I was so excited to backpack to Gilmore Lake and keep exploring parts of Desolation Wilderness (South Lake Tahoe, CA). The calm clear lake was surrounded by enormous trees and was absolutely breathtaking.
My trip in a nutshell:
Travel Month: Mid July
# of Nights: 3
Side Trips: Mount Tallac, Lake Susie, and a section of the PCT
Notes: BRING BUG SPRAY! The mosquitos were out for blood and to annoy humans.
Go to recreation.gov > Search Desolation Wilderness Permit > Under "Available Permits" Select Destination Zone 29 (Gilmore) > Enter # of People in Group > Scroll Through Availability and Pick Your Entry Date.
Enter in the following:
Starting Trailhead: Glen Alpine
Ending Trailhead: Glen Alpine
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: Glen Alpine Trailhead, 1580 Glen Alpine Rd, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Parking: Extended overnight stays are allowed for those backpacking in Desolation Wilderness. The parking lot is ridiculously small (especially compared to similar trailheads) and gets super crowded. You should be able to find parking if you arrive Monday-Thursday, but come late Friday morning there are typically no parking spots left and you'll end up parking pretty far from the trailhead.
Trail Information:
Miles Roundtrip. 8.6
Elevation Gain. ~1700 ft
Permit Required. Yes (see above)
Level. Moderate
Like most trails in Desolation Wilderness, the hike up is incredibly scenic. You will see some lakes, small animals, butterflies, and even a waterfall! However, the hike in was all uphill and since I always have unnecessary heavy shit, it was rough. It took exactly 2.5 hours to hike up. But on the flip side, the hike out was all downhill, which only took 1.5 hours. Walking downhill always puts me in such a good mood, it’s seriously a god sent while wearing a heavy pack.
Here's the hike up incline/elevation gain:
My Trip!
And so it begins! It's never official until you see this sign:
You'll cross some pretty lakes along the way, but I'm almost positive this is where those blood-thirsty mosquitos came from. We arrived at Gilmore Lake around 4:00pm and it was perfect. As we walked toward the lake, we took a left and headed around the lake until we found a pretty sweet set up. There were a few other parties up there, but I think we got the best spot:
Fairy lights in my tent (this is a Nikki Essential):
Just in case you were wondering- I found this hidden gem at Safeway, The Stinger 500:
My floatie was ~1 lb, while Ally's was 9 lbs!!!!! I looooved that Ally hiked this up, it literally shows just how extra we are.
Nailed it:
Mount Tallac:
The next day we decided to go up to Mount Tallac, which is one of the Highest Points in Tahoe. If you decide to visit Point Tallac, do it while you‘re staying at Gilmore Lake. It's only a 4 mile hike round trip and there’s a bonus- you'll get cellular service on the way up! People will try to hike Mount Tallac from the Trailhead (which is ~7 miles ALL UPHILL) and literally start at 4:00am, so starting at Gilmore Lake is the way to go. Here was our hike up Mount Tallac:
Susie Lake:
During another side trip, we hiked to Susie Lake which was ~1.7 miles (one way) from Gilmore Lake. Susie lake is seriously gorgeous and I highly recommend a side trip OR to actually backpack there overnight
PCT:
Another side trip was hiking part of the PCT to chase the Neowise Comet, which comes around once every 6,800 years.
Here's the comet and some sky photography, first time doing this!: