Hey PepperDog!

“I tried sending a reply but it keeps coming back for some reason.... anyway, here's the content:

Just called to get my permit, I got the last one for Zone 33 (Lake Alloha
area west side) going in Saturday. Almost all are gone for the zones closer
to Echo TH, if you're interested call ASAP, the # is 530-647-5415

The ferry is running, so if you wanna do a day trip I can hook up with you
somewhere along the trail. The rates on the ferry are now $8.50, and new
this year they are charging $3.00 for a dog!”

“Hey - cool! I can sign on at work. I don't know if it is a good thing for me to know this or not.

I am thrilled to have my own thread so I had to answer although I did get your last 2 emails.

How far is it to Lake Aloha? The TRT website has had some recent trip and snow condition reports but I know the situation is changing hourly. Going up Saturday and out Sunday would be great but do we each have to get a permit? If we bring a dog it would probably just be Ticha, no tent I want to carry would hold all 3 of The Girls and 2 people.”

“Depending upon where you go along Aloha, it's somewhere between 3.5 - 4.4 miles from the ferry drop-off point. Past Tamarack there is still a lot of snow according to the ranger I spoke with. If you stay on the trail you probably don't need snowshoes to get to Aloha but you might posthole a little here & there. I'm probably leaving mine home.

She said with the # of walk-in permits they're holding if we show up Sat A.M when they open we are almost certain to get the location of our choice!

She also confirmed that the ferry is running, just 2 weeks ago t couldn't cross from Lower to Upper Echo because the lakes were so high from all the snowmelt!

YAAAAYYY... Backpacking in Desolation Wilderness is my all-time fav thing! I am jazzed!”

“OK, this is the thing. 4 of us will play it by ear, try to get permits early Saturday morning. It sounds like that should work out fine. I still am not sure if I have dog care which could turn it into a day trip for me but the others would still plan to overnight it (and maybe go on for another day of hiking).

goody-goody”

“Just make sure you don't miss him on the trail ;)”

“Hey Phadey - how about you - wanna join us? Bring the pooch! say hi to mermaid!”

“Phaeddy & I were going to hook up on the same trail a couple years ago... I remember I was doing a solo BP trip into Desolation, and, if I remember correctly, Phaeddy had just recently moved into the area & had NEVER been to Desolation before, poor guy, :)

Anyway, we somehow missed each other on the trail (which I felt badly about), something is coming back to me about a "different car"? or some such thing. (I vaguely remember looking in the Echo Parking Lot for his car).

As I recall, though, Phaeddy ended up w some GREAT pics! All's well that ends well!”

“hi pepperDog,

just got word that eric wants to drive up friday night to pick up the permits, so pepperDog, you can sleep in and we will meet you at the trail head with permits in hand. hopefully we won't miss you.”

“you mean you gus use the ferry? Its kinda fun walking around the lake :D Aloha is sooo pretty.”

“Hi SC, Again. If you take the ferry you miss all the "wanna-be" people & can almost immediately get into the "wilderness". The ferry just gets you across the lakes where "city people" have their cabins, so now you can start hiking!”

“true lol but it feels like cheating to me lol”

“Hi Peppergod... Just popped in to say "hi"!”

“Pepper.. Sorry about degenerating your thread.. but.. I saw a post by Phaedrus. How are you? Drop me a line... Better yet... come up and see me! :-)”

“OOOOOHHHHH, do we have makings of a TT "Affair going on here??? Phaeddy & Ladyhiker03??? "Come up & see me sometime, big boy?"

HAHAHHAAHA This will be FUN.... Let's watch THIS develop!”

“take pictures!”

“Pictures? Of what.. Echo Lakes or of the affair??

Sorry... you gotta check in w Phaeddy about that! :)”

“the affair of course :)

we are a nosy bunch :D”

“Sorry SC, I'm still trying to "focus" on how to get good pics of things long distance ... I can't imagine "focusing" on activities "short distance", i.e., "right in front of me". Plus, I figure that's their thing, not mine... if they wanna post pics then go-4-it, I have other interests!”

