#summerskiing

Isolation in Desolation 

by Brandon Craddock

So here we are in June, in Lake Tahoe, where most people have set away the ski gear for the summer season and the bikes and fishing gear slowly start making their ways out of people's garages and storage units. For the hardcore skiers, if there’s snow still on the top of the peaks then why not keep getting after it if mother nature continues to provide an opportunity to slide on snow. The summer corn harvest becomes tasteful as the snow melts into rivers, lakes and in some instances melting off to create its own pond. Located deep into the Desolation wilderness you can find this phenomena with a 40+ pound pack full of gear, tagged along with some good friends that might be just as crazy as you are. 

Photo by Riley Bathurst

It’s a funny thing going skiing in summer months. When people see skis on your pack the most typical response is ‘wait, you’re going skiing? where?’. Understandably it’s an almost comical scene when there’s a hardcore skier/snowboarder on the dusty hiking trail while there is literally no snow in sight. While on this specific mission, I’d respond to each person with a humorist approach, ‘We’re going water skiing’. Creating puzzled faces on the clueless and probable out-of-towners; however the informed probable locals would ask if we were making it up the Fountain of Youth with excitement under their breath, followed up with a question that I was even asking myself, does it go? A good question granted that it's a good 6 mile hike out there when the Ferry is running along the Lower and Upper Echo Lake, unfortunately like many businesses in this day and age, the Ferry was not running due to the Covid pandemic. Adding an additional 2 miles to the hike, with 50 pound plus backpacks adds up quickly to what would have been tired legs already. 

The Fountain of Youth lives up to its legendary name, a 40 yard long pond with an astonishing vibrant tone of early morning blue sky. In lower snow packed seasons you can pond skim the Fountain of Youth in mid to late June or July. If you arrive at it a few weeks early,  the Fountain can still be frozen over, and if you wait too long into the summer months it can completely melt off and become exposed by large granite boulders. 

As we arrived at what could or could not be as far as a skiable pond the next morning, my anxiousness was subsided by the views we were surrounded by. I quickly reminded myself that the pond was never the prize, it's the adventure that makes the trip worthwhile. It also happens that we may have just lucked out after the 1000’ vert scramble up the last peak the pond showed itself and its immaculate water. My grin widened as I transitioned from hiking shoes to ski boots as the session began fairly swiftly. I ‘won’ the opportunity to test out the waters first, my only objective was to make it clear across the pond and not get wet. The transition from snow to water seemed abrupt, come in with too much speed or not enough and you’d find yourself taking an ice bath. I clicked in from the top of the run in and I started racing down towards the pond a little nervous, faster is always better than fast is the saying, I straight lined from the top and I was coming in hot! For a moment I might have closed my eyes as I started gliding my 4FRNT skis across the pond, and it was almost like when I had opened my eyes again I was on the other side of the snow bank soaking wet from a backslap half way through the pond. Quickly, everyone bolted out in laughter and hollers back up to the rest of the crew ready to drop. There were cheers and jeers as successful pond crossings were had but the failures were just as plentiful. Celebratory beers were deemed necessary by those crazy enough to carry the extra weight, well worth the weight if you ask me. 

Photo by Riley Bathurst

As our tired legs skied down from the infamous Fountain of Youth and moseyed our way back into camp. Hungry from a full day of adventuring, hiking, skiing and for some of us swimming we decided to have ourselves a quick MRE dinner in order to catch the day's golden hour of fishing. Rumors have swirled that fishing certain lakes inside of Desolation can actually become null and void. The USFS, since 2008, have been conducting removal of all fish within the Desolation Wilderness in order to protect the endangered Yellow-Legged Frog, native and only found within the Sierra Nevadas. Unsure of what fish we would find within our surrounding lakes. I had heard enough rumors from local guides that there are some real lake monsters located in Lake Aloha, some possibly reaching up to 30inches. Eager to toss the wet-fly into the waters, we bolted to the edge of the damn after dinner. After a short stint of trial and error, we had managed to land some nice looking Brook Trout, ranging anywhere from 14-20 inches. Really putting the cherry on the cake for another successful backcountry mission.