8/2/14 Saturday. Granite Chief Wilderness. 8/3/14 Sunday. Skiing Anyone? 8/4/14 Desolation Wilderness Beauty, Sopping Wet.

8/2/14  13 miles

Anderson Peak,  that we looked at last night, was our first destination this morning.  It had an escarpment at the top and we hoped we weren't hiking across the scree wall that we could see from our camp. 

We ended up hiking below it in the forest and went 3/4ths of the way around the peak.  Just as we made our way around it we were passed by people running the trail!  There must have been 35 runners strung out over 2 hours that passed us.  It was a 10 mile fun run from Sugar Loaf Ski Area to Squaw Valley Ski Area.  

Our trail across the mountains with the back of Anderson Peak to the left.

It was a beautiful sunny day as we hiked from mountain to mountain up high on the slopes looking down into valleys and across to other ranges of colored granite, white and red.

 Painted Mountain to the right.

Anderson Peak is tucked behind the pointed top of Tinker Peak.  We could see Granite Chief looming across the valley but I didn't know we'd hike around it and to Squaw Valley Ski Area.

Granite Chief looms over this meadow where we stopped to get water from a spring and rest in the trees.  Peggy has skied here in the winter so it was fun for her to see the slopes without snow. 

Under the chair lift at Squaw Valley!

Up high enough to see Lake Tahoe on the horizon.

Hiking into the Granite Chief Wilderness area of Tahoe National Forest we also entered a game refuge.  It was quiet and still as we moved down the valley and across to another mountainside.  I flushed 4 grouse as big as chickens out from the trail side brush and into nearby trees, they clucked at us as we went by.

Climbing up again, we were headed for water and a campsite in a saddle,  the creek drained high lakes above us.

Today the forest smelled sweet and piney in the warm air,  it's a smell I love.  Being up so high he views were wonderful.  It's strenuous hiking in these high mountains and the miles are hard but the payback is beautiful wide open views, it's worth the effort.

We found a camp beside the stream, two gentlemen were camped on one side of the trail but were willing to share space with us.  We chatted over dinner, they were hiking friends out for a last hike before one of them moved to Texas. 

8/3/14  14 miles

At 11:00pm last night,  I finally decided to get up and take a Benedryl to help me sleep. (It was in my bear can) Then something was trying to bite a hole in my tent so I hit the wall hoping to scare it off. Being by the stream was cold last night but I warmed up by wearing my wool hat while I slept.  We were on the trail hiking up 1,000 feet in two miles to 8,500 ft. where we caught glimpses of Lake Tahoe again as in the photo below.

The trail noodled for 4 miles just below craggy peaks and all day we kept meeting day and multi day hikers. Many were hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail ( I think about 175 miles long) that share some miles with the PCT. It was overcast all day and hard to get good photos on my iPhone.

Craggy peaks and rocks walls that separated from the main peak stand out in the low light.

Peggy has stopped to take a picture so I'm taking one of her!

We wondered if we were hiking this peak with it's escarpment and rocky face, but instead  we skipped over the saddle on the left and hiked behind it in the forest.  The Tahoe Rim Trail met up with the PCT behind that peak. 

Our water was below Barker Pass where lots of people entered the wilderness for a Sunday afternoon hike.  We met many of them along the trail and as we rested near the creek.  The sky was growing dark and grey, it could be raining soon so we hiked up and out of Barker Pass, down the mountains to a creek where we found a Tahoe Rim Trail hiker camping.  He hadn't seen anyone all day until we came along.  We stashed the bear cans in the woods, set up camp and ate.  We had time to rest by the stream and Peggy saw a nice size fish hiding under a rock. 

By 6:10 we were in our tents reading and resting.

8/4/14. Monday 13.75 miles

It started raining at 3am so we decided to sleep until 6.  There was a slight lull and we almost got the tents down before it started again. I put the wet fly in a plastic bag hoping it wouldn't get everything else wet too.  I noticed the critter the night before had indeed bitten a hole in my tent, I'll have to repair it with duct tape when it dries.  Due to my hurry to get packed up I didn't finish breakfast before we set out and suffered from low power all day.  I have to do better tomorrow. It rained off and on all day so we covered our packs with our rainproof parkas called Packas.  I kept putting it on or tucking it away as I would get too hot or it would rain harder. We entered the Desolation Wilderness Area known to be stunningly beautiful so I was disappointed to see it in the rain and dark cloud cover.

My first view of Lake Fontanelis with it's granite backdrop.

The Desolation Wilderness is granite with lakes around every corner.  Many are a hard hike down to and we only view them from far above. My camera shots were very dark so not many photos are included here.

Camped at Lake Fontinelis, a stunning rock bound lake with granite benches all around. Small pockets of soil with trees growing in them make up the landscape.  It's a favorite lake for short pack trips about 15 miles from the trailhead at Echo Lake. 

We were hoping to enjoy the lake in the sunshine but it was a rainy day and chilly. Nevertheless there were lots of people tucked into camp spots all around.  We hiked beyond them and found a sandy open spot where the rain wouldn't puddle. 

We got into our tents in the rain and battened down the hatches,  finally I stuck my Jetboil outside the tent fly to boil water for dinner. I sat in my sleeping bag and ate in the tent,  it was raining steadily.  Peggy & I noticed the rain stopped around 6:00pm so we ran outside to do chores, get water etc and we took a moment to explore and see what we could before it started again.  Even dreary with low hanging fog it was breathtaking.  We each had a trick for coping with all the wet stuff, tucking socks & shoes, wet parka etc where we wouldn't get the sleeping bags or the few dry clothes we slept in wet. Sleep came as darkness fell and rain started in again.