This year we decided it was time to take our youngest backpacking (he turned 6 in June) so my wife got to come along too. As with our twins (now 10 - we went there in 2008 and 2009), we decided a three day trip to Lake Aloha in Desolation Wilderness was a great first trip. We went Sat-Mon over Labor Day weekend with another family (their youngest is only 4!), but all managed the 3 mile walk in easily (after taking the boat shuttle across the lake).
The biggest challenge (apart from getting there early enough to park - 9am was just in time!) was when my daughter dropped her glasses into Echo Lake while putting on the lifejacket for the boat and I had to strip down and dive into 8 feet of water to retrieve them. Fortunately the lake was very clear and it was sunny enough to dry off quickly on the boat ride.
Though the area was fairly busy, the weather was great, the water was relatively warm (63-64 degrees). A few more bugs than in past years, but nothing that required more than a few splashes of deet in the evenings. We camped on the peninsula at the southeast corner of the lake and had it to ourselves the first night and spent the afternoon swimming and sunbathing. On Sunday we did a day walk to Waca Lake at the foot of Pyramid Peak - another great place to swim, and got back to find a few more people camping nearby. After continuous sunshine during the day there were a few rumbles of thunder that evening, but it was really very pleasant (lows in the mid 40s) and a good campsite for our group of 10 (6 kids!). There was still quite a bit of snow around, including one huge section near the lake (20 feet deep by 200 feet long) which provided plenty of snow for Gatorade margaritas for the adults and Gatorade slushies for the kids.
Crystal Range from Lake Aloha
Lake Aloha
Waca Lake
Heading back to camp
Last edited by tim on Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
balzaccom wrote:i can only imagine diving into the cold water first thing in the morning though...
I found it quite pleasant - I've been practicing for the Alcatraz swim next week and the SF bay is only 59 degrees at the moment! That's really cold, especially without a wetsuit.
