Snowshoeing in Cold Stream Canyon
Like I said before, this is my sixth winter in Tahoe, but somehow I'd never been snowshoeing. Since our Sugar Bowl passes are blacked out for the holidays, we couldn't go snowboarding/skiing at the resort, and we decided to try something different. I decided it was finally time to try snowshoeing.
Greyson got out his backcountry set up and lent me his snowshoes, and we headed to the nearby Cold Stream Canyon. This is a popular area with lots of snowshoers, cross country skiers, sledders, and people accessing backcountry skiing and riding. We were able to park pretty close to the gate and started the walk in.
Cold Stream Canyon Trail
I was worried that snowshoeing would be pretty miserable, slogging through the snow in an inefficient manner (these pre-conceived notions were the main reason I had never tried it before), but I was surprised by how easy it was. We started off on a very packed down fire road, which made things easier. I had a difficult time adjusting to using the poles - I ended up just carrying the poles on the hard packed sections, and only using them when we got to the untracked sections and steep downhills for balance.
Cold Stream Canyon Profile
The Cold Stream Canyon trail started with an ~180 foot climb over 0.4 miles, the only significant climb of the whole trail. It wasn't too hard, but I worked up enough of a sweat to strip to my capilene base layer which was perfect for the rest of the hike.
It was a gorgeous day, and the views were beautiful, snow sparkling on the trees and clear views to the peaks in the west. The temperature was around 33 degrees, perfect in the sunshine! We walked on the frozen pond, which has been restored from a polluted gravel mining remnant, and parallel to it before reconnecting with the main fire road and heading back to the parking lot. (Cool side note - if you continue on the main Cold Stream Road, which is not drivable in the winter, you'll reach The Lost Trail Lodge, a backcountry lodge. You can rent it and stay there, winter or summer. I've never been there, but it's on my bucket list!)
While the parking area had seemed full, we only ran into a half dozen or so people and a few dogs on the trail. We made it nearly back to the parking area before we got to any sort of a downhill. Greyson stopped to remove his skins and set up for the (.4 mile, 180 foot downhill) while I trekked on on the snowshoes. This area was definitely more well trafficked, and the snow was packed down and a little icy. I found myself using the poles a lot for stability on the downhill.
Before I knew it, Greyson came whooshing by me, and we were back at the gate. It was a perfect introduction to snowshoeing - great weather, gorgeous scenery, hard enough to feel like I was working but not miserable. I doubt that snowshoeing is something I'll get really into, but it's definitely a fun way to get into the backcountry.
P.S. Greyson got me this amazing shirt for Christmas. I wore it today on our adventure, even though I was on snowshoes instead of a bike.
How to Get There:
Cold Stream Canyon is just a couple of miles from downtown Truckee. From downtown Truckee, head west on Donner Pass Rd for ~2 miles. Turn left at the four way stop on to Cold Stream Rd and park near the gate. Note: you can park further up the road if the gate is open, but the gate might be closed and locked by the property owners. I don't think it's worth the risk and park outside.