By Tim Hauserman
This week I set aside a few hours and hiked through Page Meadows. The meadows, which are criss-crossed with a network of trails including a bit of the Tahoe Rim Trail, are prime hiking, dog walking, trail running, and mountain biking terrain, located near the Talmont and Alpine Peaks neighborhoods in Ward Canyon. They are a great place to find both springtime wildflowers and the aspens turning to gold in the fall.
Even given our mild winter, as I approached the meadows in the middle of June, I didn’t expect much in the way of flowers, thinking it was way too early. Instead, I found thick waves of purple meadow penstemon. In amongst the aspens, patches of orange paintbrush shown up brightly. The aspens were thick with green leaves, and the trails throughout the meadows were dry as a bone, even the section of Tahoe Rim Trail that is built up above the meadow to avoid the long lasting pool of water that is usually found there.
The other interesting thing I noticed was the lack of mosquitos. It was a cool and windy day, but in Tahoe usually wildflowers and skeeters come together like Beauty and the Beast. Perhaps all this dryness has led to the bugs taking the summer off, or they have already lived and died without us even noticing.
So what is the point? The wildflowers are already out in full glory, perhaps a month ahead of schedule…so don’t dilly dally. Get out there onto your favorite spot soon and enjoy the blaze of color.
Tim Hauserman wrote the official guidebook to the Tahoe Rim Trail, as well as Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking with Children.
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