Desolation Wilderness Fastpack 07/24/20 - 07/26/20

To start off the hiking season, Caitlin and I planned out a ~85km, 2 night hike together in desolation wilderness. All my previous journeys into desolation wilderness had been on skis, so I was excited to see the difference without snow. 

Route:

Day 1 was a 10km day up to the summit of Ralston, and then back down to camp on the shores of Lake Aloha. 

From just shy of the summit on Ralston looking out towards Lake Aloha. 

Almost at camp!

Day two was a 50km day. We left Lake aloha and followed the PCT past Susie Lake and over Dicks Pass. We turned off the PCT when we hit the junction with 17E01, and followed that until 16E03 and the connector back onto the PCT. We followed the PCT back to 17E34 and followed that down to Rubicon river and camped near the river crossing.

First light

looking back at the crystal range behind aloha

Beauty morning!

Little pond with flat water

Wildflowers were popping!!

View from dicks pass down at dicks lake

looks swimmable!

Clouds... we got some sprinkles in the late afternoon.

Geneveive lake trail (16E03) had very little traffic compared with all the others on this hike

FRESH!

PCT express highway

more PCT

a very floppy tree

rock lined path dropping down to rubicon river

Day 3 was 35km back up rockbound valley, over mosquito pass dropping back down to Lake Aloha. From there we descended to lake of the woods, and followed the Pyramid Creek drainage over (but beside) horsetail falls.  

It was cold enough at night for frost

more wildflowers

and some large fungus

closing in on mosquito pass

looking out over lake aloha

Inviting, clear (and warm) waters

Lake of the woods with pyramid in the background

starting the drop down the drainage

Upper Horsetail falls

What was to be the start of the summer of 2020, was pretty much the end of it... I broke one of my ribs not long after this hike was completed, and right as I finished healing up, the disastrous 2020 fire season got rolling.