A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

If you've been searching for the best source of information and stimulating discussion related to Spring/Summer/Fall backpacking, hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada...look no further!
User avatar
Harlen
Topix Addict
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:13 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Santa Cruz Mountains

A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by Harlen »

I just returned  last week from an abbreviated ski tour out to Lake Aloha where I had hoped to do some ski touring and climbing with my friend Bearzy.  We parked in the Sno-Park lot near Echo Summit, which is off Hwy 50, near Johnson Pass.  [the required Sno-Park passes are $5/day, $25/year]  I got a late start, and in my hurry to camp up high, I shot myself in the foot by racing off on the first well-traveled ski trail out of the lot.  It, of course, went over the right ridge in the wrong direction, and I killed a half-hour finding the correct trail to Echo Lakes where the route begins.  In the wise words of Winnie the Poo's friend Eeyore, "Nooooo matter."

The summer trail parallels the eastern shore of the Echo Lakes, but is unnecessary now, when both Echo Lakes are so deeply, hopefully ? :eek: frozen.  Skiing straight across saves a half mile, as long as you are careful not to break through and sink to the bottom along the way.  I stripped the skins off at the first lake, and soon realized what the particular challenge of this trip would be- ICYNESS!  I skittered along, and when I found open water between the two Echo Lakes, I barely made the detour.  Even with my sharp, new, fish-scale patterned skis, I had to struggle mightily to get up a 10 foot, gradual incline...Curses!  This was to be the bane of the trip, and the following day, it kept me from trying the long desired climb of Pyramid Peak.  I left the full-skins on for all but the crossings of the big lakes, and on some soft surfaces here and there. On the climb I did manage- Mt Ralston, I used ski crampons for the first time, for even more security on the icy ridge.  Reading the Tuolumne winter rangers recent post, I should have known.  Laura Pilewski wrote that skiing was iffy, pointing out that it's not snow depth, but the surface conditions that really count.  Bring pointy things!  Luckily I had the new ski-crampons (which are cheap, light, and slip on and off w/o ski removal), and an ice-axe and boot crampons too.  I used all of them to stay relatively safe.

I had planned for a 4 days, and 3 nights trip, but it changed to a 3 days, 4 nights trip... at least in my mind.  I reckon that the 2 interminable nights should count for 4!  Our nights were 6 PM to 7 AM, most of it rolling around in the tent.  I read my novel twice.  I woke up once at 1 AM, wide awake- so I did some sewing repairs, and talked with Bear....  They were very long nights indeed!  I did enjoy three nice, long days in the mountains. 

100_0768.JPG
 


100_0771.JPG
The lower slopes have impressive Juniper trees, and soon we were traveling through a forest of Western White Pines and Hemlock.

100_0770.JPG
 My first view of Mt. Ralston- one of the two mountains I hoped to ski up and down.


100_0775.JPG
Mt. Ralston showing part of it's long northwest ridge- the route we skied.   


100_0778.JPG
The wind was strong enough to warrant jackets.


100_0781.JPG
Mt. Ralston's northeastern slopes are popular ski and snowboard descents. (SNOOOW / Jon, didn't you ski it?  And you too gazelle?)

100_0790.JPG
Late in the day at our camp at the edge of Lake Aloha.


100_0787.JPG
Sunset light on Cracked Crag in the foreground, and Jack's Peak in the back.  


100_0793.JPG
Pyramid Peak was the other mountain I hoped to climb.  


100_0798.JPG
When I look at the sleeping Bearzy, I imagine that I have a small bear in the tent with me.


100_0816.JPG
Bearzy and I had skied in once before to Lake Aloha, and looked forward to returning to gaze at the Crystal Range.  It is a north-south running group of peaks, so the morning sun shines on it beautifully... and then there was the Moon!!

