Day 2 of our Desolation Wilderness backpacking trip starts out where we left off at Tamarack lake. If you missed day 1 you can check it out here. We ended day 1 calling it a night early due to the mosquitoes which made it easy for an early wake up time in the morning. We all got up pretty early. We were actually all packed and ready to go at 6:35am and excited for our next destination, Lake Aloha.
Here is a shot of where we came from, Tamarack Lake at our first rest break. I think it is always neat to see how far we have gone even in a short amount of time.
After about an hour into our hike it leveled out and it made for some easy hiking. This part was a nice forested area.
When we reached the lake, I was amazed. It is an amazing lake. It really is something different from any other lakes I've seen. I think it's the size of the lake and all of the granite rock surrounding it along with the mountains in the background that makes it so great. It is just breathtaking.
It is also neat because there are separate pools of water in places.
The boys enjoyed playing in the snow patches they saw by the trail. I think they could spend hours playing in the snow if they could.
Jack's Peak in the distance.
This swimming spot is where we ate lunch. The water was pretty cold for the boys to fully submerge themselves.
Happy hikers.
I had to get a family selfie.
Below is a pic of me and Hubby with Lake Aloha behind us. Here we ventured to a high point on our way back to camp. The views we got of the lake were so beautiful. This was where I knew this is one of my most favorite lakes of all (well so far that I've seen). I'd say even better than the lakes at the Enchantments in WA state.
The trail was a steady gradual incline once we left Tamarack Lake. I was so excited when we saw this marmot on the trail. I love seeing them because they are so cute.
The hike from Tamarack Lake to our camp site at Lake Aloha turned out to be 3.46 miles with about 661 feet of elevation gain according to my Garmin. We chose to have a campsite further along the lake because we had heard the further you hiked the windier it got and we opted for winds rather than mosquitoes.
Our campsite.
After setting up camp, we went to explore around the lake.
This section of the trail is where we came to a junction to either go left towards Mosquito Pass or right to continue on the PCT. We chose left.
Our hike exploring around the lake which included lunch and visiting a high point turned out to be a 2.87 mile hike.
No mosquitoes this night due to the winds. It was nice to be able to stay out longer and see the sunset. However it did get chillier with the winds.
Overall, it was a great day of hiking. The kids did great with a total of 6.33 miles for the day. We stayed up to see some stars then hit the sack.
Stay tuned for day 3 of our trip coming soon! Have a great weekend!
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