One Week Ago

One week ago, we started a backpacking trip into the Desolation Wilderness Area southwest of Lake Tahoe. 'Twas my birthday.

The trip started with a water taxi three miles up Echo Lakes.






And then we had to start walking. A couple hundred yards in, we were on the Pacific Crest Trail.


Shade was appreciated. Chunlin danced to Christina's ipod.


At Lake of the Woods, we stopped for lunch.


It was a good thing we rested so long, because my shortcut leaving Lake of the Woods wasn't all that great.

Who would've thought that there wasn't a good trail all the way around the lake? Big boulders and cliffs kept pushing us further and further up the hill. A perfectly good trail sat unused on the far side of this hill, a quarter mile away. But we pressed onward.

We waded across Pyramid Creek and climbed up the cliff on the other side.

It certainly wasn't the quickest way to our destination that I took. Coming back on Tuesday, we didn't take the quick route either. But now, after two circuitous cross-country routes, I know the best path to take.

It was getting late. Six o'clock or so. I was worried we weren't going to make it. We could've camped many locations along our route, but we had a permit for the Waca Lake area, and that was really where I wanted to camp. When we finally caught sight of Waca Lake, we dropped our packs.


Chunlin started cooking soup. I went to find a campsite. I had wanted to camp between Waca Lake and Lake Aloha, but cliffs blocked us, so we camped on the hill southeast of Waca Lake.


This turned out all right, however, because it gave us a great sunset.


After 2.25 days of vacation, I've posted 121 photos on flickr. No such thing as too much of a good thing!