Freel Peak and Jobs Sister

I wanted to find out how much my rather unacceptable fitness level improved in the last few weeks and didn't have much time to prepare some "fancy hike". Therefore, I decided to do a variation of a hike I have done before. Climbing Freel Peak from Horse Meadow make an altitude gain of about 2500 ft and I should get an idea how good or bad my fitness is. New for me was the variation to take the marked path via Armstrong Pass to the top of Freel Peak, probably the easiest access to the El Dorado County Highpoint.

I start my hike early in the morning and the temperature is already pretty hot. However, I am glad to be up here where it's still relatively "cool" as compared to down in the Central Valley, where highs are expected to be up to 110 F (> 43 C). I set my goal to reach the top of Freel Peak in less than 3 hours. The path to Armstrong Pass is a good warm-up and afterwards I walk along the Tahoe Rim Trail to a saddle north of Freel Peak. From here I take the trail up to the top of Freel Peak which I reach in about 2 1/4h  which makes me freel happy :-)

After a long break, observing chipmunks and chasing them away from my food, I then walk over to Jobs Sister and enjoy the view down to the Carson Valley. After another rest I then go back to the saddle east of Freel Peak and enjoy the hike back down to Horse Meadow. This must be one of the funnest downhill hikes there is, because almost all the way you can enjoy a relatively steep sandy flank which is not only fun to "surf" down, but is also extremely gentle on knees and other joints.