100_0801.JPG
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Harlen on Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:26 pm, edited 8 times in total.
Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend.
User avatar
Harlen
Topix Addict
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:13 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Santa Cruz Mountains

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by Harlen »

100_0805.JPG

100_0814.JPG

100_0785.JPG
A lot of gear for this short trip. Voile Objective waxless skis, with Backland AT bindings; full skins and the new set of ski crampons (not shown); Scarpa F1 AT boots; crampons and ice axe. Much of the gear, and all our food fit on the funky "pulk." The dog is happily free of his usual backpack. A note on the boots: I like them for their lightness [less than 3 lbs.each"(size 29, ~11), and their warmth. They have a flat, vibrum-like sole, and are flexible enough to actually climb in them, unlike my giant, stiff old Tele boots, which made me look and walk like Frankenstein's monster! They easily fit with my aluminum crampons, and best of all--now that I've had a tight spot "punched out," they are comfortable! ... of course I paid for all of this. :( The "pulk" weighs just 5 lbs., it's a kiddie sled drilled out and reinforced with thin plywood where the wire tie-loops are set around the sides. Para. cord lashes everything down.


100_0807.JPG
I decided against climbing Pyramid Peak for fear of Bearzy slipping and sliding into the band of rocks. (I had brought no harness or rope for him.)

100_0821.JPG
Lake Aloha is over 2 miles long, and a mile wide in places! Bear and I have skied a circle around it, and out to Mosquito Pass, seen in the photo below:

100_0824.JPG
Mosquito Pass is above the dark patch of forest.


100_0834.JPG

100_0831.JPG
Jack's and Dick's Peaks are due north of the lake.


100_0828.JPG
The high white bowl is below Jack's, a peak Bearzy has also climbed.


100_0822.JPG
It was hard to ski away from these ever-changing morning views of the Crystal Range.


100_0829.JPG

100_0847.JPG
On the ridge to Mt. Ralston, looking west through Lake of the Woods. Badass climber types, like gazelle, and Wandering Daisy, link all three of the main summits-- Pyramid, Agassiz, and Price, and then run down to the lake to drink a few cans of beer, and then they charge up Jack's and Dick's Peaks for fun.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Harlen on Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend.
User avatar
Harlen
Topix Addict
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:13 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Santa Cruz Mountains

A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by Harlen »

100_0846.JPG
Note the shining ice around Bearzy. It's so slick that I left the skins on for grip almost everywhere. This slows you down, but saves energy lost floundering about. On the up side, I never experienced any snow build-up on the skis, skins or the sled.

100_0855.JPG
Near the top of Ralston, which was made easy using the ski crampons. They are the gold-colored, 3 toothed things seen in the middle of the skis. They rotate up going forward, and grip tight at the end of each stride (Click twice to see them).


100_0865.JPG
My climbing partner on the summit!


100_0866.JPG
Here is some of the downhill attraction-- the wide bowl just north of Ralston.


100_0860.JPG
The view south shows more of the same fun insanity. In the distance you can see Roundtop Mountain at the far right, and first Red Peak, and then Steven's Peak moving left. Way far off to the left may be the Ebbetts Pass mountains? (*Click on image to enlarge)

100_0862.JPG
Two split-boarders coming up to try their luck. Me, I'd rather live to wallow about another day, I went back down the ridge.

100_0859.JPG
Due north from Ralston I recognize Lake Tahoe, but wildhiker will have to fill me in again on the far mountains.

100_0863.JPG

100_0858.JPG
One last view of the Crystal Range and we're off.


100_0868.JPG
But not this way! That is first Ralston, and then Tamarack Lake below.


100_0861.JPG
After a long, gentle descent, we ended our day skiing back across these Echo Lakes.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Harlen on Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:35 am, edited 12 times in total.
Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend.
User avatar
Harlen
Topix Addict
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:13 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Santa Cruz Mountains

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by Harlen »

100_0878.JPG
Bearzy had a good time, and a great workout! Our final day was 11 miles- and farther for Bearzy. Back home he was couch-bound for 2 days!


100_0880.JPG
After coming down Ralston, we rested up, and I stamped out another level campsite in the snow, but then we decided to bolt for home. It had been such a perfect day, that I wanted to finish it with the great downhill run back to Echo Lakes, rather than languishing in camp, and then in the tent for hours and hours again.


