Tahoe trails part 9. The Desolation Wilderness is the area to the north of the Meiss Meadows on the western flank of Lake Tahoe. On day 9 -the penultimate day- of my hike I was close enough to do an in and out day hike into Desolation having made camp near the Echo trailhead the night before. Here the Pacific Crest Trail enters this stretch of wilderness via the Upper and Lower Echo Lakes.
 The first photo gives a sense of the stark grandeur of the terrain as I headed to the shores of Lake Aloha as seen in the second photo. The landscape is characteristically alpine but the sun was beating down and it was very hot. The waters of Aloha were actually a lovely temperature for paddling and there were a number of people swimming. Nonetheless there was still a lot of snow on the heights- en route I met a couple heading higher still with skis strapped to their backpacks!
  Tahoe is well known as a ski resort in winter but skiing in late July is unusual even by Tahoe standards.