Aloha Lake
Lake of the Woods
Lake Margery
Lake Lucille
Triangle Lake

This hike was undertaken with a specific goal in mind - a minimum of 10 miles (at altitude). Basically it was to see if we had gotten into any better shape than when we started. Since we like the Desolation Wilderness area, we laid out a haphazard route that should get us the 10 miles. We weren't sure, because trail mileages on topo maps and guide books aren't always accurate.

We started by taking the water taxi to the end of Upper Echo Lake.

Virtually all of the altitude gain was accomplished in the first couple of miles. That isn't to say it was flat after that (it wasn't), but it was better than having the gain at the end of the hike.

Since the trail is along the side of a mountain, with little tall vegitation, the views are majestic.

As the trail climbs the ridge, you get a good view of Tamarack Lake, which we visited on a previous hike.

After finally passing the ridge above Lake of the Woods, we were treated to a brief glimpse of the lake with Pyramid Peak rising behind it.

From Lake of the Woods, we headed over a small ridge to the northwest to get to Lake Aloha. This is a shallow lake with a highly variable shoreline (depending on snow melt). It occupies a significant portion of Desolation Valley, and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail runs along the north side.

We stopped on the rocks further up the shore to enjoy our lunch.

Next, it was on to Lake Margery, a small lake surrounded by trees.

Just beyond Margery is Lake Lucille with Keith's Dome rising above.

Looking at the topo, we saw that at the north end of Lucille the ground dropped away. We thought there might be an opportunity for a good view - and we weren't dissapointed!

With four miles left to go to our goal, we headed toward Triangle Lake. Along the ridge are some fabulous views, including a great overview of Echo Lakes from 1,000' above them.

The trail down to the small Triangle Lake wasn't too bad, but heading back to Echo Lake, the trail heads down fairly steeply across a lot of loose granite scree. Definitely a descent that requires care.

Having reached our goal of 10 miles by the time we got back to Upper Echo, we opted for the water taxi rather than adding another 2.5 miles to walk back to the car.