R09/R07 TR: Echo Lakes to Barker Pass (TRT/PCT) July 2016

[Devin]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here but as a beginner backpacker I've found a lot of these trip reports to be helpful so I figured I'd make one!

The TRT site lists this segment as 32.7 miles, the three of us had a great 2 night/3 day trip going South from Echo Lakes Northward to Barker Pass Road. We were driving from the Bay Area so to make this trip as stress free as possible we booked car camping for one night before our backpacking trip at DL Bliss State Park, and one night after at Sugar Pine Point State Park. We hiked in early July 2016, and had perfect weather. There were some patches of snow on the trail at the top of Dick's Pass and on the North side of the pass, but nothing that made it difficult to hike through. If anything it added some nice variation & additional excitement for us San Diego natives.

We started Day 1 by driving our car to the trailhead at Barker Pass Road. We only had one car so we hired a shuttle (http://www.wannaridetahoe.com/) to take us from to the trailhead at Echo Lakes. We were on the trail by around 9:30AM, and started the lovely 10 miles or so to Gilmore Lake.

The view hiking away from Echo Lakes

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Lake Aloha, about 6 miles into our hike. It was a beautiful place to stop for a snack. Also here I should mention that permits are required for Desolation Wilderness, and we met a ranger here who checked ours.

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Cool ice cave

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Night 1 at Gilmore Lake

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We took our time getting up in the morning, despite knowing that this would be our lengthiest day, and involved hiking up Dick's Pass. We were trying to decide between camping near Phipp's Creek or push onward to Richardson Lake. We ended up hiking ~15-16 miles to Richardson Lake, which I would totally recommend. This let us camp next to a water source, as from what I had read online you shouldn't count on Phipp's Creek being there throughout the summer, and can expect a ~9 mile dry area from Middle Velma Lake to Richardson Lake. By the time you get to Richardson Lake you've left Desolation Wilderness, so most of the excitement was behind us. However, this meant we got to have a fire (requires permit) at Richardson Lake! There were many campsites to choose from, and many of them had some kind of fire ring constructed from stones. This was a really great unexpected treat. I've heard people say that Richardson Lake can get kind of busy with people with cars & RVs but that night it was only hikers staying there.

Great view from the top of Dick's Pass (~9400 ft I think?)

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Snack break by a small pond next to either Dick's Lake or Fontanillis Lake. Major key: cold brew concentrate is a great way to get your caffeine fix on short backpacking trips like this.

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Snack break at a cool spot about 200 ft off the trail on the way to Lake Richardson.

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Day 3 was short and easy so we were in no rush to get going. I think we had about 7 miles to our car at Barker Pass Road, and we hiked it pretty quickly. We got to share some time with some PCT hikers at the Barker Pass trailhead and give away our leftover food. We car camped that night at Sugar Pine Point SP & got to enjoy the beer we had brought from Temescal Brewing. I'd highly recommend this segment for any level of backpacker.

[maverick]

Hi Devin,

Welcome to HST! Thank you for taking the time, to post you first TR and pictures. Also, thanks for the shuttle link.

[gplhiker]

Hi Devin-
Thanks for posting your trip report. I did the entire Tahoe Room Trail last year in day hikes, and broke this section into 2 treks. First one was Echo Summit to Emerald Bay, which was my favorite of the whole TRT. That view from Dick's Pass is so amazing friends and I went back to do Dick's Peak this summer. The area from Velmas top Richardson Lake was pretty much all in forest, which made getting to the lake a real highlight. We had lots of water the last few miles to Barker Pass in late summer so I'll bet you had tons this early. Thanks for taking me back for a few...
Greg