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Desolation Wilderness, CA
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| Backpack | 58.50 Miles |
10,500 AEG |
| | Backpack | 58.50 Miles | 4 Days | | |
| 10,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | The Desolation Wilderness originally came onto my radar back in 2013. The pictures looked amazing & it went onto the list. Time ticked by & it slowly crept up the list & the time was finally right. We would spend four days tramping around with two nights spent at Lake Aloha & one night at Camper Flat. We would summit Mt Tallac & Pyramid Peak & see a mess of Alpine Lakes.
Logistics
@Chumley & I planned this a few months out. We flew out of Phoenix on Wednesday evening and landed in Reno. We met up with @sbkelley for dinner & then we bought supplies at the grocery store. We spent the night at Scott’s house & then headed to South Lake Tahoe where we updated our permit & then set the shuttle. We would fly back to Phoenix on Sunday night.
Thursday, June 28th
After setting our shuttle (dropped our rental car at Eagles Falls) we drove around to Echo Lake & treated ourselves to a water taxi that would save us 2.5 miles of hiking. The shuttle costs $14 per person & $5 per dog.
We loaded up & made the float across. The boat really moved & we covered the 2.5 miles in about fifteen minutes. It was a lot of fun, I’m glad we did this! Once across we started hiking. Scott is only joining us for a couple of hours so we spent time with him until he had to turn around before Lake Aloha.
From there, we hiked the last few miles to Lake Aloha & were blown away by how beautiful the area is. The lake is huge & is surrounded by mountains with a lot of snow. We selected a campsite on the east side of the lake & got set up.
After camp was set, we geared up for the 13 mile day hike to Mt Tallac. It was about 1:30pm & we had plenty of time since it doesn’t get dark until 9pm. The hike to Tallac went well. We made good time as we hiked by a variety of lakes & started the climb for Tallac. Once up top we took a bunch of pics & enjoyed the views of Lake Tahoe. After that, we returned to our campsite. We settled into the evening with dinner on the shore of Lake Aloha & turned in for the night around 10:30pm.
Friday, June 29th
We woke on day two & took our time in camp. The plan is to day hike to Horsetail Falls & Pyramid Peak. We’ll spend another night at Lake Aloha.
We left camp around 9am & headed south. We walked along the shore & eventually turned away from Aloha & headed for the Lake of the Woods. We passed that & our trail dropped down to Pyramid Creek. Once down, we followed the creek down canyon & were treated to a variety of cascades & waterfalls nestled in granite. Horsetail Falls was spectacular & we took a break to admire the view & enjoy the area.
After we had our fill of Horsetail Falls we turned to the northwest & headed for Pyramid Peak. The next few miles are all off trail as we worked our way up the granite. We had lots of traversing as we looked for the safest route up. Things went really well & we took a few breaks along the way. With much effort we arrived on the shoulder below Pyramid & had to traverse to the west to avoid a snow field. After that, we turned & headed straight up following a protected ridge. The climb from here was a lot of work but went well & we topped out around 2pm. The views up top were simple jaw dropping. You can see for miles! Lake Aloha & most of the Desolation Wilderness directly below while Lake Tahoe looms to the east.
After Pyramid we started our descent & headed for Lake Aloha. We eventually split up. Chumley looped around Aloha to the north & I took the direct route back on the south side of the lake. We eventually met back & camp & settled in for another night.
Saturday, June 30th
Our Saturday started off with breakfast & then packing up camp. We’re saying goodbye to Lake Aloha & are moving 8 miles north to Camper Flat. We packed up & headed out. The first two miles were along Aloha. We took our final pics & then climbed over Mosquito Pass. From there it was relatively easy going all the way to Camper Flat. We set up camp & filtered water & headed out for another day hike.
We left camp in the early afternoon & headed southwest for Lake Schmidell. The trail had a slight climb & we topped out a bit later. Once there we took a short break & Chumley went swimming. The water was too cold for my taste.
After our break, we continued climbing as the trail heads to the northwest. We passed by more stunning alpine lakes & took short breaks when needed. The trail was challenging to follow at times but there were just enough cairns to keep us on track. This day hike turned out to be longer than expected but we got it done & were back to camp around 6pm. We settled in for our last night in the wilderness.
Sunday, July 1st
Our final day started early. We were camped on a bench above the Rubicon River & had no shade. The sun hit our tents around 6:30am & we got up soon after & broke down camp.
We started our exit around 7:30am & had to climb roughly a thousand feet over the next few miles. We took our time & eventually reached a junction. At that point we decided to follow the PCT to the south where we would pass Fontanillis Lake & I’m glad we did. The views were fantastic as the lake was overlooked by Ralphie's Red Ryder Peak. We continued on & finally connected onto the Eagle Falls Trail & headed down. The crowds built as we neared the trailhead & we were both glad to be finished.
We loaded into the rental car & stopped in South Lake Tahoe for lunch & a cold one. From there we headed back to Scott’s house in Reno where we took showers & packed for our flight. Another memorable trip in the books!
Final thoughts
Our original permit was for Eagle Falls but we stopped by the BCO & changed it to Lake Aloha. This worked out extremely well because the lake was stunning & wasn’t overly crowded. It got busy on Friday night.
Bear canisters are not required but we brought one with us. You're allowed to hang food using the counter weight method. For us, it was easier bringing the one canister. It gave good peace of mind.
The mosquitoes were annoying & heavy at times but we made do. There were a lot of other bugs but they weren’t the biting kind.
Dogs are allowed in the Desolation Wilderness. We saw quite a few.
We didn’t see any special wildlife. We saw a lot of marmots & that’s pretty much it. We were surprised we didn’t see other types.
Water was everywhere! We hit this area at the perfect time where snow was still present at high elevations. There were lots of waterfalls throughout.
Thank you Scott for opening your home to us & helping us set the shuttle. It was good to finally hike with you, even though it was relatively short.
The Desolation Wilderness is a special place! Lake Aloha rivals anything I’ve seen in the Sierras. It is spectacular! I highly recommend everyone see it for themselves. Lots to explore out here!
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Wide variety of wildflowers throughout the entire wilderness. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
So it galloped away. I got a pretty good video clip of it, but no photos. The bowl below the giant talus madness was quite challenging. The trail probably traverses/switchbacks, but we just took a direct frontal assault, which was not smart in hindsight. I felt like it was much steeper than Dutchman Glade - felt like 50-55 degree in the long section before getting to the lower lip of the bowl. And we didn't have traction devices or ice axes. With hiking poles and 3 hard kicks in for each step up I made for secure footing, it was some arduous work to work our way up those few hundred yards. It took us a while and a couple of false summits before we saw and got on the real one. The views on the top made the arduous hike worthwhile. We were sliding down sections on our way down - was a lot of fun. And a lot of bear tracks on the snow. A great hike all in all! Dogs that love snow will probably love this hike. Saw one on the mountain - a shepherd and husky mix. He looked at home!
