Basics
Itinerary
Overview
Lake Schmidell and Fontanillis Lake are 2 lakes in Desolation Wilderness.
They are popular destinations for backpacking, and are usually done as out-and-back, overnight trips:
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Lake Schmidell out-and-back from Wrights Lake (Twin Lake Trailhead or Rockbound Pass Trailhead).
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Fontanillis Lake lollipop loop from the Eagle Pass trailhead or Bayview trailhead (I wrote a trip report for this route which I did in September 2019)
It is also possible to do a multi-night lollipop loop connecting Lake Schmidell and Fontanillis Lake via the Rubicon River valley. This loop visits several more Desolation Wilderness lakes including: Lake Aloha, Susie Lake, and Heather Lake, and can be accessed either via Wrights Lake or Echo Lake.
However, if you are fortunate enough to have family or friends in the area that can offer transportation, I highly recommend my overnight, point-to-point route which starts at Twin Lakes trailhead near Wrights Lake campground and ends at Eagle Falls trailhead near Emerald Bay State Park.
Day 1
My solo Desolation Wilderness backpacking trip unexpectedly turned into a Tahoe family road trip. My parents didn’t like the idea of me solo backpacking, so they insisted on accompanying me to the trailhead and they would make a Lake Tahoe weekend getaway out of it too. Thanks to them, I could fit what would normally require multiple nights of backpacking into one night. I would hike in from the Lake Schmidell side and hike out on the Fontanillis Lake side.
We got to the Twin Lakes trailhead close to 11 AM, and the trailhead parking was completely full. Thank goodness I was being dropped off. I said bye to my fam and headed out from the Twin Lakes trailhead on the Rockbound Pass trail.
It was a warm day. It must have been in the low 70s, and the occasional shade was hardly a respite from the balmy dry air. Most of the trees here were not aspens, but the scene was still bursting with fall color.
After around 45 minutes, I got to the Wrights Lake and Rockbound Pass junction, and I followed the sign for Rockbound Pass. The forest thinned and gave way to iconic Desolation granite. After some more mostly flat hiking, I got to Maud Lake. Maud Lake is long with a gentle grassy bank and the shore is sparsely forested. I think the best views are near the middle of the lake. I sat right along the shore and ate a snacky lunch with a view of the bare rocky peaks looking towards Rockbound Pass where the trail is headed.
Leaving Maud Lake, the trail gains elevation quickly on rocky switchbacks. Across the valley, the views of the Price Range are incredible. I don’t know anything about rocks, but visually, the geology of the area is striking. Three distinct colors of rock are right next to each other: the reddish/orange rock of the Rockbound Pass area, a wide strip of dark gray, and then the stark white granite of the Twin Lakes/Lake Aloha basins.
Rockbound Pass is wide and flat on top. It took some minutes of walking until I got to the other side of the pass where I could see Lake Doris (which looks like 2 lakes) and Lake Lois. Both of these lakes are popular for camping as well, but I pushed on to Lake Schmidell. After a small uphill and downhill, I arrived at Lake Schmidell.
I arrived at Lake Schmidell around 5 PM. It was definitely the most dramatic of the 3 lakes, nestled by the southern flanks of Red Peak. The fall days were short and the sun had already fallen below the ridge line. The lake was in shadow. Luckily, the first campsite I found was spectacular. It was one of several campsites perched on the granite banks on the southern end of the lake. The campsites are deceivingly close together (I quickly discovered this when I walked around to find a poop spot later) because the dense trees provided good separation between them. My campsite in particular was at the base of a large sloping slab of granite that I could hike up on to for a higher vantage point of the lake.
Since this was my solo backpacking debut, it was also the debut of my Durston X-Mid 1 tent. I had practiced pitching it on grass before the trip, and it was straightforward. Pitching it at my campsite was a different story though. The little bit of sandy dirt was solid granite underneath. It was completely un-stakeable. I knew about the little-rock big-rock method, but I didn’t realize that the stock guylines were not really long enough to employ the technique properly. My tent fell several times as I tried to pitch it, and then once more later in the evening when I was in it and about to fall asleep (ugh).
Day 2
I woke up to alpenglow on the ridge across the lake. I jumped to action taking photos, and then settled down for breakfast once the golden light faded. By 8 am, it was warm enough that I could change into shorts. I dipped my feet into the water and contemplated dipping the rest of myself in since I didn’t get the chance to the evening before. But the morning was just a tad too cold for it to seem fun, so I decided I would save the swimming for Fontanillis Lake in the afternoon.
I left Lake Schmidell and headed downhill on the Blakely Trail towards the Rubicon River valley and Camper Flat. The section between Lake Schmidell and Fontanillis Lake did not seem like a very popular route. I only met a single person on this whole section. The downhill trail was easy-going and alternated between dirt trail through forest and open granite. After 2 miles, I got to Camper Flat, which was not much of a destination. I only knew I was there when I checked the map; there was no sign and the Rubicon “River” was a mere puddle.
Then the trail began ascending towards the Velmas on steep granite. Maybe it was the second day tiredness or the sun exposure, but this ascent was tough. Fortunately, the hardest part was over in about a mile and the trail became wooded again. At around mile 4.5, the Velmas trail merges with the PCT, which continues on to the northern tip of Fontanillis Lake.
Fontanillis Lake was a welcome sight for my sweaty, tired self. The lake is brilliantly blue and clear, and I found it to be the most impressive lake of this trip in terms of its scale. The PCT follows the shore of Fontanillis Lake for the first half and then goes more inland, so the best spots to enjoy the lake are in the first half. There are dozens of places to easily access the lake, and the lake floor drops away quickly which makes it excellent for swimming. I jumped into the lake 3 times total, and the water was so cold that even the slightest breeze made me shiver once I was out despite the warm day.
After drying off, I continued on to Dicks Lake where I did not jump into the lake (but there were many people jumping into the lake here.)
The rest of the day was downhill back to the trailhead. The trail splits into the Eagle Falls trail which goes to the Eagle Falls trailhead, and the Bayview Trail which goes to the Bayview trailhead. The Bayview Trail is nice for checking out Maggies Peak, but since I’ve done it before, I decided to take the trail to Eagle Falls.
I often fool myself into thinking all downhills are easy. But this was not a quick and easy descent for me. I somehow rolled my ankle on the dirt path, and my ankle was sad as the trail became more uneven and rocky approaching Eagle Lake.
Eagle Lake sits in a deep, granite bowl crowned by the pointy Eagle Lake Buttress, and the trail traverses high above the shore. I started to encounter more and more day hikers, but the trail continued to be deceivingly hard. I skipped the tiny detour to the shore of Eagle Lake since I was running behind on my arranged pick-up time with my parents already. My knees ached and the trail was slow-going with many rock steps.
My adorable parents had decided to hike up from the Eagle Falls trailhead to meet me, so I ended up reuniting with them at the Upper Eagle Falls footbridge. It was like a scene from a movie as I ran into my dad’s hug on the bridge, thoroughly exhausted and so glad to be almost done. (My mom took a video of us, but here is a photo of the bridge without us.)
Despite finding the trail more challenging than I had expected, I am surprised to say: I actually like solo backpacking. I used to think being alone in the wilderness sounded so scary. After six seasons of backpacking and counting though, the wilderness is not only a happy place for me, but also more and more my comfort zone as well. It was therapeutic to turn off my brain each day and fall into the natural rhythm of placing one foot in front of the other. Even though I’m grateful for my many friendships that have blossomed through backpacking adventures together, I’m also happy to be spending more quality time with just myself and the outdoors!
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