The Desolation Wilderness

The Desolation Wilderness … a vast expanse of beautiful land just west of Lake Tahoe filled with alpine forests, granite peaks and glacially-formed valleys and lakes [lakes galore!]

With trailheads into Desolation just 15 minutes from where we lived for the summer … this was basically our backyard. Epic. Carly planned an impromptu backpacking trip to explore this amazing place. Entering at Echo Lake and exiting near Emerald Bay — a tall order for the weekend with 15 miles of hiking planned for each day … here we go!

Sorry but … we can’t stop smiling!

And … we found our sleeping spot for the night! A bit off-trail [requiring some scrambling to get to the other side of a rock pile], right on Heather Lake looking right out at the sunset. Very private spot - very peaceful - very warm out!

When we got out of our tent in the morning light, the water was so perfectly still! Look at these reflections! A peaceful morning playing in the water, making coffee and taking photos.

Look closely and you can see so many lakes in the distance! This place is so incredible!

Matthew planned it perfectly so that we could watch the sunset over Emerald Bay as we hiked out. Due to lack of hiking prior to the trip, Matthew’s knee was quite sore … thank goodness for hiking poles! Carly has learned that maybe some training or shorter hikes would have probably been the ticket … but we just laugh it off and enjoy the sunset, making it to the car just as it’s getting dark.

Carly + Matthew’s first backpacking trip is a huge success! [Many more to come!]