“I hope I didn't contribute to your thread degeneration by responding to trhe silliness... sorry...”

“Degenerate away!!! That way it looks like I am almost as popular as SC and newgirl (as if I could hope for that.....).

I kinda agree with SC about the ferry except that if we don't take it, it will be a pretty short hike to Lake Aloha, although Olive Oyl pointed out that if we have to do any snow trudging we will get plenty of exercise.

Snow is pretty hard to imagine right now, considering that it is (to quote Sarabelle) eleventy-hunerd degrees.”

“You guys want to meet at
1. My house (Pepper & Randy have directions)
2. Ranger Station (it opens 8:00)
3. Echo Trailhead & take Ferry over together
4. somewhere on the trail?
5. nowhere!”

“Wanderer, Pepperdog, and OliveOyl

You all have a wonderful time up there! It was very warm here today. There is a ton of water coming out of Echo Lakes down the falls yesterday and today I noticed in Meyers..there must be a lot of snow melting, they must had to open the dam to release the water.

You all have Fun and be safe”

“Hey Ladyhiker (and everyone else I've been neglecting)!

I miss you guys too, but the knee keeps me from hiking much these days and the job and wife keep me from taking trips. Call me whooped.”

“Its a pretty short hike to aloha even going around the lake. I was up there around trhe forth of july last time and there was snow (it was a normal snow year, not like this year) and some spots you were post holing through snow to rocks and streams if you wernt carefull as you got closser to the lake and it was easy to lose the trail (so definiatly take a compass!) Luckilly the area with snow didnt last for too long and it was clear around the lake aloha. Have fun!”

“Supposed to still be 4 feet of snow left in the valley, I am taking my snowshoes!”

“4 feet of snow in what valley? Are you yanking my chain???”

“you'll see :)”

“OK, my plan is to be at the Ranger Station tomorrow AM @ 8:00 when they open to pick up my permit. From there drive to the Echo Lakes TH.

My permit is for Zone 33, which covers Lake Margary, Lake Lucille and the whole Eastern side of Aloha from top to bottom, so provides plenty of options. There are supposedly plenty of "same day" permits available.”

“Hey PepperDog
We missed you and Randy at camp over the weekend. But was glad to have hiked a bit with you. Yes, there was sun-cupped snow most of the way to the lake; but there were a number of very nice dry spots to set up camp. So once there, it was very very nice, and we did not have to camp on the snow.

Wanderer, thanks for the company and all the great info on gear and food. I think Eric has already placed an order for the Big Agnes air mattress. And I hope to place my order for a dehydrator before the end of the week.

After our late start on Sunday morning, we strolled around the lake at a leisurely pace and before we knew it we were evaluating whether or not to attempt a 50-70 foot traverse across a questionable slope just below Mosquito Pass. We decided to go for it, and made it to the pass. Not many hikers out that way. We may have been the first to traverse across that slope. It looked like there was at least one other person that had been to the pass in recent days.

All in all a great trip. And yes we took the Ferry back across Echo Lake.”

“Welcome home - always good to hear when everyone makes it back safely! Did you go far enough over Mosquito Pass to see Clyde Lake? I think it's a little jewel up there, most stop at Aloha but if you go over the pass there are a couple nice spots to camp.

Glad you had a good trip, I hope to hook up with you guys out on the trail again!”

“Sorry we missed you, wanderer, but I didn't want to tromp through a couple of miles of snow just to tromp on back. We went up the trail to Lily Lake to a great vista point for lunch, then hiked the whole way out (no stinkin' ferry for us!).”

“But it WAS pretty up there, wan't it Pepper? :)

Sorry I missed you guys too, but I sure don't blame you for making it a day-trip & hiking back out either! It was a tad challenging in some places, post-holing here & there, losing the trail under the snow here & there, etc.

But, as long as fun was had by all, that's all that matters! See ya' on the NEXT trip & tell Randy I said hello!”