Desolation Wilderness

The Desolation Wilderness is a 63,960-acre federally protected wilderness area in the Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, in El Dorado County, California

I backpacked into this area many times during the early to mid-1970s. I was one of those people that reduced weight by drilling holes in the handle of my tooth brush, metering toilet paper and packing exactly the food required. Then I loaded my camera equipment and my pack was up to 65 pounds - my red line for weight.

The first time a hiked into the Desolation Wilderness I went with a friend. After that a usually went alone. After you hiked in about 3 miles and crossed a 10,000 foot pass, you saw few people. Sometime I would hike three days without meeting up with another hiker. I loved the experience.

One time I did hike in with my wife and my young son. We hiked in to a lake just before the 10,000 foot pass. The next day my wife and son stayed at camp and I took a hike over the pass and deeper into wilderness.

When I returned that night and they had eatten all the food and we were out toilet paper. The next morning we terminate the trip, hiked out and found food.

This picture was taken on one of my solo hikes.