Route Suggestions for Desolation Wilderness

[Scmr143]

Looking for suggestions for Desolation Wilderness 4 day, 3 night. Coming from KS & OK. Have backpacked in elevation up to 8,000, hiked at higher elevation. In excellent physical shape, enjoy a challenge. Open to suggestions outside of Desolation. We chose the area because it’s an easy flight for both parties, lower elevations than CO.

Experience- Level 2
Approx 10 miles per day
Last trip was Havasu Falls, have done Mount Shasta City area, Mount Eddy
Looking for lakes and wilderness scenery
Early Sept timeframe
Loop would be ideal, but open to out and back and exploring different areas from base camp.

Thank you!

[paul]

First off, do you already have a permit reservation?

[Wandering Daisy]

From Reno airport (a smaller airport that is easy to get in and out of) Hwy 395 offers easy access to all the eastern Sierra trailheads no more than a few hours different than Desolation. Just wondering why you are avoiding higher altitudes.

Desolation is small, good that you almost immediately enter beautiful country. Unfortunately, it is heavily used with a great share of people on trails as day-hikers and trail-runners. You are not going to get a lot of solitude; that may not matter to you. It feels quite civilized, again, maybe that is good or bad for you. It is very pretty, lush, green, beautiful lakes. Not so much big peaks. There are many trip reports that you can look at. Just use the "Search" function and put in "Desolation Wilderness". My opinion is a bit skewed because I live close by and pretty much have walked every trail and rather go elsewhere to the higher alpine country. It is a good choice late season when the crowds leave. It does get a lot of snow, so will still have snow in June and early July.

I am not sure if the same permit system is now used, but in the past, they had several "zones" each with its nightly quota, making you designate every night's location and added fees. If flying in from far away, added fees may be irrelevant for you. Some east side trailheads have parking fees. They used to have an annual pass, stopped that, so for us locals, who want to do many weekend trips, it has become relatively expensive.

If you still want to do Desolation after more research, I can suggest some routes. Unfortunately, the photos on my old trip reports here do not show up because I no longer use Photobucket. Others have put in some nice reports that will help you decide.

[Scmr143]

Hi…thank you. Can we get the same beauty with more solitude elsewhere? As a local, what would you recommend? Trying not to be too picky…the number of hours we spend trying to figure these trips out makes them almost not worth it. Altitude is fine, but coming from OK and KS, we need some acclimation time.

[bobby49]

Altitude is fine, but coming from OK and KS, we need some acclimation time.

Yes, when driving from an airport, plan on sleeping one night at elevation before heading out. For 8000-9000 feet, that is probably all you need. If going higher, then allow more time to adjust.

[Wandering Daisy]

viewtopic.php?p=141272#p141272
This is a Desolation trip late season (Oct 2019). I am bias, but personally, I prefer Desolation early season. It gets a bit dried out late season, as well as air quality often is poor. It is less crowded, but not as scenic in my opinion. However, the water is warm and you can swim!

You can acclimate on the first day if you go slowly, short mileage and elevation gain. Do not push it when you get out of breath; just slow down. I go from sea level to 9-10,000 elevation every trip. I like to drive to the trailhead and walk in the same day (I hate car camping). For example, I would drive 6 hours to South Lake, walk to very scenic Long Lake- very short but it puts me in the mountains with a lake I can fish.

Emigrant Wilderness is similar to Desolation, and permits are very easy to get. But my choice would be to go a bit further south.

For spectacular scenery you cannot beat the Minarets out of Mammoth Lakes. Loop in via the River Trail to Shadow Lake. Day2 to Ediza Lake with day-hike to Iceberg Lake. Day 3 to Thousand Island Lake with plenty of time to enjoy Garnet Lake on the way. Day4, out via the High Trail (PCT). Permits are limited now to weekends due to road construction, but that should be done by September. Most is in the 9000-10000-foot range. It can also be crowded but after Labor Day things calm down and you can easily camp a bit off-trail away from crowds.

A bit farther south to Rock Creek, Mono Pass to the 4th Recess is great- can camp/acclimate first night at Ruby Lake which is very easy to get to. A bit more south, Dusy Basin out of South Lake is a favorite. Permits a bit harder to get and about an hour drive south of Mammoth Lake (Minarets). From Sabrine Lake you can also do a loop to Sabrina Basin which has many beautiful upper lakes. Only downside is that it is a significant elevation gain to the first good camping. North Lake to Humphreys Basin also great and easy first day to Loch Leven or Piute Lake.

[Scmr143]

Thank you very much! I will look at all of these!

[frozenintime]

a great suggestion from WD. however, there is still no camping at shadow lake as far as i know?

[Wandering Daisy]

You are right. I think there is no camping within a quarter mile? There are plenty of nice sites towards Ediza Lake. Ediza itself gets quite crowded. My favorite campsite is a bit downstream of Iceberg Lake. The established sites above the lake are quite windy. If you get a late start, Olaine Lake has OK camping. The reason I recommend a clockwise loop is that there is little camping near water on the High Trail for many miles, particularly late season. Even early season, where there is water, there is poor camping; where there is good camping there is no water.

[Scmr143]

I hate to ask this, but have read some reviews of this area in Sept…some say mosquitoes were atrocious. Has this been your experience? We are three females that HATE mosquitoes and they LOVE us.