TR: DW Alta Morris & north Aloha - July 2-5, 2021

[moonburn]

For the past two years I've dived into backpacking, and am dragging my friends along with me! Took my buddy out to Desolation Wilderness last weekend and had a marvelous time.

Friday 7/2: Hiked from Glen Alpine to Zone 28 (Half Moon), and camped on a bench above Alta Morris Lake. Lovely birdsong and frog music in the evening.

Saturday 7/3: Convinced my friend to hike to north Aloha the next morning in search of fewer mosquitoes (I had read a recent report by @jwill). We arrived by noon and set up camp between the trail and the shore. I was surprised at the folks who put their tents right at the shoreline.

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Ranger Jesse came over and checked in with us, recommended a day hike for Sunday that involved going up to Mosquito Pass, then up the ridge leading to Mt Price, then down a bit -- the goal being to reach an area with a pond, waterfall, and trees on the peninsula facing the north shore. In my second photo, you can see this area as a grouping of trees across the water from camp. I was sold! The ranger also said it didn't look like the dark clouds would turn into a storm for us. He was wrong about that, and we enjoyed a late afternoon thunderstorm with hail! Sky cleared up for dinner, then another storm came through around 10. Such lightning!

Sunday 7/4: After moving camp to a more sheltered spot behind a granite wall, we went in search of this fabled pond. It turned out to be a fun route-finding exercise, as I'm not super experienced with cross-country travel. We found some nice ponds and small falls along the way. In the photo below you can see the goal, but we decided it didn't look enticing enough to descend that far.

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Enjoyed the rest of the day with swimming and napping, then hiked back out to Glen Alpine the next day to a failing car battery. Very nice folks helped give us a jump, and we were on our way home!

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Aloha!

p.s. Traffic citation warning: As we headed back to 50 W, we saw signs warning that turning right from N Upper Truckee Rd onto 50 W was not allowed on Sundays and holidays. No reason given. As we got to that intersection, we saw a LEO parked there, ready to radio in any violations of this rule. My friend did a quick internet search to find that this is a new thing, and that many citations have been given. So.... we turned left (towards Tahoe), immediately took another right, turned around, and made a left onto 50 W --- in a way that was less safe for us than if we had been able to turn right in the first place. Nice to see that our police force is working to keep us safe :/

[TahoeJeff]

turning right from N Upper Truckee Rd onto 50 W was not allowed on Sundays and holidays

The point of that is to try and keep the local neighborhoods from getting clogged with the traffic of those looking to take a 'shortcut' out of town when 50 is already backed up.

[SSSdave]

... I was surprised at the folks who put their tents right at the shoreline...

Due to years since the Reagan years slashed budgets leaving our backcountry without effective enforcement, increasing numbers of visitors in our Sierra wilderness areas are illegally siting camps very close to lakes as well as creating illegal camp fires. Although LNT education is enough to prevent the majority of visitors from breaking such policy, there will always be fair numbers who already know policy but lacking enforcement will choose to selfishly ignore rules they disagree with. The PCT and JMT thru trails are where such behavior is rampant. IMO the NFS and NPS need to take off their kids glove and deliver some pain.

[moonburn]

turning right from N Upper Truckee Rd onto 50 W was not allowed on Sundays and holidays

The point of that is to try and keep the local neighborhoods from getting clogged with the traffic of those looking to take a 'shortcut' out of town when 50 is already backed up.

I understand, but it caught me by surprise (and I wasn't using the neighborhood as a shortcut). I wanted to mention it to any other hikers heading west from Glen Alpine area, so that they can avoid a citation

[moonburn]

... I was surprised at the folks who put their tents right at the shoreline...

Due to years since the Reagan years slashed budgets leaving our backcountry without effective enforcement, increasing numbers of visitors in our Sierra wilderness areas are illegally siting camps very close to lakes as well as creating illegal camp fires. Although LNT education is enough to prevent the majority of visitors from breaking such policy, there will always be fair numbers who already know policy but lacking enforcement will choose to selfishly ignore rules they disagree with. The PCT and JMT thru trails are where such behavior is rampant. IMO the NFS and NPS need to take off their kids glove and deliver some pain.

For sure, I know that public agencies don't have the funding or staffing to do much about it. Still, I made note that the same ranger who talked with me didn't seem to do anything about the tent that was right on the water. My guess is that he opts for education and sees if the camper volunteers to move their site... if they don't, he doesn't have much teeth for enforcement.

[SSSdave]

NF could deliver pain to policy breakers if those in upper management used common sense about what was possible and had backbone. Yes a single ranger miles out in the backcountry cannot do much to force those uncooperative they meet. In this era it isn't like 4 decades ago. All backcountry rangers ought have cameras on smartphones that can take photos of people they meet that could then be used to identify those people in the future and ban them from receiving permits for a period. Make an illegal fire, ban them for 2 years. Even if they don't have a wilderness permit and refuse to provide names a photo goes a long ways. If they ask to see a group's permit, they would of course have names. What was done decades ago is there was often a ranger not far up from trailheads at trail choke points. Vehicles license plates at trailheads can also be photographed that can lead to DMV records of who owns vehicles. It would help if permitees were required to provide vehicle license plate numbers expected at trailheads. From that and more a whole lot of people can be id'd which is what law enforcement does every day. But as long as the NFS/NPS keeps their head down in a hole playing the don't bother us we can't do anything...

[Wandering Daisy]

Another scenic day-hike is Clyde Lake- from Mosquito Pass you drop down the west side. The walk up to Mosquito Pass is worth the effort just for the views of Aloha.

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[moonburn]

Completely agree about the views of Aloha from Mosquito Pass, @Wandering Daisy. We didn't make it down to Clyde Lake, but I did get a nice view of it from the ridge:

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[fishwrong]

Love the pictures. Sounds like you had a great trip. If you get the chance spend a night at Aloha on a full moon, it's a moving experience. That granite wall to the west all the way up to Price and Pyramid Peaks gets lit up like it's daylight.

As for traffic, it's a sign of the times. Tahoe gets loved to death, and there are no good solutions. Locals get priced out and sit in traffic lines for an hour to get across town on holidays and big weekends. There have been tons of plans tried over the years to address it, but it just gets worse every year as populations expand. Watch a meeting on the vacation rental by owner business and you'll see family, friends and neighbors coming to blows or worse. The cost of living and visiting one of the most beautiful places on earth.

[TahoeJeff]

Tahoe ....one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Absolutely!!!