Desolation Wilderness Backpacking Trips
I drove up to Tahoe at 4am with Loren, David, and Thomas for this 2-day backpacking trip. We started at Glen Alpine and hiked 2 very steep miles along a very poorly maintained trail. So poorly maintained that we lost the trail and had to scramble up the rocks and through the thick brush. Then it started to pour and we heard thunder, things couldn't be much worse. Eventually, the skies cleared,...
Emerald Bay, Velma Lakes & Tallac - Desolation Wilderness Area
South Lake Tahoe, California, United States
18.0 miles
18.0 miles
Starting at Eagle Falls near South Tahoe, my med school friends Ben (now in EM at Stanford) and Joe (now in EM at UCSF) joined me for a loop backpack trip through Desolation Wilderness. We traveled along the PCT for part, sleeping at the Middle Velma Lake the first night and Gilmore Lake the second night. Easy peaks on this route are Dicks Peak just off of Dicks Pass and Mt Tallac....
This was my first trip into Desolation Wilderness and it was exactly what I had hoped.... except for the beginning when I forced to park in the "overflow" parking and walk a mile on asphalt to get to the trailhead. Wrights Lake is packed with people and it was a little unnerving until I hit the trail. They soon thinned out as the trail ascended and I saw only a few other...
Being one of my first hardcore backpacking trips, it was quite a wake-up call as to what things are truly necessary. Most important thing: high calorie fuel!Views were spectacular. I'm writing this description after having done many more hikes, and thinking back; these views of desolation were among the best.This was a 3 day 2 night venture with plenty of leisure time, and great for any beginner or novice.
Granite Lake, Dicks Lake, Fontanillis Lake, and Upper Velma Lake
Emerald Bay, California, United States
13.7 miles
13.7 miles
Our hike started at Wright's Lake, over Rockbound Pass, past Lake Schmidell, and finally to 4-Q Lakes. The high was fairly mellow with moderate elevation gain. The trail is mostly granite so your feet end up hurting fairly bad by the time you're done.
Claire, Ann and I went for a 5 day/4 night backpack trip.9/8/10 - Day 1 of 5 day trip was from Rockbound Pass Trail Head (by Wright's
Lake) over Rockbound Pass to Lake Schmidell. The weather was pretty
bad. It was raining a bit when we left the car, and just got worse.
About 11 am, the wind kicked up, and it was very slow going trying to
get over Rockbound Pass...
Glen Alpine Trailhead to Halfmoon Lake, Desolation Wilderness
Fallen Leaf, California, United States
5.5 miles
5.5 miles
This trip was originally intended to be an easy going introduction to backpacking, but a sudden change in weather made the trip alot more intresting.We kept a close eye on the weather forecasts for the South Lake Tahoe area on the days leading up to the trip. We knew going in that snow and high winds were expected and made sure to be prepared.The hike in started off windy, but gorgeous. Fall...
Desolation Wilderness (track starts 1.7 miles in from TH)
Fallen Leaf, California, United States
19.3 miles
19.3 miles
Day 1- Glen Alpine TH to Fontanillis Lake; overnight campsiteDay 2 - explore Fontanillis Lake, hike back, visit Gilmore Lake, hike out
