If you can find a way to feel desolate in the Desolation Wilderness, the granite-crowned, lake-studded wilderness area due west of Lake Tahoe, you probably get lonely in rush-hour traffic and think more people should walk around engrossed in their smart phones. Ain’t nothing desolate about this 64,000-acre roadless area, which rates consistently among the most-visited natural destinations in the lower 48 states. That’s not to say that the Desolation Wilderness is crowded. It’s too big a place for that, and the vast majority of hikers and campers are not fishing. Seventeen miles of the Pacific Crest Trail bisects the wilderness, with numerous other offshoot trails allowing access to the many alpine lakes.
As for ranking among California’s greatest angling destinations, let’s be honest: the Desolation Wilderness doesn’t cut it when compared with some of the world-class fishing opportunities available elsewhere around the state. But there are plenty of excellent reasons to go there, and fishing should be at least part of the plan. Backpacking into any wilderness is by definition an act of discovery, so it is not my intention to reveal all of my hard earned honey holes. There are huge, deep lakes and small, shallow ones. Some have feeder streams and others don’t. There are chains of lakes connected by brief stretches of running water. All of the lakes I’ve sampled have held wild brook trout, and some have had rainbows, as well. The Internet claims there are also brown trout and golden trout there, but I haven’t had the time to confirm every willow-o’-thewisp proclamation of good fishing. In a place this large, you just can’t exhaust it all, but much information can be gleaned by sitting down with a topographical map before you lace up your hiking boots.
From an angling perspective, there is at least one ace in the hole in the Desolation Wilderness: rising fish just before dark. Even in the really deep lakes, the last half hour of light seems to bring all the trout to the surface, where they are fairly easy to reach, even with a mediocre roll cast from shore. I’ve found that the deep lakes sometimes aren’t worth fishing (except where streams run in or out) until the sun is off the water, and then catching fish suddenly becomes easy. Angling during the evening can take on an almost carnival atmosphere, as every rod in sight is bent, and the trout keep hitting until you can’t see your hand in front of your face, while bats whisk silently back and forth until the scene fades to black. But there is also midday, high-sun fishing in the Desolation Wilderness if you know where to look.
A few of the lakes I’ve fished and camped at include Eagle Lake, the Velmas (Upper, Middle, and Lower), Fontanillis, Dicks, Aloha, Grass, Lois, Gilmore, Susie, Heather, and Schmidell. There are still many I haven’t yet explored, but this provides a reason for future trips.
Fishing Strategies
It’s fairly obvious that trout in the Desolation Wilderness do not see many anglers, because they are not particularly hard to catch. Every method that friends and I have tried has produced hits, especially just before dark. It really comes down to how you prefer to fish. You might find angling challenging during the midday, high-sun hours, but as I said, when the sun is off the water, the trout feed quite readily. Many lakes have either steep banks or trees hampering a decent backcast, so dust off your roll-casting skills, and you ought to do fine. I’ve never found much reason to want to cast more than about 30 feet from shore there.
Keep your fishing setup fairly simple, and don’t overdo it. A multi-piece pack rod is preferred over a standard two-piece rod, because you are less apt to break it while backpacking. As for flies, I’ve fished beadhead nymphs under indicators, dry flies, and small Woolly Buggers stripped back to shore. (All methods worked well.) Beadhead flies are helpful, since they eliminate the need for hauling split shot to sink subsurface flies. Every ounce counts when you have to carry it in and out. A floating fly line worked well for everything.
The Desolation Wilderness is an excellent place to get youngsters hooked on fishing. Even if you have to roll cast the flies out there and hand them the rod, something will very likely hit the fly eventually, so they can experience that electric rush of adrenaline and the sensation of a rod throbbing under the weight of a fish. Add to that the beauty of the setting sun, the fact that kids get to stay up late, and the opportunity to see real bats, and you’ve got some wonderful memories in the making.
If you want to haul in a float tube and flippers, you’re a better person than I am. Having one would probably allow for some better angling, but I’ve caught plenty of trout roll-casting from shore under a variety of circumstances.
Here are a few other tips. Although all the lakes I’ve sampled produced fish just before dark, and there is always some good angling to look forward to once you’ve set up camp, the shallower the lake, the better your chances of finding good midday fishing. Also, you can often find feeding fish where streams enter and leave lakes, and many Desolation Wilderness lakes are connected in this way. Drop-offs, those edges between shallow and deep water, are also excellent places to prospect at midday. The small streams I’ve fished were not as productive as the lakes, because they were generally pretty shallow. Some streams had schools of tiny trout, but nothing large enough to be worth casting for.
