Back in February I secured a reservation to spend a few days in the Desolation Wilderness, which is part of Eldorado National Forest just west of Lake Tahoe. That turned out to be fortunate as the high sierras got a massive snowfall, meaning the somewhat lower elevation here would likely be dry. I’ll admit to being inspired by my good friend’s travels in the area, so backpacking it was a really good introduction for me. Since it was to be her first backpacking excursion I also wanted someplace familiar and not exceedingly difficult.
I took a leisurely drive up Hwy 395, stopping at my favorite section along the Walker River for the night. Headed north once again in the morning, stopping of course to watch a fabulous sunrise over the Walker River valley and then managed to get a photo of the Monitor Pass sign. I’ve driven past this a few times and always missed it so the lack of traffic allowed me to stop on the highway and walk across the road. After a very narrow mountain road I finally reached the parking area along the Pacific Crest Trail. From there it was the usual bustle of getting everything ready, sorting out which gear we might use or leave behind and of course packing some food into the bear vault.
After a ‘before’ picture the trail beckoned and this is a very pleasant walk with some up and down along the shores of the two Echo Lakes. A short detour led to Tamarack Lake where a shady spot meant an extended snack break, and then a short trail led to an overview of Ralston Lake quite a bit lower. All of these lakes looked pretty close in elevation on the topographic maps even though there were some steep slopes in between, that became a theme for the time up here. Back on the trail toward Lake Aloha, there were just about enough people to chat with while having short rest stops and once we got out of the sun the temperature was rather comfortable. I was surprised to still find some snow on the ground in the shady sections, it’s a testament to the big winter we had. Upon arrival at Lake Aloha, another hiker mentioned that there were not very many campsites available so a quick look around showed a reasonable site with plenty of granite slabs for sitting and lake-watching. A large amount of time was devoted to that activity this week, I managed to expand on my ability to sit and do nothing for long periods of time.
Day two began with a great sunrise as Pyramid Peak and the lower range across Lake Aloha was bathed in soft alpenglow. After a couple hours of this, it was time to pack up camp and head toward American Lake. Well, this is where things got interesting due to the large amount of water in the area. What was once trail is now flooded, so it was a journey of up and down, back and forth with some here and there thrown in. Break time at Channel Lake was nice and then it was a short journey to this interim goal. American Lake is a worthy destination in itself, it looked like a good place to base camp and then try to circumnavigate the lake. Maybe we’ll do that one of these days…. Anyway, after a while we backtracked roughly the way we came and then along the PCT to Lake Of The Woods. Sitting out there on a rock slab jutting into the water was a nice break, even though we were in the sun there was enough breeze to be comfortable. After that it was time to follow the trail down to Ropi Lake, the destination for night #2. This trail is a bit hard to follow in places, although after a while the sound of the falls roaring gives a clue to the general location - just keep going down! After relaxing in the cool outflow of the lake camp was set up in a nice spot on the granite slabs, some natural wind breaks also offering places to sit. This is where the backpacking chairs really came in handy, sitting around watching the lake until dark might be my favorite part of this trip. I got up shortly after midnight and looked at the stars overhead, unfortunately I didn’t see a bunch of meteors despite the Perseid scheduled for a couple days away. It’s still pretty cool to see just how many stars and constellations are out there and actually pick out the cloudy looking mess that is the Milky Way.
Day three meant more sitting around in the morning before making the big climb out of this little basin. The sun was beating down so many breaks were taken whenever shade was available and we eventually found Lake Of The Woods once again - snack time! Finally after more uphill hiking the PCT was reached and then it was a hot walk in the sun back to Echo Lake. Once there a couple beers from the local store were the perfect finish to this expedition.
For me this was a different kind of trip, since a big loop was planned I didn’t have to worry about making miles every day. That gave me a lot more time to look around and appreciate the scenery rather than trying to figure out how much farther I had to walk every day. Watching the lakes turned out to be some great therapy.
All in it was about 21 miles and 3500 feet of elevation gain/loss in three full days.
Echo Lakes below, the trailhead is at the far end of the lower lake.
Tamarack Lake, first long break of the day.
Ralston Peak high above Ralston Lake - we didn't get any closer than this.
Sunset over Lake Aloha.
Lake Aloha morning.
American Lake. This might be my favorite view, walking out on the granite slabs and the basin opens up in front.
Lake Of The Woods, not many clear views as it is surrounded by pine trees.
Ropi Lake outflow, we sat here through dinner until dark.
Ropi Lake sunrise. We watched this for over an hour in the morning.
Hoisting a drink at the end, we may not wait another 25 years to go on our next walk.
