Desolation Wilderness

It had been a few years since I had been on a good backing trip, so my buddy, Mike, his dog, Zoe, and I packed up and headed into the Desolation Wilderness just outside of Kyburz off of US Route 50.

We turned on Wrights Lake Road and headed up several miles gaining altitude until we reached the Wrights Lake Visitors Center. Unfortunately the road was closed beyond that point because it was still early in the summer season, so we had to put on our gear there and walk up one mile of paved road before reaching the Twin Lakes Trailhead.

Putting on a heavy pack is never fun, and it's always hard to get used to, but Zoe had no problem. In fact, Zoe wasted no time checking to see if her pack was waterproof.

The answer? Nope... As it turns out, in addition to dog food, Zoe's pack also contained Mike's roll of toilet paper, but he got that out before it got soaked. I strapped that on the back of Mike pack as you can see in one of the photos.

After a couple of hours, about 4.5 miles of trail and 1500 feet of altitude gain, we got to our destination: Twin Lakes. The scene was beautiful.

I would have jumped into the lake, but it was still being filled by melting snow and couldn't have been much warmer than 33 degrees. That didn't stop Zoe, though. She took advantage of every body of water she encountered, and I never once saw her shiver.

After surveying our surroundings, we decided to head to the other side of the lake to find our campsite. The only problem was that there were only two ways to get there. One involved a steam crossing (while wearing our 40+ pound packs), and the other involved crossing a snowfield just above the shore. We opted for the latter.

Amazingly, we made it without incident, and we quickly found a nice dry and level spot for our camp. Prior to setting up our tents, I dropped two beers I was carrying into the lake to chill. Beer on backpack trips is usually discouraged due to inefficient weight, but there's something about a cold brew after a long hike.

Pete Coors would have been proud. Besides, one must ease into the Jack Daniels.

Mike also brought along another luxury, fresh marinated tri-tip. No freeze dried grub tonight, this was the real thing. Man that smelled so good on the propane stove. I knew if there were any bears around, they would surely be attracted to that.

We sipped our beers, chomped on steak and then sipped Lynchberg Lemonade (if Crystal Light + JD qualifies), and eased into the beautiful evening.

What more could we want? Ok, well, except for that?