100_0885.JPG
This looks like a serious mountain dog on the trail, but seconds later he was ploughing his whole head in the snow, growling, and flopping about like a fish!

posting.php?mode=edit&f=1&p=162921#
100_0889.JPG

100_0891.JPG
"What?"


So, all in all it was a great short trip. I feel okay about the loss of the third camp site up on the ridge, though as I expected, now that I am at home, I wish I was still up there. In the course of the past weird year, I have become very adept at "sheltering in bed," so I wonder why I couldn't enjoy more of the same sort of things while "sheltering in the tent?" Here I have this laptop, and all kinds of books at hand, let's see... there are 55 of them at present, and there in the tent I had one tired old western novel, and the topo map for reading material. Here I have a loving wife, who will bring me almost anything I ask for if I successfully feign sickness or injury, while in the tent I do my own sorry cooking, and the only things Bearzy will fetch for me is his slobbery stick, and unwanted snow tracked onto the floor. So I guess feeling "Je suis ennui" made a sort of sense, but the coyote singing, the full moon light on the snowfields, and the amazing mountain views of the Crystal Range, makes it all worthwhile. I'll just have to go back again in the spring.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Harlen on Sun Mar 28, 2021 9:35 am, edited 7 times in total.
Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend.
User avatar
Wandering Daisy
Topix Docent
Posts: 6635
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 8:19 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Fair Oaks CA (Sacramento area)
Contact:

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Lucky you! All that snow and a full moon. Beautiful photos. Thanks for the report.
User avatar
michaelzim
Topix Regular
Posts: 398
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 7:09 am
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: Ukiah - CA

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by michaelzim »

WAY COOL!!! Maybe a bit chill for my tropics blood though, and 13 hour nights in tent would severely tax my already wide awake nights! Does look tempting though after so long without thin air. Super pics too!

Ta much ~ Zimichael
User avatar
Jim F
Topix Regular
Posts: 138
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:29 pm
Experience: N/A

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by Jim F »

Harlen,

Your superb TR/photography is greatly appreciated. It could be used as a travel advertisement for Desolation Wilderness/El Dorado County. The Sno Park (Echo Summit) where you presumably left your vehicle has been open during the entire pandemic and has been a big asset to the backcountry community.

The Sno Park is 0.6 miles (slightly uphill) off the 50 on Johnson Pass Road. How did you find the traction on that road? Despite no recent snow, on Christmas eve I struggled on it in my Toyota Corolla and have since been launching from the Donner Summit Sno Park.

If you came up the 50, did you notice if the turnout for the Mt Ralston TH (across from Camp Sacramento) has ever been plowed?

Give my regards to Bearzy.

Jim
User avatar
wildhiker
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1107
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:44 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Contact:

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by wildhiker »

Thanks for the very nice trip report! My backcountry ski touring days are over (too cold, too dark, too much weight to carry, too much skiing skill required!), so I appreciate the chance to experience it vicariously from my warm house! Sorry your snow conditions were so icy. Backcountry skiing really is nice when the snow and weather are good and just a big pain when either is bad.

Really loved your photo of full moon over morning light on the Crystal Range.

Oh, and the major peak in your view north to Lake Tahoe from Ralston is Mt Rose.

-Phil
User avatar
commonloon
Topix Regular
Posts: 324
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 3:32 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by commonloon »

Awesome stuff. It looks like Bearzy was really enjoying himself! Thanks for sharing.
User avatar
c9h13no3
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1320
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:19 pm
Experience: Level 1 Hiker
Location: San Mateo, CA

Re: A Short Ski Tour in Desolation Wilderness, Feb 26-29/2021

Post by c9h13no3 »

Man, dogs love snow :-)

Tahoe skiing pretty well this past weekend...
"Adventure is just bad planning." - Roald Amundsen
Also, I have a blog no one reads. Please do not click here.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 24 guests