Just did a hike to Round Lake in Meiss Country from the Big Meadow Trail-head. We we're a little confident in ourselves about the 3 mile hike and decided to lug a 60lbs inflatable boat up the trail. Unfortunately we didn't think to inflate it on the way and the 2am hike to the Lake that was intended to take an hour, took 3 as we switched off carrying the awkward heavy box. We arrived around 5 am to a pristine camp site on the deserted lake. The boat turned out to be well worth the headache as we spent all day Saturday rowing around lake.
During the day we would see hikers and mountain bikers coming along the Tahoe Rim Trail but at night we had the entire lake to ourselves. I'd imagine it gets a bit more crowded during the high season.
The trip at night is part of the fun getting there, its a short enough 3 miles with a few ascents. When you get to the big meadow trail head off of 89 from 50. You park and walk along a short trail, then cross over the highway. There's a short ascent from the highway to a giant meadow. You need to stay to the right when the trail forks, but there are markers along the way. After the meadow there's a moderate ascent to what I think is about 9000 ft. Once you reach the top of the mountain its an easy walk down to the lake. A few weeks prior I did a similar hike to Meiss Lake from the PCT. This is a smaller "warmer" lake about 1.5 miles from Round Lake. A good spot to avoid crowds in the high season.
