TR: DW Alta Morris & north Aloha - July 2-5, 2021
Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:46 am
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.
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.
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!
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 :/
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.
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.
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!
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 :/