Backpacking Trip Report / Route Description
Pictures from Horsetail Falls 2002
Quick Facts
Area - Desolation Wilderness, California.
(Lake Tahoe Area)
Route - Twin Bridges trailhead to Lake Aloha then
out via upper and lower Echo Lakes.
Distance - 10.6 miles
Date - 7-6-02 thru 7-7-02.
2 days, 4 people, 1 dog
Points of interest along the way
Horsetail Falls
Avalanche Lake
Pitt Lake
Rapi Lake
Desolation Lake
Desolation Valley
American Lake
Medley Lakes Dam
Aloha Lake which is part of Medley Lakes made from the dam
Lake of the Woods
Tamarack Lake
Upper Echo Lake
Lower Echo Lake
General Comments
The Twin Bridges trailhead is located on highway 50
about 15 miles south of the highway 89 junction south of Lake Tahoe,
California. There is a pull out there with plenty of parking.
We dropped a car off at the Lower Echo Lake then got ourselves to the
trailhead. We packed up Horsetail falls, through Desolation
Wilderness passing many lakes and Medley Dam. We set up camp at
Lake Aloha. The next day we went from Lake Aloha to Upper Echo
Lake, we made a swim - lunch stop at Tamarack Lake. We
caught the water taxi from Upper Echo Lake to the bottom of Lower Echo
Lake where we picked up our vehicle and returned home.
If you like water falls and hiking by lake after lake after
lake, you need to check this area out.
Maps
Click for the High Resolution version of the map.
Right click and select "Save Picture As" to save the high res version.
GPS Waypoint Information
Trailhead - - - - tTwinBrgds
6200 feet - - - - N38 48.693 W120 07.423 (WGS 84):
This is the Twin Bridges trailhead located off highway 50 about
15 miles south of Lake Tahoe.
Top of Horsetail Falls - - - - sHrsTlflsTp
7435 feet - - - - N38 49.957 W120 07.400 (WGS 84):
This is the top of Horsetail Falls. It is beautiful and a
worthy destination for even a day hike.
Medley Dam - - - - MedleyDam
8114 feet - - - - N38 51.593 W120 08.237 (WGS 84):
Medley Dam is the dam that, dams the outlet to a lot of would be
smaller lakes.
Medley Dam turns all the smaller lakes into Lake Aloha.
Our camp and Lake Aloha - - - - lAloha1
8136 feet - - - - N38 51.693 W120 08.457 (WGS 84):
We chose a spot on a small peninsula to set up camp. Nice
views of the whole area.
I would love to come back some day.
Junction to Lake of the Woods - - - - jLakOfWds1
8323 feet - - - - N38 51.290 W120 06.538 (WGS 84):
Trail junction to Lake Of The Woods.
Break area by the shore of Tamarack Lake - - - - wTmrkLkSwim
7857 feet - - - - N38 50.758 W120 05.822 (WGS 84):
We took a break here for some food and to take a little swim.
Yes there was snow around but I brought my wetsuit!!
Boat taxi dock on Upper Echo Lake - - - - wBoatTaxiUpr
7479 feet - - - - N38 50.802 W120 04.700 (WGS 84):
The dock at Upper Echo Lake for a boat taxi between here and
Lower Echo Lake.
Trailhead at Lower Echo Lake - - - - tEchoLak1
7441 feet - - - - N38 50.086 W120 02.655 (WGS 84):
This is the bottom dock for the water taxi and a trailhead at
Echo Lake.
Details
Saturday 7-6-02 - 5.5 Miles
Start - Twin Bridges Trailhead
Along the way - Horsetail Falls,
Avalanche Lake, Pitt Lake, Rapi Lake, Desolation Lake,
Desolation Valley, American Lake, Medley Lakes Dam and Aloha
Lake which is part of Medley Lakes made from the dam.
End - Lake Aloha.
Pictures from Horsetail Falls 2002
I went up to Tahoe to visit a couple friends, Kevin and Ed.
