but unfortunately we were about a week late. Most of the leaves had already fallen to the ground. But I wasn't too bummed because even the bare aspen trees looked beautiful. It was so relaxing to walk around Spooner Lake, to watch waterfowl dip under the water's edge, and large birds flying overhead. There weren't too many other people on the trail that morning since it was on the chilly side, so it felt like we had the whole trail to ourselves. 

Since the trail was flat and easy, we weren't out of breath or focusing on not tripping over rocks or tree roots, so we had plenty of time to talk, laugh, and just enjoy our time together. 

Next week I will be posting photos from our last hike during our Lake Tahoe trip, Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake, so stay tuned!