Echo Lake, at Echo Summit southeast of Lake Tahoe, has played an important role in Jim's life. In 1926, Jim's grandfather, his father and his uncle built a cabin on upper Echo Lake . Jim and his family spent summers at the cabin as he grew up, and he's continued to spend time there each summer. The Rickers also visited the cabin occasionally in the winter, and Jim has vivid memories of one Christmas at the cabin, when his father pulled him across the frozen lake in a tobaggan.Unfortunately, the old cabin burned completely in 5/91, on the Memorial Day weekend.
The cabin sat on U.S. Forest Service land, and the family held a long-term lease on the cabin site. The Forest Service encouraged the Rickers to rebuild . Jim led the family team in the cabin rebuilding project, since the rest of his family lives in Arizona. Completed in 1996, the new cabin sits on the same footprint - the same piece of land - as the first cabin. Creative design and a loft have increased useable sq. footage a little. It's also weathertight, a pleasure in the winter.
Each year on the weekend after Labor Day, we have our regular hiking buddies to the cabin. We hike and eat and canoe and eat and sleep and eat, and simply enjoy the company and the scenery. Here are some pictures from last year's long weekend.
In 2002, we hiked up Echo Peak, with a trip to the neat rocks east toward Flagpole Peak on the ridge, and a detour to Triangle Lake on the way down. Here's the route. (229KB)
Updated 2/12/06
