Journey Into Desolation

Last Updated: September 20, 2000

In between an end and a beginning lay a trip into desolation. This page chronicles my solo backpacking trip into Desolation Wilderness from August 27 to September 2, 2000.

Desolation Wilderness

I needed to get away from it all, and I chose a solo backpacking trip as the vehicle to whisk me away from society. I originally planned to go to Henry W. Coe State Park about 20 miles southeast of San Jose, but my friend, Bruce Boyd, told me that he was going to Desolation Wilderness. "Desolation Wilderness?" I thought to myself, "That sounds pretty scary!" In fact, Desolation Wilderness is just a stone's throw away from Lake Tahoe and is part of the Eldorado National Forest. Desolation covers 63,960 acres of wilderness, with a bevy of granite peaks and beautiful lakes. For more information on Desolation Wilderness, check out its web site.

I would have had a great time going backpacking with Bruce, but I did want some time alone to myself, and he felt the same. We arrived at what turned out to be a great compromise; we would both go our separate ways in the beginning of our trek and meet at a pre-determined spot on Thursday, the second to last day, and walk out of the wilderness together and back into society. Looking at the map, we decided to meet Thursday afternoon at Susie Lake. With destination and map in hand, I began to assemble my gear and equipment.

Gear and Equipment

In the days leading up to my trip, I had been reading the Lightweight Backpacking web site. There, I learned a chock full of tips on how to pack lightly without burdening my poor back on this trip.

Unfortunately, because I don't have a scale at my place, I wasn't able to weigh my pack before and after the trip. Suffice it to say, my attempt to follow the guidelines of the Lightweight Backpacker didn't go very well. I figure that the pack was between 40-50 pounds at the start and 30-40 pounds by the end of the trip. Here's a sample of the kinds of gear and equipment that I brought with me on my trip:

Lowe Alpine Contour IV backpack: I bought this years ago, and it's still going strong!
The North Face Canyonlands tent: A great one-person tent. A little cramped, but it's a fairly lightweight tent (~4 pounds). I also brought a ground cloth that helped protect my tents bottom from the wet and soggy ground.
Therma-Rest Ultralite 3/4 sleeping pad: I was thinking of going ultralight with some large bubble wrap instead of the Therma-Rest. My back's glad I didn't do that!
Evernew stainless steel cook set: (Could have went with titanium to shave off some extra ounces, but these were great little pots!
The North Face Mountain Light Jacket: Incredibly useful when the weather got wet.
The North Face Thunderbolt Rain Pants: Who needs trail trousers when you have these!
The North Face Fleece Jacket: Great warm jacket during the evenings. It packed large, but was worth it. The jacket also zipped into my Mountain Light Jacket to function as a great liner.
The North Face Flight 3D Sleeping Bag: A few cold spots near the feet, but this sleeping bag kept me warm every night.
Snow Peak Stove: Small little 3.4 ounce wonder of a stove.
2 8 oz. fuel cans: One fuel can too many, but it's always good to have a backup supply of fuel.
2 pairs of wool socks with one pair sock liners: The layered sock approach was great for blister prevention.
PUR Hiker Water Filter: Kept Giardia and its friends away from my system!
Wigwam cap: Warm cap hid my frazzled mountain hair from curious onlookers!
Petzl Headlamp: Kept my hands free during the evenings when I was reading a book or cooking.
First-Aid Kit: Didn't have to use it, but it's essential to have one if an emergency arises.
50-foot nylon parachute cord: What else to use to hang your food from the hungry bears?
Pack towel: Absorbs up to ten times its weight in water. Great all-purpose towel on the trip.
Canon S100 Digital Elph: Captured all the pictures you see below.
RIM Blackberry 957 Pager: Recorded all my journal entries.

With map in hand, gear on my back, and a fully gassed up car, I began my journey to and into Desolation early on Sunday morning.

Day 1: The Drive Up and Hike To Gilmore

On the road to Desolation

The El Dorado National Forest Center

Standing in front of the Forest Center

I had never driven up to Tahoe, but I knew the general direction to go, since I had been up to the Sacramento Area numerous times in the past. It was a relatively uneventful (and speedy) drive in the Dotmobile till I got to the Placerville area. This is where my father grew up when he came to the States from Hong Kong! It was refreshing to pass through his old stomping grounds. For six years, he worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, where he was an Area Engineer doing surveying work within the forest. So, when I stopped by the El Dorado National Forest Center to get my wilderness permit, I thought back to when he was my age, working in the forest and being surrounded by Nature.

On the Web, I learned that you could get a wilderness permit for the part of Desolation that I was visiting at the forest center. However, contrary to what you might think, the Web isn't always accurate (oh, say it's not so!). The nice workers at the center told me that I had to go to the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center to get my overnight permit. I took a quick break, taking some photos of the center and me in front of a map of the area that I was going to visit (photos on the right), before getting back into the car to drive about 50 miles to my next destination.

I had been to Lake Tahoe once before, when I was very young, so I didn't remember all that much when I was driving up there. The weather had been sunny and warm; I drove with the windows down and the music blaring. I was suprised to see that my favorite radio station, Alice at 97.3, had coverage this far! They must have an absolutely huge antenna blasting their radio waves across all of California! I remember seeing a huge convoy of cars going in the opposite direction from where I was heading. "Yes," I thought, "Everyone is departing the wilderness, leaving it all for me!"

