TR: Desolation Wilderness 10/16-19

[Wandering Daisy]

Every time I go to Desolation Wilderness, I hesitate. Thumbs up in that it is close; thumbs down in that the cost of the fees almost make driving to Yosemite the same price in gas. Yosemite has always seemed more “worth it” to me than Desolation, which is so small that each trip has a lot of repeat miles. I have primarily visited Desolation in early season so an October trip was new to me. Thumbs up to no bugs and few people; thumbs down to short days, cold nights and no snow or flowers to enhance the scenery, compared to early June. But I am limping along with a car that is falling apart and wanted to stay at 7,000 to 8,000 feet because I am a cold-weather wimp! Call me the “limping wimp”. My ambivalence was obvious when I planned on going Saturday, only to delay due to forecast wind, then I slept in too late on Monday, finally getting my act together on Tuesday. Isn’t it great to be retired so stupid delays do not really matter. Thankfully a good long stretch of totally clear weather was predicted, albeit daytime 50’s and nighttime 30’s. By Monday the winds had even died down.


The basic loop planned was: Lake Schmidell, Rubicon River, Clyde Lake, Mosquito Pass, Lake Aloha, Heather Lake, Suzi Lake, Half Moon Lake, Dicks Pass, Dicks Lake, Fontanillis Lake, Velma Lakes, Camper Flat on the Rubicon, the opposite direction. Previously I had also added in a loop through 4Q Lakes, Horseshoe Lake, side trip to Zitella and Highland Lakes, McConnel Lakes, Leland Lake to reach Lake Schmidell. Access to the loop from several trailheads are not significantly different; Wrights Lake, Echo Lake, Glen Alpine, Bayview or Eagle Lake trailheads. I finally landed on going in Eagle Lake, looping counter-clockwise, and out Bayview, walking downhill along the highway 0.6 miles back to my car. I did not fish this trip, because I did not buy a California license this year. However, I did not see a single rise on most lakes, Schmidell being the exception. Perhaps it is just too late in the season.


Day 1: 9.5 miles, 6.0 hours, +2685 feet gain, 1705 loss

I arrived at the Tahoe Forest Visitor Center in sub-freezing temperatures about 8:30 AM, and stood at the locked door while the ranger raised the flag. As he was getting out my permit, I said “hope the price of the permit cited on your internet page is correct.” He looked at me and said the system (they use Reserve America) was being revised, so what the hell, I could just forget the fee. Great! Then I drove to Eagle Lake Trailhead, parked, walked up to the trailhead only to be confronted by a big sign that said, $5 per day “trailhead” parking fee, with no clue whether it applied also to those with overnight permits. I walked back to my car, and moved to park along the road. Other cars arrived and I asked if the parking fee also applied. They did not know, one fellow came back with a paid permit and put it on his windshield, just to be safe. On the permit you had to specifically list days parked, so I surmised that the fee applied. No way was I going to pay $20 parking. I drove up to Bayview Trailhead, parked and left at 9:30. I could do the Eagle Lake trail on my way out. Half an hour wasted!

I was none too warm hiking uphill in my expedition weight thermal top and wind shirt, mountain guide climbing/ski pants and knee high gaiters. At Velma Lakes, I could have turned south and gone clockwise, or drop to the Rubicon and loop counterclockwise. I chose the latter. The poor Rubicon was barely flowing. The trails were amazingly easy to follow whereas, pervious spring trips I lost the trails in snow many times. Amazingly, I reached the Schmidell/China Flat trail junction (only a mile below Lake Schmidell) for my first rest break, after 4 hours of hiking. As I was sitting eating lunch, two women flew by with day-packs. What an unusual place to see this! They were too busy talking to each other to say more than “Hi” to me. When I reached Lake Schmidell, they were not camped there, so I suspect they were doing a cross-wilderness hike from Wrights Lake to Bayview or Eagle Lake trailhead.

A fellow and his dog occupied the first campsite I came to. We waved (he was down at the lake) and I continued past several established campsites in timber, crossed the outlet dam, and at 2:30 found a nice site up from the lake (cold air settles) and in a little clearing located to get morning sun. I fussed and set my tent at several angles before deciding which was uphill or down; I have never been good at this. Then I collected water, set the Platypus in the sun, backed with my black wind pants to solar heat the water. I then popped a chlorine tab in a smaller 1 liter bottle. Assessing the situation I decided that a day-hike to Leland Lake was too far to get back and cook dinner before dark, so I headed north to the ridge to peek into the 4Q lakes. Looking down, I wished I had taken the trail to 4Q Lakes and then head south off-trail to Lake Schmidell; it was totally feasible and would not have taken much more time. 4Q Lakes are quite pretty. I returned and my campsite and within minutes, all the campsites around the lake were in the shadows by 4:00PM. It was immediately COLD! I did not want my solar heated water to cool, so I started dinner. I had only brought a small can of gas and wanted to be sure I had enough for the trip. Fires are not allowed in Desolation.

