Desolation Wilderness

On Saturday, June 30th, Sarah and I drove from Santa Clara to the Echo Lakes trailhead.  Our plan was to stay in the Desolation Wilderness from June 30th - July 4th, and was our first real backpacking experience.  We had gone to the Emigrant Wilderness a few weeks ago for an overnight trip to test out our gear (and got absolutely destroyed by mosquitoes).  A few bottles of permethrin, 40 and 100% deet later, we were ready for our second backpacking trip.

Day 1:
We got to the trailhead at about noon, and it was packed! We couldn't find any parking in the upper parking lot, so I dropped Sarah off and parked about a quarter mile away on the side of the road.  After making one last gear check, we decided to hit the trail.

The first 3 miles or so were along both Lower and Upper Echo Lakes.  It reminded us a lot of the trail going around Tenaya in  Yosemite, as we hiked among the boulders above the lakes.  We saw some awesome houses on the lake as we were hiking, and immediately wanted to know how to rent them.  It turns out, those houses are on forest service land and are leased out, with the stipulation that they cannot be rented out officially.  Bummer. Information is scarce on this arrangement so we'll have to trust our trusted hiking encyclopedia Lura on this one.

A view after we had passed both of the Echo Lakes.

It turns out we could have taken a water taxi and saved ourselves a couple of miles, but it was $10 per person, with a minimum of 3 people, pretty much guaranteeing we would spend $30 to save us around 3 miles of hiking along these pristine lakes. No thanks.

After passing by Echo Lakes, it was a little bit of an uphill climb, which would eventually then drop us into Lake Aloha.  The whole time we were hiking, I was thinking about how there weren't any mosquitoes around.  We were still at a relatively low altitude, and I didn't want to say anything to jinx the situation.  We met a few runners coming from Mt. Tallac (wow) who told us the mosquitoes were pretty bad around Susie and Aloha. So we deeted up, expecting for the worst.  Instead, when we arrived at Aloha we got this:

Not a mosquito in sight! Luckily for us, there was a nice breeze that kept the mosquitoes at bay.  After a little over 5 miles of mid day hiking, and no mosquitoes to be seen, we were ready for a swim.  We swam out to a little island and soaked up some sun before swimming back.  

After that, we continued on our way another 2 miles along the Aloha shores, scoping out potential campsites for nights 2-4.  Our last leg took us past Heather and on to Susie. This is where the mosquito activity picked up, and I started to worry that it would be a repeat of the Emigrant Wilderness trip.  By the time we got to Susie, a few people had already claimed some prime camping spots close to the lake.  Luckily for us, Sarah found an awesome campsite perched on a ledge that provided a nice cross breeze and was virtually mosquito free.  

Day 2:

We decided to hike up Dick's pass and got an amazing view from the top:

Dick's Lake, Fontanillis and Upper Velma

The original plan was to hike down to Dick's Lake but once we got to the pass, it was already mid morning, and I had already gone through half a pack of peanut butter pretzels from Trader Joe's.  Something about that combination is just irresistible.  We hadn't brought lunch or the stove in our daypacks, so we decided not to risk it and headed back to camp at Susie.  From there we packed up camp and hiked the 2 miles or so back to Aloha.  We wandered around a little before finding the perfect campsite.  Sarah was 2 for 2 on campsites for this trip:

It was on a point below the trail, and we were surrounded by the water on three sides.  The wind was still holding up, so the mosquitoes were still not an issue.  Then, a ranger came up and asked to see our permits.  We gave them to him, when he told us he thought our tent was only about 90 feet from the edge of the water.  It was clearly over 100 feet on the other two sides, but one side was kind of questionable.  Sarah measured 107 steps at 11-11.5 inches each, so we were right on the edge.  The ranger told us he wouldn't make us move, but made sure we knew all of the no trace rules.  Nice guy, and we were relieved to hold on to our campsite.  It was time for another swim!

The clarity! Plus, there was a ledge that made it a semi beach entrance.

The day ended with some Mac n Cheese, which always hits the spot after a long day of hiking.

Day 3:
We decided to keep the hiking short this day, and went to see Lake of the Woods, all the way down to Ropi Lake.  Lake of the Woods was a little over a mile from the end of Aloha, but its wooded setting was a big contrast from the relatively barren Aloha.  The elevation loss in the beginning of the hike was deceptive, and the climb back out was harder than I had anticipated.  I didn't take too many pictures since I was too busy sweating! I think we only saw 2 people on this entire 9 mile loop.  Once we got back, we had our sights set on swimming out to an island about 100 yards out from our point.  I'm not sure whether it was the altitude, dehydration, cold water or what, but that 100 yards was very deceptive.  Once I reached the island, I was dying! Once I recovered, it was pretty cool just looking around and taking in the scenery.  Nowhere I'd rather be, and no one I'd rather be with, at that point.  Perfect.

After reality set in though, I realized I had to swim back.  After a few tries to get back in the water (it was really cold!) I made it back to our campsite.  No more island swimming for me for the rest of the trip! Sarah and I agreed that her dad would LOVE swimming at this lake, and could probably visit all the islands in an hour or so. The water was cold, but probably wouldn't be an issue for him. Rumor has it that he takes a dip in Tenaya when he needs a warm bath (approximate water temperature - 55 degrees).  They say he once brought a knife to a gunfight...just to even the odds.

Day 4:
Day 4 was the longest hike of the trip.  We had originally planned to hike back over Dick's pass and down to Dick's Lake, but then realized it would be about 16-17 miles from our campsite.  We then decided to hike to Lois Lake, which was around 13-14 miles, much more doable.  The mosquitoes on this hike were swarming from the very beginning.  Our first warning was the fact that 1.2 miles in, we were climbing over aptly named Mosquito Pass. Great views though:

From the top, it was a long hike down to China Flat, and straight through mosquito country.  Good thing we had brought the deet and our mosquito nets!

Another big climb and we were at Lois and ready to eat some chili mac.

After lunch, we hung out for awhile before starting the trek back. After we got back, we ate and played some cards until it was time to sleep.  We played speed, memory, and a highly modified game of gin rummy.

Day 5:
Happy 4th of July! We packed up early in the morning and were hiking at around 7:20.  It had taken us around 3 and a half hours to reach Aloha on the first day, so we wanted to make sure we were back in time for lunch, since we had eaten all of our food, except for half a cup of cinnamon almonds.  We were hiking from around 8100 feet at Aloha to 7400 at Echo so it turned out to be an easier hike than we had expected. We saw one hiker wearing their 2011 Seattle Rock n Roll race shirt, which I was also wearing.  Sarah was wearing her 2012 shirt.  After stopping to talk about all things Seattle, including Sarah's pacific northwest Lululemon/North Face uniform, we continued down the hill.  We then met a man who asked us if we were looking forward to milkshakes back at the trailhead/Echo marina.  I'm not a fan of milkshakes, but it got us craving the one meal that most embodies the 4th of July and the celebration of a successful backpacking trip: In N Out.  So with that in mind, we went into overdrive and finished out the last couple of miles and were back at the trailhead by 10 am.

We stopped by the In N Out in Placerville and didn't say a word while we ate our delicious burgers and fries. We were anxious to get home so we quickly got back on the road and made it home by 2.

So while we both had a great time, the one thing that might be better than backpacking: a hot shower when you get home. Desperately needed.