![\"Drifting](\"https:\/\/huangyizhou.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/202012\/21\/IMG_20201221_133820_HDR.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Drifting Snow<\/p><\/div>\n
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The Route<\/span><\/h3>\nFor hiking, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing in Lake Tahoe region (and probably everywhere else in US) in winter, a major issue was that the trailheads \/ access roads once taken granted in summer were likely closed for the season, limiting options. In addition, information for such closures were hard to find online, and if not for a few online forums there\u2019s really no way of knowing in advance.<\/p>\n
This too applied to the case of Roundtop Peak. The more popular summer route (that\u2019s also closer) started from Woods Lake Campground \/ Picnic Area, where one could combine Roundtop Lake Trail and Winnemucca Trail to make a loop. Road to Woods Lake was closed for winter, leaving Carson Pass as the only available trailhead in winter.<\/p>\n
From Carson Pass, the summer trail to Roundtop passed along Frog Lake and Roundtop Lake, measuring 13.2km and has 639m elevation gain. In winter, one could cut into the woods and save some distance. At the end of day I tracked 10km with my GPS. It\u2019s described as one of the more popular snowshoeing trails around Lake Tahoe, so I decided to try it out on the first day.<\/p>\n
Sno-Park Permits<\/span><\/h3>\nHere are a few rants about the parking permit at Carson Pass.<\/p>\n
I appreciated that maintaining trails and parking lots cost money and charging for parking could recoup some of that cost. In the case of Carson Pass in winter, the program was called SNO-PARKS, where a day permit cost 5 dollars and a season one cost 25.
\nTo begin with, Carson Pass was located in Eldorado National Forest but the SNO-PARKS was managed by California State Parks. I tried to think of this on the bright side that it\u2019s California state park that was plowing the parking lot in winter, rather than some collusion between government agencies.
\nNext, hateful of credit card fees, the state of California attempted to charge a 1.95 dollar “convenience fee” for each online permit purchases, displayed only at the checkout page. Despite an abundance of tales of swipe fees burdening merchants, it should cost much less than that to process a 5 (or even 25 for a season pass) dollar transaction. Well, unless there was corruption involved.
\nOf course for the die-hard anti-government rabble (if they weren\u2019t already extinct from the liberal California), there was an option to purchase from a vendor (Amazingly vendors seemed immune from swipe fees.). Yet as of December 20, 2020, the only vendor list available online was of season 2019\/20, in pdf format. Even worse, to make sure the feelings of those vision impaired (but anyhow still with internet access!) weren\u2019t hurt, the state of California wouldn\u2019t publish that file, without speech-enabled features, online. Instead, one was asked to enter his or her email address, and wait for that as an attachment to arrive. I tried not to resent ADA, but burdening able-bodied people like this was certainly testing my limits. Even worse, after I got off the plane the previous day, I tried to pick up a permit from a vendor, along the way driving from Reno to Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, the two vendors I visited (on 2019\/20 list) were no longer selling those, and I ended up making a huge detour into California to sort it out.
\nTo be fair, as of writing, they did put up a website for 2020\/21 permit vendors, the list was dated Jan 21, 2021, in html format. <\/p>\n
Here are a few rants about the parking permit at Carson Pass.<\/p>\n
I appreciated that maintaining trails and parking lots cost money and charging for parking could recoup some of that cost. In the case of Carson Pass in winter, the program was called SNO-PARKS, where a day permit cost 5 dollars and a season one cost 25.
\nTo begin with, Carson Pass was located in Eldorado National Forest but the SNO-PARKS was managed by California State Parks. I tried to think of this on the bright side that it\u2019s California state park that was plowing the parking lot in winter, rather than some collusion between government agencies.
\nNext, hateful of credit card fees, the state of California attempted to charge a 1.95 dollar “convenience fee” for each online permit purchases, displayed only at the checkout page. Despite an abundance of tales of swipe fees burdening merchants, it should cost much less than that to process a 5 (or even 25 for a season pass) dollar transaction. Well, unless there was corruption involved.
\nOf course for the die-hard anti-government rabble (if they weren\u2019t already extinct from the liberal California), there was an option to purchase from a vendor (Amazingly vendors seemed immune from swipe fees.). Yet as of December 20, 2020, the only vendor list available online was of season 2019\/20, in pdf format. Even worse, to make sure the feelings of those vision impaired (but anyhow still with internet access!) weren\u2019t hurt, the state of California wouldn\u2019t publish that file, without speech-enabled features, online. Instead, one was asked to enter his or her email address, and wait for that as an attachment to arrive. I tried not to resent ADA, but burdening able-bodied people like this was certainly testing my limits. Even worse, after I got off the plane the previous day, I tried to pick up a permit from a vendor, along the way driving from Reno to Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, the two vendors I visited (on 2019\/20 list) were no longer selling those, and I ended up making a huge detour into California to sort it out.
\nTo be fair, as of writing, they did put up a website for 2020\/21 permit vendors, the list was dated Jan 21, 2021, in html format. <\/p>\n