Desolation Wilderness

Introduction

The Desolation Wilderness lies in the north of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, close to Lake Tahoe. It is part of the Eldorado National Forrest and managed by the Forrest Service. The proximity to the lake makes it a popular destination. My brother and I had 3 spare days to spend in the backcountry in the summer of 2018. After studying various maps and talking to rangers, we set a route. The Desolation Wilderness consists of a network of rugged granite peaks (typical of the Sierra), large alpine lakes, low elevation forests and high elevation meadows. It is also a popular section for PCT thru-hikers. As a consequence, there are endless possibilities for exploring the backcountry.

Our intention was to blend regular trail backpacking and off-trail exploration. This trip is reserved for people who are confident going off trail and familiar with navigating in the backcountry, using topographic maps or a GPS. You will need to obtain backcountry permits at one of the 3 Ranger Stations (two of them being located on the south shore of Lake Tahoe). If going during peak season, I highly recommend reserving your permit in advance as it fills up quickly. 

Most of the hiking is done between 6,000 and 10,000 ft. This adventure can be done throughout the year. In the winter, make sure to use proper gear.

Day 1 - Glen Alpine Trailhead to Lake Aloha

The trail from Glen Alpine to Lake Aloha is well marked and quite easy to follow. The first mile consists of a unmaintained concrete road winding up past Lily Lake. It then turns to an actual trail and winds up through beautiful forests and meadows. We hiked this section at the end of the day and I found the colors to be stunning. The trail climbs 1,300 ft for 3.5 miles to Susie Lake, which is the first real Alpine Lake you will encounter. Past Susie Lake, the trail follows its path towards Heather Lake and climbs another 600 ft for 2 miles towards Lake Aloha. The scenery is breathtaking and difficult to describe with words. As the sun sets, the last dim of light slowly vanishes behind the surrounding peaks and is slowly replaced by a red glow that surrounds the lake and provides magnificent colors to that environment. The photographs below are a small testimony of what we experienced.    

Lake Aloha is a large Alpine Lake which sits at 8,100 ft. It sits well above the tree line, making it a perfect spot to enjoy 360 degrees views of the surrounding mountains. It provides endless camping opportunities and is spacious enough so that you will experience true backcountry solitude. 
The fishing in all the Lakes is supposed to be quite decent. However, since it was August, we opted for a late evening swim in the fresh water lake, before setting our tent and getting ready for the night. We enjoyed a warm meal and had a restful night. 
Lake Aloha quickly became one of my favorite backcountry lakes in the Sierra.

Download Terrain Profile for day 1

Day 2 - Lake Aloha to Dicks Lake (via Jacks and Dicks Peak) 

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day. After studying our maps, I had decided we would travel off-trail and join Dicks Lake (our destination) by way of two-mountain passes: Jacks peak and Dicks Peak. We packed our gear and headed north of Aloha Lake towards the base of Jacks Peak (see the map for more details). You can’t actually see the actual summit of Jacks Peak from its base. From this point, we would be going off-trail. We made our way up, sometimes hiking steep uphills, sometimes doing actual climbing. The climbing never got difficult to the point that we would require ropes and climbing gear. The few bouldering sections are relatively easy and display large grips. I would rate this as a class 3. However, this statement might differ based on the weather conditions, the overall pack’s weight and one’s ability to deal with actual climbing.
Jacks Peak is a little bit deceiving in the sense that there are several false summits before reaching the actual peak.
We got up the first summit and rested near a lake, we then hiked for about 1/2 mile to a large rock field. From there we could see Jacks Peak’s summit. The terrain consisted mainly of loose rocks which made our feet quite sore. After scrambling a few more hundred feet up through loose rocks and dense brushes, we made it to the top of Jacks peak. There is no official sign at the top. From there we could see Dicks Peak and Dicks Lake in the distance. The view at the top of Jacks Peak is a statement of why this area is called “Desolation Wilderness”. A large field of sharp granite seems to dominate the landscape.

I started complaining about the fact that the section we had just done would have been much easier, safer and quicker, if covered with snow. This may sound strange to some ears, but I will always prefer snow over loose rocks and brushes.

From Jacks Peak’s summit, the ridge towards Dicks Peak made itself quite obvious. It required going a few hundred feet down, then going back up. That section was probably the sketchiest. Without any climbing gear whatsoever, we proceeded carefully. At one point, we had to lower our packs in order to safely climb down without that weight on our back.

If the first section up Jacks peak consisted of an easy class 3, I would rate the way down towards the ridge as an average to difficult class 3.
We really wanted to make it up to Dicks Peak, but it started getting late in the day. Therefore we decided to cut the ridge and cross the southeastern flank of Dicks Peak, right below the peak. The high grade and loose rocks made the crossing long and frustrating. I complained again that if done in the winter, this crossing would have been a breeze using crampons and an ice axe.
We finally made it to the ridge east of Dicks peak. After following the ridge for a few hundred feet, we joined the PCT heading down towards Dicks Lake,
In hindsight, climbing Dicks Peak would have been a lot of fun and might have taken less time than the crossing we went through.

Dicks Lake, while beautiful and unique is less welcoming to campers than Lake Aloha. It is located in a steep bowl that offers very few visible flat spots. However, after scrambling through trees, we found a spot right by the water. We set up our tent and called it a night.

Download Terrain Profile for day 2

 Day 3 - Dicks Lake to Glen Alpine Trailhead

Today was our last day on the trail and we had planned to go back to the parking lot. It seemed that the obvious way to get back to our car was to join Glen Alpine Trail, however we usually prefer doing loops than going back the way we came from. So we looked at our different maps and noticed a trail north of Glen Alpine that existed on certain maps but was absent on others. We figured this would be an unofficial “off the beaten path” trail and enjoyed the idea of going back this way.

We set off and followed the PCT back to Dicks pass (1.3 miles). From there, we followed the PCT trail to Gilmore Lake for another 2.5 miles. On the southern shore of Gilmore Lake, we made a right turn on a very narrow - almost hard to see - trail and followed it down. This trail crosses a beautiful forrest of pines for 1 mile. It then turns onto a steep and stunning canyon with expansive views of the southern flanks of Desolation Wilderness. The trail going down the canyon was exceptionally steep and took us 1,600 ft down for about 1.5 miles.

This trail (which remains anonymous as of the time when this is written) was very secluded and showed significant signs of bear activity - testimony of the very few people who seem to use it.

We had a great time exploring this region of Desolation Wilderness. As I like to say, the Sierra never disappoints. My conclusion of this summer trip was that this is a great area for winter snowshoeing and backcountry skiing.

Download Terrain Profile for day 3

CLOTHING

• Base layer 

• Mid layer

• Down Jacket

• Softshell jacket (winter only) 

• Softshell pants (winter only) 

• Hardshell 

• Shoes

• Gloves

• Socks