Dick's Lake and Lake Fontanillis
Dicks Lake was epic, BUT Fontanillis Lake has quickly become my favorite lake. It was absolutely stunning and such a game changer with the rock islands and waterfall.
My trip in a nutshell:
Travel Month: Late July
# of Nights: 3
Permit Required. Yes (see below)
Side Trips: Lake Fontanillis
Notes: Mosquitos weren't out to kill humans this time, but make sure you bring sunscreen and a floatie (Nikki essential) because the lakes are amazing.
Where/How to Purchase the Permit:
Go to recreation.gov > Search Desolation Wilderness Permit > Under "Available Permits" Select Destination Zone 23 (Dicks Lake) > Enter # of People in Group > Scroll Through Availability and Pick Your Entry Date.
Fill in the following:
Starting Trailhead: Bayview Trailhead
Ending Trailhead: Bayview Trailhead
Travel Method: Foot
Issuing Station: Print at Home (make sure to print 2 copies, one to keep on the dashboard of your car AND another to keep on you while backpacking).
Trailhead Information:
Address: Emerald Bay Rd, South Lake Tahoe, CA 961500
Parking: To find the parking lot, drive up past the campground until you reach the circular lot. Extended overnight stays are allowed for those backpacking in Desolation Wilderness. The parking lot is super small (similar to Glen Alpine) and you will need to arrive early or wait for day-hikers to leave to take their spot.. good luck!! May the odds ever be in your favor.
Trail Information:
Miles Roundtrip. ~10.2
Elevation Gain. ~1736 ft
Level. Moderate
Okay, real talk- the first two miles of this hike is the effing worst. You will question if Dicks Lake and Fontanillis are worth it, whether you really needed that extra bottle of tequila, and whether or not the floatie was really essential. But rest assured, it is WORTH IT PEOPLE. You are going to sweat and be super bitter for the first hour but just try to look around and see the gorgeous views along the hike (see Trip Details). It took exactly 2.5 hours to hike up, without breaks- since we were super slow it took about 4 hours (yikes!). The hike out took exactly 2 hours and 20 seconds.
Here's the hike up incline/elevation gain (as you can see the first two miles are rough).
My Trip!
Hereeeee weeeee goooooo!
On the way up, there's an amazing view of Emerald Bay. Here's a photo of me doing my touch-down dance:
Anndddd more uphill:But hey, more scenic lookouts:
After several hours, we finally reached Dick's Lake! Even though we left on a Monday, most of the really great campsites were taken but we were still able to find a fairly decent set up (look at the map above to see exactly where our campsite was):
FLOATIESSSS, let me introduce you to my "ring pop" floatie. Joss ended up using the Stinger 500 (see Gilmore Lake post), and surprisingly Ally‘s floatie was underwhelming as it only fit over her head lolol:
Oh btw, we made some really good food discoveries on this trip! The following are add ons to my initial Backpackn Foodie post. Here are some winners:
I HIGHLY recommend this tuna salad (they also have a chicken option), I’m going to get like 10 of these for my next backpacking trip- but remember to repackage (i.e., discard the cardboard) to save space:
Fontanillis Lake:
This was a side trip, but honestly it MADE the trip. Be sure to check out Fontanillis Falls! So gorgeous and only .4 miles from Dick's lake!