I got there the day before we were going to take a pack trip up
Horsetail Falls and into Desolation Wilderness. That day
we just hung out and did the old catch up with friends routine.
We also went to play some disc golf at the Bijou park.
Later that night we went for a ride on the dinner cruise on Lake
Tahoe aboard The Dixie. Ed's girlfriend, Megan, worked
there and made the arrangements for us. After the cruise
we went back to Kevin and Ed's to pack for our trip the next
day.
We got up early morning, loaded our gear, stopped by a
convenience store for some last minute goodies and were off to
the Twin Bridges Trailhead. We dropped off one vehicle at
Lower Echo Lake on the way since that would be our exit point.
We left the Twin Bridges trailhead a little after 9am. We
were hiking on trail for a ways until we hit the climb up along
side Horsetail Falls. It then turned into a light scramble
a long way up the side of a mountain close to the flowing
Horsetail Falls. We took breaks here and there to enjoy
the scenery and get some rest. Horsetail Falls looked
amazing. It was not a straight vertical falls, but rather
a very steep fast flowing river. We made it to the top of
Horsetail Falls at 11:56am where we took another break.
From Horsetail Falls we hiked along a series of lakes leading to
Desolation Wilderness. The scenery through this area was
great. Lots of water, forests, wide open spaces, granite
fields and lots of clear blue skies. Avalanche Lake, Pitt
Lake, Ropi Lake, Desolation Lake, Channel Lake and American Lake
were those we passed before making it to Medley Dam at 3:25pm.
We stopped to check out Medley Dam for a while.
Medley Dam is the dam that makes Lake Aloha. It dams up
several would be smaller lakes to form Lake Aloha. They
were referred to as Medley Lakes before the dam was built by
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in 1923. After playing at the
dam we hiked another 0.25 miles to a great spot on the rocky
shore of Lake Aloha at 4:24pm.
We set up camp and got settled in. Then we ate some
dinner, looked at maps to plan the next days trip out.
During a mellow portion of the evening I put on my wet suit and
hopped in a pool of water near camp. It was a little
warmer than Lake Aloha since it was small and the sun could warm
it through the day. It was still pretty chilly though
since it was still cold enough to have snow scattered around us.
After drying out and relaxing it was bed time.
Sunday 7-7-02 - 5.1 Miles
Pictures from Horsetail Falls 2002
Start - Lake Aloha
Along the way -
Aloha Lake,
Medley Lakes Dam,
Lake of the Woods,
Tamarack Lake,
Upper Echo Lake and
Lower Echo Lake
End - Lower Echo Lake
Shortly after getting up Ed and I went to the
top of a ridge to cook and eat our breakfast.
We had great views of Lake Aloha and surrounding
areas. Chilly but an awesome place to have
a meal. ED and I went on a short walk over
the ridge to check out some of the area.
We found some snow and a small body of water to
play around at before going back to camp.
We all packed up and started our journey out
a10:10am. Along the way we went by Lake of
the Woods. To get to the trail for Echo
Lakes we could take a long way around or cut
across over a ridge line. We decided to
cut across thinking it would be smooth sailing.
For the most part it was smooth with one
exception. We had to climb down a crevice
area and hand our packs to each other to get
through one spot.
When we got to the junction for Tamarack Lake we
turned there to go take a break for lunch.
We were at the shore of Tamarack Lake from about
1:55pm to about 3pm. While there we ate
lunch and spent some time swimming. I had
my wet suit on again since I don't care for cold
water. I decided it would be a good idea
to swim to an island in the lake. It made
for some fun photos since there was snow on the
near by hills in the background.
After leaving Lake Tamarack we went to Upper
Echo Lake to catch the water taxi to Lower Echo
Lake. We were at the dock at about 3:30pm
and were getting on the boat at 3:45pm.
After riding to Lower Echo Lake at 4pm, we got our second vehicle and made our way home.
Pictures from Horsetail Falls 2002
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