RIVENDELL
I have been planning this hike to Waterfall Camp at Lake Aloha all spring and watching the snow depth very closely. The snow in this area lingers a long time; I was surprised about this as I waited impatiently for it to melt. Whereas the snow on the east side of Lake Aloha has been long gone for over two months now, the other side was completely snow covered only two weeks ago. I certainly could not have made it there two weeks ago. Last week perhaps I could have gone, but the mosquitoes would have been bad. This week was the perfect, and I mean perfect time to go. Sunday was to be a very windy day. Actually, it was an extremely windy day with gusts over 50 mph. There would be no mosquitoes. It was supposed to be very cold with below freezing temperatures at night. Well, I can handle the cold. I cannot handle the mosquitoes. They are out in squadrons right now in the Sierra Nevada. This would be my last hurrah. The last backpacking trip I would take before the Fall. It was a dandy, to say the least.
I was as much prepared as I could be for this hike. I brought my spikes in case there were still snow patches to cross. I brought my old tent because it stands up better in the high winds. I brought my sleeping bag liner and warm clothes. I brought my rain jacket just in case. All this added up the weight in my backpack and I needed all of it (except the rain jacket). There were some things, though, that I was not prepared for.
There were ZERO parking spaces available when I arrived at the Echo Lakes trailhead at 7:30AM on Sunday morning. This was shocking. Even the secondary parking lots were full. Are all these people backpacking to Lake Aloha? There could not possibly be that many people backpacking there. There are permit limits in Desolation Wilderness. Now if I had prayed for a spot, I am certain God would have saved me a space, but I was not expecting this to be an issue whatsoever. My mistake! What could I do? There was honestly no place at all I could park for an overnight trip. I figured I only had one other option: Start my hike from the Horsetail Falls trailhead.
The route from Horsetail Falls is shorter but it is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. There is a lot more elevation gain. It is pretty much all off-trail hiking and it is very rocky. Compare that to starting from Echo Lakes, where most of the hike is on the very well groomed Pacific Crest Trail with minimal elevation gain. Let’s not forget that getting up to the top of Horsetail Falls is extremely sketchy and I would be doing it with a heavy backpack. I have done this 2 or 3 times in the past couple years, and am somewhat comfortable with the route now, but it still freaks me out. It is much more difficult with a backpack. There is the one very narrow section where you need to hoist yourself up and through. When I arrived at this spot, there were some backpackers coming down. They decided not to go down this narrow section but instead go down a MUCH sketchier section beside it. I cannot do that route (I have tried before). It freaks me to the bone. They were having a lot of trouble with it. There was one other backpacker coming down the narrow section, but it was too narrow to come down with his backpack on. He told me to go the sketchy route. Umm, no thank you. I managed to hoist myself up through the narrow section with my backpack on, but the next day coming down, I found it is impossible to do so with a backpack on (as this other person also learned), so I had to take it off and slide down, dragging my backpack behind me. It worked, but it was not easy.
Once at the top of Horsetail Falls the going is easier, but it is still all off-trail and very rocky. It is very slow going. It is also up hill, and so not really that easy. The wind was strong. Some gusts almost blew me off my feet (literally). You hope you are not on a sketchy cliff section when a strong gust comes. I arrived at Pyramid Lake at about noon and had my lunch there. I had hoped to be at camp by now and if I had started from Echo Lakes, I probably would have been.
The entire hike is incredibly beautiful, and the views are magnificent, but when I finally arrived at Lake Aloha, I was awestruck. It is such a stunningly beautiful lake (I have been to Lake Aloha before, but it has been many years). No wonder everyone wants to backpack here. I did not see anyone at all, however, after climbing up Horsetail Falls. Everyone would have been on the other side of the lake, but nonetheless, I prayed I would not see anyone at my camp and that I would have it all to myself.
Now I had to work my way up the west side of Lake Aloha to Waterfall Camp. I could see a waterfall in the distance. Was this my waterfall camp? No, it was a new and unexpected waterfall, and it seemed to drop right into the lake. Would I even be able to cross it? As it turned out, it was easy to cross, but then I reached the snow field. It was a big snow field and there was no way around it. Was it stable? Would I slide into the lake and drown? Would I posthole 10 feet through the snow and not be able to get out? I put on my spikes here. The snow was stable and crossing it was easy and safe. I did not really need the spikes today, but the next morning coming back it was icy and spikes were definitely required. I saw one set of boot tracks in the snow. Someone had already been to Waterfall Camp this year, and quite recently, probably the day before. It looked like they had gone back, so hopefully that meant no one was there today.
After the snow field, the rest of the route was relatively easy. The anticipation inside me was getting intense. I knew I was close. The hike along the lake was so beautiful, but it was about to get even better. As I rounded the last corner, Waterfall Camp finally came into view. Wow! There are no words to describe this place. There are five incredible waterfalls right at the camp, but there are actually more than this. Waterfalls are streaming down the cliffs above the camp in all directions. This is Rivendell. I was alone at Rivendell. I was … well, no words can describe how I felt.
Setting up my tent at Waterfall Camp proper proved to be impossible. The wind was intense. There are some tent pads, but they are on rock, so I could not get my tent stakes into the ground. If it was not windy, it would have been perfect with stunning views of the waterfalls and Lake Aloha, but there was no way to get my tent secure here. There was another spot just down from the waterfalls that was in the trees and more sheltered. It was beside a mini waterfall and I could see the upper falls from this camp, but no views of the lake. No matter. I was able to get my tent set up securely. I ate my dinner, then afterwards went to photograph all five of the main waterfalls. All of them were spectacular. I took my time. I was in Heaven. I was in Rivendell. I was in the Desolation Wilderness.