After eating dinner at 4:30, I walked around to get warm, stopping by to chat with the fellow with the beautiful, well-behaved husky. What a great dog! I had considered bringing Lupe, my border collie, but the miles I planned and the sharp rocks on the trail would likely damage her paws. He had come in from Wrights Lake just for an overnight. Back at camp, darkness was falling at 6PM. Although I brought an extra down vest to be able to stay out of the tent when the sun went down, I gave up and got into my sleeping bag at 6:30. At this point, I was discouraged by the long darkness, and ready to retreat back the next morning. Still totally awake, I listened to music for 3 hours. The half-moon shone brightly and it froze by morning.

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Day 2: 8.5 miles, 6.1 hours, +2015 feet gain, 1700 loss

Mornings do not come much earlier in October either. The low sun barely shone on low the horizon by 7AM. I cooked in the tent vestibule; something I really do not like to do because it is uncomfortable. The tent fly was dry but the bottom and ground sheet were wet. I seemed to take forever to get going, leaving at 9 AM. But the sun was warm and cheery, and reflections on Lake Schmidell beautiful, so all thoughts of retreat had vanished.

As the trail climbed 550 feet to Lake Lois, frost was thick and any water frozen. I then realized that the waterfall I viewed across Lake Schmidell, was indeed frozen in its upper reaches. Shallow ponds near Lake Lois had a veneer of ice. I walked across the dam, took off my pack, and photographed (using my I-phone since I had not replaced my camera I lost this summer). Then on to the trail junction just below Lake Doris; I did not go up to the lake because I had been there many times before. I then dropped down to China Flat on the Rubicon. One is very tempted to leave the trail and traverse to the Rubicon to save a 200-foot drop, but I had done that before, and it was NOT a good idea. Annoyingly, I stayed on the trail as it seemed to go back downstream before it intersected the main trail. The crossing at the south end of China Flat required some fancy footwork to cross without getting wet as the crossing is at a wide spot in the river. I arrived at Clyde Lake at 1:15 and ate lunch and wandered around for 45 minutes. Clyde Lake is quite beautiful, but hard to photograph mid-day as its dark walls face north. It too had frozen waterfalls above the lake. I had camped here previously in June, and was able to get some better morning photos. I continued over Mosquito Pass, where a few rocks in the trail were covered with solid ice.

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Lake Aloha was drained very low, which is typical late season. I was disappointed since this was the first time I had seen it in this condition. I had not planned to camp here, because of the forecast wind, but calm winds and realization that camping at Heather Lake or Suzie Lake would again put me in the afternoon shadows changed my mind. I wandered around a bit, peeked over the ridge to the north, down to Heather Lake, and dropped back to Aloha Lake. It was sunny and warm at 3PM and the shallow water not too cold, so I took a bucket bath and sunbathed. I had not seen a person all day, but now that I was buck naked I heard voices. Soon a helicopter flew overhead. Oh, well, at least I was clean- it felt so good! I ate a snack, filled water bottles, and headed uphill to a nice little campsite, out of the wind, just below a little pond, which had yucky water but at least it was OK for wash water. Lake Aloha water was not that great either, so I treated all my water, even cook water. And I had afternoon sun until 5:30! Again, I cooked as soon as the sun went over the ridge to take advantage of the solar heated water. I put on all my clothing and sat out watching the sky go from dusk to pink to dark, the moon a bit fuller, and a few stars appeared. I managed to stay out of the tent until 7PM. It lightly froze at night and was dead calm.

Day 3: 10.1 miles, 6.8 hours, +2010 feet gain, 2485 loss

Sunshine arrived much earlier at this campsite. I got out of the tent to cook breakfast. I dallied around enjoying a wonderful sunrise and drying the tent. I surmise that there was a bit of snow the previous week, because under a veneer of dry sand, the ground was still damp. It was warm enough that I could pack my expedition top and hiked in a t-shirt and wind shirt.

