Day 1: The Approach and Heather Lake
We went to the Desolation Wilderness with the family of a friend from work (Joe), who went up to Tahoe on Wednesday and was in line at the ranger station on Thursday early to get the first-come, first-served permits for our trip. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management limits the number of people in the wilderness according to a zone quota system (link). This system requires you to state which zone you will be in for the first night, and after that you can go wherever you want for 2 weeks, all at the cost of $10 per adult.
We planned to start at the Glen Alpine trailhead above Fallen Leaf Lake where we camped last year (link), and hike in about 5 miles to Heather Lake for the first night. The first few miles of the day hike that we did last year would be repeated, but there was no snowmelt to cross this time, although we did hit a few patches of snow at the higher elevations.
The boys and I left at the crack of dawn and in about 3.5 hours were at Fallen Leaf Lake campground to meet Joe and family around 9:45. After a short drive up to the trailhead, we headed out.
Here is Erick a mile or so in. Erick brought all his clothes in the pack but I carried his sleeping bag. He also brought stuffed animals, just like his first backpacking trip at Henry Coe last year (2009.08.29 Henry Coe SP 111.jpg).
Here is the younger crew at one of the rest breaks. Jovanni, Erick, Robert, and Eliana.
This point is very close to where we turned around when we did the day hike last year. I think we stopped because we could not pass this stream that was flooded with snowmelt.
Starting to get a little bit of elevation now.
Robert and Erick went through a half-dozen walking sticks each. I think the next time my Dad visits we need to make some more permanent ones from better stock.
Here is the first picture of the wildflowers. I thought they were very impressive for this late in the season; but a couple days later when we went up Mt Tallac we were absolutely amazed by the color and the quantity of wilderflowers.
About halfway to the campsite we came across a pack train on the trail. Apparently the rangers and volunteers had a large project going to replace a worn out wooden bridge with stone. The pack train had delivered the heavier equipment needed for the job. The next day we went past the work site, and I didnt see much equipment beyond lots of rigging, crowbars, picks, and shovels
Here is a sequence of hikers as they emerge from a wooded section into one of the alpine meadows.
In the background you can see the meadow and how lush the wildflowers are.
This is Susie Lake, where we spent nights 2 and 3. This first day we continued past and upwards a bit more to Heather Lake.
On the way to Heather Lake we passed a section with two snow fields not yet melted. The kids stopped to slide around, and here is a picture of a large piece of unmelted snow just before Heather Lake.
Heather Lake. At this time in the hike, this was my favorite part of the trip. The walk along the edge of the lake was super cool, plus we we were soon to put down the 50 lb packs for a while.
Here is a sequence of hikers progressively farther away along the shore of Heather Lake. Our destination is at the top left of the last picture.
Preparing dinner the first night. We had pasta and a lb of ground beef fried with an onion and half a head of garlic. Very tasty. This pic is the onion and garlic getting fried up.
Here is Eliana giving Robert a ride.
Robert and Eliana chilling out the first evening. One sad fact of camping in the Desolation is that no campfires are allowed. Having a campfire at night would really make things nice, but I guess wood is pretty scarce up there already, and people would start killing live trees to make fires.
Shortly after this picture was taken the mosquitoes came out from whatever little slice of hell they occupy during the day. The boys and I retreated to the tent (that I opted to carry, and paid for every ounce with sweat), but the rest of the party fed the little blighters all night long.
Day 2: A glorious time at Lake Aloha
The next day we headed the short distance to Lake Alohoa, something around 1 mile with not much elevation at all. We passed the area where the rangers were working on the trail and continued up along a small ridge, then turned a corner and saw this:
Amazing place, Lake Aloha. We continued around the shore for another 1/2 mile and found a nice place to go for a swim. There were two small islands less than 100 feet from the shore.
The next several images are screen grabs from a movie, and show people diving into the inviting water of Lake Aloha. I have to tell you that water is so clean and pure that as you are swimming towards the shore, and you think you are arms reach from a rock, you are really still 10 or 20 feet away. There is also no algae on the rocks, zero. It is pretty wicked cool.
Here are Robert and Joe on the 1st larger island. That expression should be found in the dictionary under "exhilaration".
The first island seemed to Erick to be too far to swim, so we decided to be the first explorers on the smaller closer island.
Then of course we had to swim from the smaller island to the larger island, which was farther than just swimming from the shore to the larger island.
Re-united with Robert on the 1st island.
Here is a panoramic view, which in no way does justice to what meets your eyes at Lake Alohoa. Click on the image to go to Picasa web albums, where you can download the full resolution experience.
After several hours of swimming and lounging and lunch (peanut butter and honey sandwiches, or "spoiled brat sandwiches" as Mom used to say), we continued on another mile or so to check out the lay of the land. The landscape is so interesting and beautiful it is kind of surreal.
And the blue of the sky!
Here is an artistic shot that I could not resist of a stunted tree growing on the shoreline. You will see it again later with some people around it.
