Welcome to the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), a 170-mile long-distance hiking trail that forms a loop around the Lake Tahoe Basin... and we're here to count down the miles by collecting cache finds all along the way. Tahoe Adventures are all about getting out and ejoying the freedom of our open space... so what better way to celebrate circumnavigating the lake than by remembering those who have orbited the earth?! This endeavor combines a few of my interests and passions into one massive project... Hiking, Geocaching, and Space! As this series progresses, we will be counting down the miles by counting up the history of American crewed missions to space. Yes, I know there are cosmonauts and taikonauts... but the TRT is ultimately an American Trail system, so I'm focusing on the history of Astronauts and America going to Space. That's a lot of history and a lot of hiking, two of my favorite things!
We're working on a full orbital series following the TRT with a cache roughly every half-mile all the way around the Basin. For the sake of standardization, we're using the official Tahoe Rim Trail Mile Marker system (not posted on the trails, but visible on their official maps), which has Mile 0/170 in Tahoe City and counts up in a clockwise direction. However, being from the South Shore, I'm launching this series at the Echo Lakes Chalet, one of the easier access points to the southern portion of the TRT, and counting up missions in a counter-clockwise direction toward Big Meadow and beyond... There's no need to go in order, though. You can tackle any part of the series at any time, in any direction! All containers should look the same (or at least very similar)... and I'll work to add spoiler pics to make them easier to find. Stay tuned as the series grows!
About the Mile:
Mile 120-119 traverses the ridge through the Caldor Fire burn zone above the Nebelhorn / Echo Adventure Mountain parking lot and operational area. Trail here offers expansive views of the Echo Summit area, which was once the site of the US Olympic Trails!
Tahoe Rim Trail Segment: Big Meadow to Echo Lakes (18.3 Miles) "Enter the Lakes Region"
Between Big Meadow and Echo Summit, the trail wanders from meadows to lakes to creeks, and through dense stands of pine, fir and aspen. The trail heads south from Big Meadow trailhead across a gently rolling landscape of grassy meadows and fragrant conifer stands. The shaded shores of Round Lake is nestled beneath high cliffs. Further on, the TRT merges with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT) and swings north through flower filled Meiss Meadows and alongside the cool head waters of the Upper Truckee River. The trail then climbs past granite lined shores of Showers Lake and through a rocky bowl where seasonal creeks tumble down steep ridges into lush meadows. Further north the landscape becomes more rugged and much drier, and opens into occasional views of Lake Tahoe. The trail drops over a granite ridge in a long steep downhill traverse before leveling off. A small stream outlined with ferns and flowers provides a refreshing respite before the short ascent to the Echo Summit Trailhead.
About the Mission:
Mercury-Atlas 8 (MA-8) was the fifth United States crewed space mission, and the thrid manned orbital flght of NASA's Mercury program. Astronaut Walter M. Schirra Jr., orbited the Earth six times in the Sigma 7 spacecraft on October 3, 1962, in a nine-hour flight focused mainly on technical evaluation rather than on scientific experimentation. This was the longest U.S. crewed orbital flight yet achieved in the Space Race, though well behind the several-day record set by the Soviet Vostok 3 earlier in the year. It confirmed the Mercury spacecraft's durability ahead of the one-day Mercury-Atlas 9 mission that followed in 1963.
The objectives of MA-8 were to evaluate the performance of the man-spacecraft system in a six-pass orbital mission; evaluate the effects of an extended orbital space flight on the astronaut; obtain additional astronaut evaluation of the operational suitability of the spacecraft and support systems for manned orbital flights; evaluate the performance of spacecraft systems replaced or modified as a result of previous three-pass orbital missions; and, evaluate the performance of and exercise further the Mercury Worldwide Network and mission support forces and establish their suitability for extended manned flight.
For his spacecraft, Schirra originally favored the name Phoenix, while his wife championed Pioneer. He ultimately dubbed the vessel Sigma 7 because, as the mathematical symbol for the summation of elements, the name reflected that "the flight was the sum of the efforts and energies of a lot of people." The seven appended to the end was in honor of the seven original astronauts selected for Mercury, a tradition inadvertently started by prior Mercury pilot, Alan Shepard, who incorporated the seven in "Freedom 7" as his spacecraft was factory model no. 7. The other astronauts liked the symbolism, and so each added 7 to their spacecraft names as well.