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I left at 9:30 and dropped down to Heather Lake still amazed by the reflections on calm waters, and then to Suzie Lake, where there was a group camped at the outlet. The plan had been to go cross-country to Half Moon Lake. I had come down this route before and camped at Half Moon Lake and spent nearly a day exploring. This time, I decided that I would get just about as good a view from the PCT above. Half Moon Lake really justifies more time to explore the series of ponds at the outlet and adjacent Alta Morris Lake.

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Instead, I would stay on the PCT and take a break at Gilmore Lake. I found a use-trail past the Gilmore Lake Trail junction, where the lake was visible from the PCT. Back on the PCT I headed up to Dicks Pass. Once on the saddle (the better view actually is here, 200 feet below the actual pass) I stopped and poked around taking photos. Dicks Lake was stunning far below. A day-climber who was headed for Dicks Peak passed. Another group of day-hikers were on top of the pass, as well as two backpackers who did not speak English, and looked like PCT hikers. You get good views of Dicks Lake all the way down, but trees get in the way to do much photographing. Having never done Dicks Pass without snow, I was amazed at how big the trail was, how easy it was to follow, and how annoying were the shallow switchbacks. Once down to the lake, the deep blue of the lake seen from above becomes a gray-green, less appealing. Campsites at Dicks Lake are in deep timber, not ideal for cold weather. Plus, a sign was up saying bears have raided camps here. The non-English speaking backpackers arrived just as I left.

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(continued on next post)

[Wandering Daisy]

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I had never hiked the trail along Fontannalis Lake and was impressed at the beauty of the lake. Unfortunately, camping here would be in early evening shadows. Previously I had day-hiked up to Fontannalis Lake from Upper Velma Lake, so left the trail and dropped down this same route, along the creek flowing out of Fontannalis Lake. Early season this waterfall gushes down granite slabs; this time a small trickle flowed, still quite lovely. I had originally planned on camping between the two upper Velma Lakes and day-hike to Middle and Lower Velma Lakes. Given the location, I decided to continue to Middle Velma where I found a campsite right on the tip of the peninsula on the east shore. Here was the perfect location for both late afternoon and early morning sun. It was 3PM and I again took a bucket bath, filled water bottles and set up the tent. As usual it took several tries to get the tent aimed right for my head to be uphill. From 4-5 PM I hiked down to Lower Velma Lake, which was quite a stunning lake. I got a bit off-course on the way back through thick timber. You really do not get “lost” because the creek from Upper Velma Lakes are on your left, Middle Velma Lake on the right and if you go too far south you just end up back on the main trail. But, walking around in circles nearing dark is a bit concerning.

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Fuel was low enough that I first cooked dinner, and only then warmed water in my cup for a hot drink. I needed to save a bit of fuel for breakfast. Unfortunately, I spilled my coffee on the first morning and made a second cup, so now would have none for tomorrow’s breakfast. A reminder to myself, “coffee is light, so bring a lot, just in case”. It was significantly warmer so I stayed up until it was really dark, watching the moon and stars. A large group of ducks flew off Velma Lake and landed in the adjacent peninsula. These ducks and one small pika were the only animals I had seen on the trip; never heard a bird chirp. Had they all left for winter? For some reason I slept poorly, even though I was comfortable and warm, actually hot in my 10-degree bag.

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Day 4 5.0 miles, 3.5 hours, +550 feet gain, 2060 loss

I felt poorly when I awoke with a headache. Sun hit the tent at 7AM! I got up and cooked my odd breakfast of hot chocolate, freeze dried eggs with cheese, dried apricots and almonds. Boy did I miss my coffee! That left me with two chocolate squares, one cheese stick, some protein powder drink and a few almonds for lunch. Since I did not feel great, I skipped a planned side-trip to Azure Lake and instead headed directly down the Eagle Lake Trail. I had not been on this trail and although shorter than the Bayview Trail, it is a rough, rocky trail, with some steep exposed sections and two significant trail wash-outs. Once I hit the trail junction to Eagle Lake, it became a tourist zoo. Eagle Lake is gorgeous, close to the trailhead, and a major tourist attraction. Shortly I was Eagle Falls, now just a trickle. I felt sorry for all the tourists who walked up to the falls and saw nothing.

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The walk up the road to Bayview is one of the more treacherous parts of the trip. There is little to no shoulder and the road is narrow. Cars zoomed by. The left shoulder was come-and-go, ending in a rock wall and cliff. Although I started on the left, I soon crossed to the right. As I walked the thin right shoulder, highway to my left, cliffs to my right, I just hoped there would be no earthquake or I would be buried! And about every other road post mowed down did not build my confidence either. After 275 feet gain and one mile and I was mighty glad to be at my car. I was one of three cars parked here when I went in; now the entire parking spaces at Bayview were packed with cars as well as cars here and there where the road shoulder allowed.