A group picture from the extra-curricular hike.
We had another opportunity for swimming and Robert and Erick could not resist.
And here is the artistic tree with some people around it.
After the day at Aloha we returned to the campsite, packed up, and re-located back North to Susie Lake. The idea was that in the morning Joe and family would be returning out to make a date for a reunion party in South Lake Tahoe, and the boys and I would bag Mt Tallac. Susie was ideal for both of these goals because it was a mile closer to both.
Here is the guy with the 45 lb pack (call it minus 5 lbs for dinner and breakfast) headed back to Susie Lake.
Susie Lake
Susie Lake was magnificent. A lot of my favorite pictures come from this site. We had the afternoons of the 2nd and 3rd days to hang out at the great site. We had shade, some nice rocks to sit on, and even decent access to the lake for swimming, fishing, and refilling water.
This tree provided shade while cooking and also a place for Erick to scramble around.
Here is the Stefani family chilling out on the afternoon of the second day.
Happy Honeymooner Return
These guys had their honeymoon in the Desolation Wilderness 29 years ago. What a cool picture!
A couple more screen grab images follow. Here is Robert giving Jovanni a fishing lesson.
And Erick's turn on the Eliana ride.
Day 3: Mt Tallac, 9730 feet
The morning of the 3rd day the reflection of the Mountains off Susie Lake was spectacular. We had oatmeal for breakfast: "Why do we have to have oatmean again?", say the boys.
These next couple pictures give you a taste of how awesome that location was.
Right after breakfast Joe and family headed back to the cars. We shared the first mile of the route and then split up.
On the way to Mt Tallac we passed by Gilmore Lake which was pretty heavily infested by mosquitoes. I am glad we had not chosen that as our destination, or been boxed into it by the quota system.
After we passed gilmore we were working up the slopes of open alpine meadows loaded with wildflowers.
Some wildlife. I'm told this is a grouse.
More flowers on the lower slopes. We had about 2000 vertical to make, and it was really pretty easy starting from Susie Lake. If you start from the visitor center down at lake level, you get all that elevation in one trail: 3250 feet.
Sorry if you are getting tired of the flowers, but these pics just dont do justice to them. This one was taken by Erick with a cell phone, but gives a good impression of how varied the colors were.
This is the final bit of climbing, maybe 200 feet of delta Z below the summit. Very soon you run out of meadow and are on loose rock and scree.
That is the Crystal Mountain range in the background.
The summit, at 9730 feet.
Looking over the scree field to Fallen Leaf Lake. Our car was parked out of view at the right (south) end of the lake.
Another view of the Crystal Range, with Gilmore (larger) and Susie (smaller) Lakes. Lake Aloha is over the ridge behind Susie Lake.
I just love this picture!
More wildlife. Un-identified critter seen in its den on the descent.
Another picture showing the diversity of wildflowers.
Trail fork for Dick's pass. I think on our next trip we will stay at Aloha and do a day trip to Dicks Peak/Pass.
Back at Susie Lake for the rest of the afternoon. The boys tried their luck fishing. We didnt get any fish, but we managed to catch a minnow with a piece of salami and some trickery involving a cooking pot.
Preparing dinner. Supplies were getting down the bottom at this point. From a carrying the bear box standpoint, that is good news. From a hungry kid standpoint, not so much.
We had honey sandwiches for lunch, but still had parmesan cheese and a bit of salami to put on the pasta for dinner.
Here is Robert filtering some water.
A picture of the meadow the tent was pitched in.
And another artistic shot of the Lake seen through the climbing tree.
A panoramic view of Lake Susie. Again, for best experience, download the full resolution picture by clicking on the image and blow it up.
Day 4: hiking out
The final day we packed up, ate the last of the food (corn tortilla sopapillas with honey) and headed for the car. The pack felt great, like it was down to sub-40 lbs where it really belongs. Next time I'm making those kids carry more stuff.
All the way out we discussed what we were having for lunch. The consensus was cheeseburgers, and we discussed if we could live without an red onion or not.
The next five pictures are action backpacking pics.
Erick asked me to take this picture, and because I took roughly 400 he didnt really want me to, I figured I should take it.
This trip really gave me a sparkle in my eye. Here is evidentiary proof. And no, that is not some gay lens flare effect in photoshop.
This is the boundary of the Desolation Wilderness, so we are almost back to the car. Erick was getting really tired, but he did fantastically well on this trip. Way to go Erick!
More wildlife, reptilian variety.
Cheeseburger
As soon as we got out around noon, we headed to the supermarket and bought a pound of free range beef, some tomato, and of course a red onion. We pulled over at the side of the road and cooked them up and man were they tasty. The 1/3 lb burgers were so big the kids could barely manage, but they did manage!
Wicked Awesome!
This trip was totally wickedly amazingly awesome. Go get some!
Great job on this blog! Great pictures too! Also nice that you can take the boys on backpacking trips. Dad
ReplyDelete