A PCT Reunion!
- Samuel Emigrant
- Jul 29, 2017
- 2 min read
Day 1 is here! Brother-in-Law Bob was a critical piece of my logistics, prepping and lending me his reserve car, helping me stage at Donner Pass for my exfil (a three hour drive), and then dropped me off at the Hopwood Ranch on the way home. Mark gave us the tour of the property. The first picture here is of the Hopwood home abutting Mount Diablo State Park (pic 1).
Mark and I left early in the morning, arriving at the The Echo Lake Resort boat taxi dock by 9 am (pic 2 & 3). Hiking partners Jim, Mike and Wayne spent the night with our friends the Pappis's in South Lake Tahoe and took the 8 am boat taxi up to the top of Upper Echo Lake. We would meet up later at Lake Aloha. Mark and I donned our packs at the upper dock (pic 4) and began the 4 mile climb up to Lake Aloha. Not acclimating a day at this elevation prior to hiking makes it tough to get the air down into the lungs. Have you ever had to yawn but couldn't quite get there? That's what it feels like. After a day or two your body adjusts.
The view back down to Echo Lake as you climb is spectacular (pic 5 & 6). We crossed into Desolation Wilderness a short hike later (pic 7). As you continue to climb you pass above Lake Tamarack, in the background below Mark (pic 8). We all spent time together at Tamarack back in 1989. You also pass unseen Lake of the Woods, Lake Lucille, Lake Margery, Triangle Lake, etc., you get the picture. The number of Alpine Lakes in Desolation Wilderness is why it is so popular. Some additional climbing and beautiful backdrops (pic 9 & !0) make for an enjoyable final climb to the saddle above Lake Aloha.
Lake Aloha is a very big lake and a lack of communication on my part, and a failure to accept Mark's intuition to take the first fork down, delivered us an extra half mile down the lake shore beyond where we finally camped. I had planned to camp further down the Lake to reduce the length of the second day hike. We had to double back along the shoreline to find the guys adding a mile to our hike. Success as we find Wayne and Jim's tent already set up (pic 11). Mark and I picked out spots for our shelter (pic 13). A beautiful spot at Lake Aloha, elevation 8100 ft (pic 12). The evening sunset was spectacular. From the picture angle all you really see is everyone's back but can you blame them for facing any other direction? (pic 14 & 15) More posts soon on my trials and tribulations as I head toward Hwy 80 and Donner Pass so stay tuned!
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