Leon Turnbull Photography

After the debacle at Yosemite I felt I had to get in one more good hike before going back to work. Wrights Lake in the Desolation Wilderness was the ticket. 

Getting to Wrights Lake early in spring is impossible. In a normal year it is not accessible until at least mid June. It is usually among the very last of the roads to open. Yet I’ve always wanted to get up there in spring. By mid June the creeks are not flowing much (and we won’t even mention the mosquitoes). This year, this awful drought year, Wrights Lake is already open. It actually has been open for more than a month now. I finally got the determination to make the trip. I hoped with the recent two feet of snow which is now melting profusely, the waterfalls would have some good flow happening. 

I hoped to see three new waterfalls all in good light. Eleven miles of hiking. In order to do that I had to get up at 3:30AM. Ugh. I almost didn’t make it but I forced myself. 

There was snow on the ground when I arrived so I decided to carry my very heavy snow shoes. I didn’t need them to start at 7000 ft but I would be climbing up to 7900 ft. I did not use them until I hit 7900 ft, at which point I found a lot of snow all of a sudden. I certainly needed them, I would have been skumped if I did not take them. 

The first falls was at Umpa Lake. Just a small one, it was nice but the flow was low. I was expecting a lot more snow melt and it was a bit disappointing. After that I scooted over to Gertrude Lake. I calculated I had until 8AM before it would be in sun. However it took much longer than anticipated to get over there, and I arrived at 8:30AM. Too late, right? Well maybe not. The lower section was in the sun but the upper section was not. I crossed the creek and quickly climbed up to the upper tier (which was slightly crazy and involved almost breaking my foot stepping into an unseen hole).  But I was able to get a shot. The third falls is on the same creek but further down stream. It was the nicest of the three but it was in full sun when I arrived. Which really bugged me because I had calculated it would be in shade until 11AM. I thought I had lots of time.  Not even close. The same thing happened to me at nearby Crystal Basin Falls a couple years ago. There is something weird in the terrain there. I can’t explain it. 

Well I had my lunch at the lower falls then made the long hike back to the car, getting sun burned in the process. But it was worth it. A glorious day in the Desolation Wilderness.