frediver wrote:Is there any public transportation to/from Echo Lake or any other Desolation trail head or any local shuttle that can be accessed from the SF Bay area?
You can take Amtrak from SF to Sacramento (Capitol Corridor) and then transfer to the Amtrak bus to South Lake Tahoe for about $50 and five hours of travel total. The Amtrak stop in South Lake Tahoe is at the 50/89 intersection (1000 Emerald Bay Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151).
The local transit in SLT, BlueGo 530-541-7149, provides service within the city limits and east up Kingsbury grade, but does not go to the Echo Lake TH, or any other Desolation Wilderness THs. Maybe one of the local hotels/resorts provides shuttles, but otherwise I'm not aware of public transit to any THs.
You could probably grab a hitch from SLT to Echo Lake? The THs along 89 (Glen Alpine, Cathedral, Mt. Tallac, Bayview, Eagle Lake) might be a bit easier to get a ride to.
I came across a service called "Shuttle-It," (
http://www.shuttlearoundtahoe.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, 530-318-9294, or 530-544-3249) on a web search and it looks like they cater specifically to hikers who need a ride to a TH. The gentlemen I spoke to said it wold be about $30 to go from SLT to Echo Lake TH.
Good luck and let me know if you find something out because I like to use public transit to THs as well.