Desolation Wilderness Overnight Trip Day 1

(Click any Photo to Enlarge) Christi and I managed to get Wednesday and Thursday off together so we sent RB to doggie day care and packed our crap for a quick overnight in Desolation Wilderness. Christi talked me into going as she has stayed 'hiking' fit since we came home from our last trip. I ,on the other hand, have switched back to my bike so I wanted to stay home and ride for our two days off together. She won out (as usual) and we drove to Emerald Bay to get our Wilderness Permit. Our trailhead choice on this trip was Eagle Falls instead of our usual Bay View as we wanted a little change of pace. The trail from the trailhead to the intersection of the Bayview/Velma Lakes Trail was very well traveled. Mostly day hikers headed to Eagle Lake or adventurous dayhikers trying to get to the Velmas. Once we were on our way to Dick's Lake, we had the trail to ourselves. We arrived at the PCT intersection at about 3:00pm.
We crossed the old dam at the outlet of Dick's Lake and walked around to the non-trail side of the lake. I knew we would have this side of the lake to ourselves. After a little searching we finally found a site that looked out over the lake and was hidden from view of the trail.
Since we arrived at our camp site relatively early, we went for a hike/scramble up to the top of a prominent point that overlooked the lake. After navigating around the pines and manzanita we entered a large boulder field. Christi doesn't really dig this kind of 'off trail' fun like I do.
Luckily she tolerates my excursions and we continued up toward some light Class 2 scrambling. I really enjoy this typical Sierra type of climbing. There are a lot of peaks in the Sierra that can be climbed with just Class 2/3 climbing. Since our plan was to climb Dick's Peak (9875ft.) the next morning, I wanted Christi to get comfortable with a little granite ledge work. Our afternoon was spent route finding and working on hand and foot holds. Before we knew it we were on top of the granite outcropping the protrudes out over the western shore of Dick's Lake.
This was the view from the top looking north toward Fontanellis Lake and the feeder tarns above it.
We headed down back to camp to cook dinner. The weather was fantastic with lows in the 40's and highs in the 70's. As the sun receded behind the mountains this is the view we had out of our tent window. Needless to say we slept well.

Desolation Wilderness Overnight Day 2

(Click on any Photo to Enlarge) We woke to clear skies on a chilly morning. The above photo was our tent view of Dick's Peak bathed in morning sunlight. Our departure time was the usual 7:00am. We loaded our water and snacks into the summit pack and headed up the PCT to Dick's Pass. It took us a little less than a hour to get to the pass. Dick's Pass from the North is pretty easy. The use trail that starts the climb to Dick's Peak is 2 switchbacks down the South side of the Pass.
The photo above is from the Pass looking toward the route up the ridge line.
We left the PCT and started our ascent. The first part of the climb is really a use trail on talus and scree. Route finding is a non-issue on this climb. As we continued up we came to the loose Class 2 chute that is the crux (if you will) of the whole climb. The chute is just below the false summit. This is where Christi started giving me the 'Glare' that says she wasn't happy about the route. I assured her we were close to the top and that the hardest part was behind us. She continued upward and made it to the ridge that separates the false summit from the actual summit. From there it is an easy scramble to the top. Before we knew it we were standing on top of Dick's Peak enjoying a fantastic morning view. This would be Christi's first summit register entry. I think I was more excited than she was. We signed the register and took the obligatory photos.
Christi really didn't want to descend the chute so we chose a different route down to our campsite. From the col between the false summit and the peak, we left the ridge route and headed North down the face of Dick's Peak.
This is just a scree field that is easy to go down but a lot of work to go up. Christi was much happier with the descent route. After 20 minutes of scree surfing we came to the highest tarn that eventually feeds Fontanellis Lake.
Following the drainage to the next tarn then turning East to head back to Dick's Lake. We were back at the campsite at 10:15am. We lounged around and had breakfast in the sun. At about noon we decided to head down to the the car at Emerald Bay. The walk out was uneventful and the 7 miles was covered in 2 1/2 hours. Another great trip. Next is Banner Peak for my birthday!