Permits and Routes, by Bethany

When I got to the Visitor Center, there were a number of cars parked in the parking lot, with families taking short day hikes into the more domesticated and frequented parts of the area. I entered the center and saw some people who looked like the Forest Rangers that I always saw episodes of MacGyver such as The Endangered and The Invisible Killer. They wore their green jackets and olive/khaki shirts. Bethany was working there with Steve, and she helped me get my first overnight permit for Desolation Wilderness. Talk about cheap! If you're staying in the wilderness for one night, the cost of a permit is $5.00. If you stay two or more nights (max of 14 days), the total cost is only $10! Next time I come up to Tahoe, forget about staying in a cabin or a motel, I'm gonna sleep in the wilderness with my 63,000+ acres of floor space!

I got myself my overnight permit!

Bethany

At most places where you can camp in the backcountry, you have to tell the Rangers where you'll be staying for the first evening. After the first evening, you're free to go to any site that you want for the remaining nights. I looked on the map with Bethany and had to choose between Gilmore Lake and Grass Lake. Grass Lake seemed too close to the trailhead, so I decided to stay the first night at Gilmore. I paid for my permit and was set. But wait! Where was I going to go from Gilmore? I didn't really have an idea of where I was going to go on my trip, except that I had to meet Bruce at Susie Lake on Thursday afternoon. I asked Bethany to suggest a route, and she told me to do this loop that would take me through the following places on my way to Susie Lake:

Glen Alpine Trailhead
Gilmore Lake
Dicks Pass
Dicks Lake
Middle Velma Lake
Camper's Flat
Lake Schmidell
Lake Lois
China Flat
Clyde Lake
Mosquito Pass
Heather Lake
Susie Lake

She told me that it would be quite a hike to get through all of this by Thursday, but that it would be manageable. I trusted her instincts and made a mental note to try this route out. I smiled when she said that the further northwest I went, the less and less people I would see. That was what I wanted, after all, to get away from it all.

Lost on Angora Lookout

Commentary coming soon!

At the Glen Alpine Trailhead
Hikers met: Deb and Norm	Lake Gilmore	My first campsite
Bearbagging my food

Scarfing down my dinner

Stars

Living in the Bay Area, or any metropolitan area, one doesn't get much of a chance to see the stars. In the wilderness, however, all things change, quite dramatically at that. The stars are out in full glory, and one often has the opportunity to see why the Milky Way is called the Milky Way, or see some shooting stars, meterorites or man-made satellites. After scarfing down my dinner, I sat outside my tent, looking upward toward the stars. Wow, what a beautiful place we live in!

Howl of the coyotes

At around 9:00 pm, I decided that I wanted to go to sleep; in the wilderness, the time you spend during the night is typically really short. Unless you had a portable generator or lived in an area where there was electricity, every bit of battery juice is precious in your flashlights. Since Desolation Wilderness was a no-campfire zone, I couldn't create light for myself, as Tom Hanks (rather, Chuck Nolan) does in Castaway. So, I got back into my tent and began the process of tucking myself in for my first sleep alone in the wilderness.

Only a few minuts after I had gotten into my sleeping bag, I heard the cackling screams and yelps of a pack of coyotes in the background. Of course, they sounded as if they were yapping right next to my tent! It was a scary situation for me, and I bet it would be for anyone alone on their first solo trip. Of course, I knew that coyotes were scavengers and wouldn't eat me or even attack me, but it was still a slightly harrowing experience. They died down after about a minute of their yapping, and I was able to quickly fall asleep for the rest of the night.

Day 2: Day of the Mule

Commentary coming soon...

Climbing Dicks Pass	Desolation Trees	On top of Dicks Pass
Hiker Met: Jim Flanson	Chilling after a long hike	My water source, the Rubicon

Dicks Pass

Overlooking the valley from atop Dicks Pass.

Should I stay or should I go?

Camper's Flat

Camper's Flat: My second night out in the wilderness.

Day 3: Climbing Waterfalls

Commentary coming soon...

In front of Lake Schmidell	Hiking to Lake Lois	Lois Waterfall
All smiles at Lake Doris

Waterfall and rough terrain

Arriving at Lake Lois, I saw, no, I heard something beautiful.

The scene from the waterfall at Lake Lois.

Sleeping out at Lake Doris

Lake Doris: My home away from home.

Day 4: The Land of the Lost

Commentary coming soon...

Taking a bearing on Dicks Peak	I found the trail. Phew!	Jim's camp at China Flat?
Hiker met: Erik Hillard	Beautiful trail marker	It's all good when you're not lost

Granite rockface on one side, beautiful lake on the other: Lake Clyde

Setting up camp

Where's Adam's Tent? Can you find my tent in the picture?

Stellar battery life?

Day 5: Battery Life and Reunion

Commentary coming soon...

Hiking up Mosquito Pass	Hiker met: Bob from Lake Gilmore!	Hikers met: Patty Sue and her family
Camping with Bruce Boyd	Fantastic view: overlooking the valley	Time to eat!