Desolation Wilderness Backpacking Trip Day 3: Hike to Gilmore Lake from Lake Aloha 7/17/16

Continuing our backpacking trip into Desolation wilderness, on day 3 we hiked from our campsite at Lake Aloha to Gilmore Lake. Hubby had first thought we could try for Mt. Tallac but that hike turned out to be longer than we thought, so we ended up stopping at Gilmore Lake.

We didn't really have anything planned on our 3rd day of our backpacking trip. If you missed the first two days you can check them out below:

Day 1 - Echo Lakes to Tamarack Lake
Day 2 - Tamarack Lake to Lake Aloha

We were thinking about either exploring more around Lake Aloha, maybe hike to the other side of the lake or hike somewhere further. Hubby mentioned Mt. Tallac and he tried to look up how far it was on his phone, but it is hard to estimate with the map on his phone. By his estimations, it would be about a 5 mile hike up to Tallac. I figured we could try it out and if the boys weren't feeling it as the hike progressed, we'd turn around. 

We headed out early, around 7:45am from camp to hike.

Instead of making a left at the fork where we explored the day before, we went right to continue on the PCT. After a while we reached a pond and then Heather Lake picture below.

It was nice hiking along the lake for a bit. Some parts were a bit close to the edge and I was worried about them slipping and falling in but the boys did great.

A neat stream crossing. We made it to Suzie Lake and kept on hiking. Not sure why but I don't seem to have a pic of Suzie Lake.

 A picture in the meadow.

We reached Gilmore Lake!

It was almost 5 miles when we got to Gilmore Lake. We saw a couple of people heading towards the trail to Mt. Tallac and asked how much further and the gentleman said probably 2 more miles. At this point, I didn't want to push the boys and figured it was best this lake would be our destination and stopping point.

 We ate our lunch and hung out at the lake for a bit. It's a nice lake.

Then we headed back. 

The hike turned out to be 9.67 miles total according to my Garmin. It was a good hike. We will have to save Mt. Tallac for another time. 

After our hike, and back at Lake Aloha, the kids wanted to get in the lake. We went into one of the side pools and they played around in the water.

After playing in the water, the boys tried to see how far they could walk out on the rocks. They did a great job getting out there and no one falling in.

 The day ended with the kiddos playing in the snow.

That pretty much sums up day 3. Look out for our last day on the blog coming soon!

Have a great weekend!