Back from the Front

I spent the weekend up in Desolation Wilderness, doing my usual combination of cleaning up trash, restoring campsites, and hiking around the area talking to hikers, answering their questions, and giving them advice that is worth every penny they pay for it. And even when Lake Aloha is low, it is beautiful!

First, the trash. I no sooner arrived at Lake Aloha when I saw a flame orange trowel on the ground, and a ziplock bag full of used TP. So that got me long weekend off to a great start. I packed the TP into my garbage bag, and slipped the trowel into the outside pocket of my pack--hoping that someone might recognize it.

The neighbors

And then the tour of campsites and hikers: I found a tree that a trail crew will have to come in and chop, and managed to talk to more than sixty people--on the day before the big weekend began. I also stopped in at a lesser known lake...and found it lovely. But no more info than that, Let's keep it that way.

On the second day I hiked up to Mosquito Pass, and found a truly memorable campsite along the trail. It was occupied, but the occupants weren't home. I don't imagine they had created the monstrosity, but until they left, I couldn't very well knock it down. If you ever think it's a good idea to "improve" a campsite, please keep in mind that the next folks may do more, and the next folks...and pretty soon we have an eyesore right on the lake.

I found one group camping exactly where a ranger and I had littered with both rocks and logs just a couple of weeks earlier. They admitted that they had moved them out of the way, and I was able to convince them to camp somewhere else and replace the obstacles. This was the first day of the three-day weekend, and I chatted with more than a hundred people along the trail.

Zone 39, from the top of a neaby granite knob.

On the last day I hiked the length of my adopted Zone 39 from American Lake to Desolation Lake. There is no trail. It's a combination of lakes and tarns, open granite and bushwhacking. I didn't see another soul until I got down to Desolation Lake, where I met a trio of older hikers enjoying the solitude. Less than half a mile away I was at Lake of the Woods, full of campers. Two groups managed to occupy sites within spitting distance of the lake, and another campsite had massive construction in it. And there was a tree across the trail that we'll have to removed.

It was about here that I discovered that the flame orange trowel was no longer in my pack. It must have been yanked out during my bushwhacking. Nuts! Need a trowel? PM me for my best guess as to the location of this one.

A lesser known lake in Desolation Wilderness

Even with all the work, the place is gorgeous, and I had a great time talking to all the people who were enjoying it.

One final side trip to Tamarack and Ralston Lakes, where I saw loads of people, another log across the trail, and hikers everywhere. I talked to over two hundred people this day, and that was enough. I hiked out, drove home, and took a nice hot shower.

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