The fuel dial on empty at South Lake Tahoe, I coasted downhill on gas fumes, succumbing to stopping at a gas station about 10 miles short of home. Bottom line- I prefer Desolation Wilderness early season since the lingering snow, wildflowers and stream crossings make it a much more interesting trip. However, I do not miss the mosquitoes! Also, visiting in the fall makes the over-use and impact really hit home. Campsites are dirty, there is too much lingering toilet paper, little wildlife is seen, and there are an unbelievable number of campsites not ten feet off the PCT. Another problem is that there is no quota on day-use and the wilderness is so small that it can be totally impacted in all areas by day use given the now popular trail running and long day hikes. Add to that the no-permits needed for the PCT.

[robertseeburger]

Nice October report.. I had done almost exactly the same route before....in June 1968..covered with snow..lakes frozen.
You can see the October cold in the air in your pictures...

[Tom_H]

Thanks for the TR. Those are some beautiful mirror image shots on the lakes. Not much water coming out of Fontinallis now. Your pics brought back a lot of memories.

[SSSdave]

Thanks for the report. I didn't get to Half Moon lake area yet again this year so it is still queued up on my list. Too many interesting juniper nearby pre-empted getting that far. A good choice aesthetically mid to late June. And yeah there are numbers of interesting ponds there plus gnarly junipers and colorful geology. So may base camp there a couple nights in 2019 if scheduling works. It would be a good easy relaxing destination for a group of us to meet up at. Fishing is supposedly good too.

The long October nights much less mid winter are too much for this person. Too cold outside once the sun goes down and difficult to occupy oneself just like with winter camping. Stick an arm and hand out to hold up a book and unless one is wearing a parka and winter gloves it can simply be too cold. And of course one has to remove a glove frequently to turn pages that can get old quick. I've tried audio books but tend to go to sleep from laying prone, still in a warm goose down bag as it is an effort keeping eyes open.

So beyond late September I only car camp which is fine for eastern Sierra fall leaf season. At night inside a vehicle like my Forester, I have the back bed set up for sleeping comfortably (seats fold down) and temperatures are always somewhat warmer inside versus outside. Lighting can be much better too especially if one is using higher powered lamps besides just a dome lamp. Next to me will be food, books, magazines.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/2018_Trip_C ... 18-11.html

[SweetSierra]

Thanks for the trip report and photos. The lakes are beautiful. I've never backpacked in Desolation. Your hike back to your car sounded a little too exciting!

I sympathize with no coffee. I always carry extra coffee now. I love a cup of strong coffee and don't want to go without. I bring extra on group trips where there is supposed to be enough group coffee for all. But on a few trips, the coffee bag was empty with a couple of nights to go. The worst! Hee.

I've not backpacked beyond late September. I don't like being out when it's too cold to sit outside or to read in the tent. It looks beautiful and quiet, though. I have a Subaru Outback that I've slept in when I've camped in Oregon in late fall and other camping places that were cold and rainy.

[sekihiker]

Based on your photos, it's hard to figure out where the "desolation" came from.

[wildhiker]

The area where Lake Aloha is now was once a large glaciated granite valley with little tarns before PG&E dammed it. Early pioneers no doubt named it "Desolation Valley" because it was mostly bare rock, and thus "desolate", meaning to them, devoid of useful resources!
-Phil

[Satchel Buddah]

Thank you for sharing! Beautiful

[Harlen]

What a great autumn trip! Thanks for all the detail; we are really looking forward to another ski in to that area.

SSSDave and SweetSierra respectively wrote:

Stick an arm and hand out to hold up a book and unless one is wearing a parka and winter gloves it can simply be too cold. And of course one has to remove a glove frequently to turn pages- that can get old quick.

I don't like being out when it's too cold to sit outside or to read in the tent.

I have a trick that keeps me reading warm on the long nights: I take along 2.0 power close-up reading glasses, which allow me to read with the book so close that my hands stay inside the z-bag. I'd never make it through winter nights and storms without reading.
Thanks again for the off-season trip report Daisy.

p.s. SSSDave:

I've tried audio books but tend to go to sleep... as it is an effort keeping eyes open.

Have you tried propping your eye-lids open with twigs?