Years ago, most of these lakes received regular allotments of hatchery fish, and fishing was a bigger deal in the Desolation Wilderness than it is now. Stocking was terminated a few years ago to help protect the endangered yellow-legged frog, but ending the stocking did not destroy the fishing, just the fishing that was too easy anyway. Anglers willing to hike, explore, and comb over topo maps looking for clues to good fishing can still be rewarded handsomely, and all the trout are wild. Some of the deeper lakes are full of smallish brookies, which are beautiful and a blast to catch. If you are so inclined, keeping a limit of five for the frying pan might actually do the resource a favor.
Essentials
Knowing a thing or two about the experience of visiting the Desolation Wilderness will help you decide if a trip is right for you. It’s no coincidence that the farther you go into the wilderness, the fewer pudgy or older folks you encounter. While most trails are reasonably good, there are a lot of fairly steep and long uphill and downhill grades, depending on
where you want to go. Add to that the fact that elevation will be a factor in how you handle the trip physically. The wilderness area varies from 6,500 to about 10,000 feet elevation, so the air is much thinner up there than on the flatlands, where many of us live. Despite the fact that I was in reasonably good shape, my two thirty-ish sons left me in the dust, especially on long uphills. (I was able to salvage my dignity when we started fishing.) Most people you meet who are on more than just day hikes have 30-to-50-pound packs strapped to their backs. Which means: train accordingly.
The weather in the Desolation Wilderness can be completely different than anything else going on in Northern California at that time. My sons and I were last there in July, at the height of the notorious California drought. When we started from the Bayview trailhead, temperatures were in the mid-80s, and there were no clouds in sight. The long-range forecast for South Lake Tahoe was nothing but sun, sun, sun. During our first three days, it pounded so much rain that low-lying areas were completely saturated. It was difficult to find places to pitch our tents, because sleeping on a granite slab is no fun, and most other spots just were too soggy. Since there is very little level ground in the Desolation Wilderness, the trails turn into rivers. Five separate times we were pummeled by marble-sized hail. Sleep under the stars if you want to, but pack a tent as a backup. By far, the most valuable piece of equipment to bring is a pair of quality, broken-in hiking boots.
How badly the mosquitoes bothered us, we discovered, was a personal thing. If they tend to like you, they may really like you in the Desolation Wilderness, especially anywhere there is shade. Even if you generally don’t get bitten, bring along insect repellant that contains DEET, just in case. Last July, I was bitten only three or four times and used DEET only in the evenings. One of my sons, conversely, used DEET often and still attracted mosquitoes like yellow jackets to raw meat.
Also, make sure you can stay warm. It cools off pretty quickly when the sun goes down, and summer nights often dip into the 30s at high elevations.
Campfires are not permitted in the Desolation Wilderness, so figure on bringing a backpacking stove and dehydrated, just-add-water meals. Fortunately, you can now purchase meals that are absolutely delicious. I had seen many experienced backpackers with Jetboil Flash Cooking Systems or Java Kits, and finally bought one myself. These boil water very quickly, so you use less fuel. Another great innovation is a gravity-feed water filter. The one I use allows you to scoop about a gallon of water out of a lake or stream. All you have to do is hang it from a branch, and the water moves through the filter very quickly. In just a few minutes, the entire gallon is ready to drink, with no pumping. We noticed some people drinking water directly out of the lakes and streams, but anyone who has flirted with Giardia, the diarrhea-producing protozoan, will tell you never to take the chance.
The Desolation Wilderness is bear country. This means that if you want to retain your food, you either hang it from a tree or store it in a bear canister. What is a bear canister? Picture an oversized plastic peanut butter jar with a lid that’s intentionally difficult to unscrew. The idea is that you put your food inside, and the bears can’t get it open. The canisters come in several sizes, and whoever dreamed up this gizmo is probably sitting pretty in one of those Lake Tahoe mansions. The larger canister set me back a $80, a fact you might want to consider on a really cold night while shivering in your sleeping bag. Every time I think about how much I paid, I get hot under the collar.
Other items you don’t want to be without include sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat with a 360-degree brim, long-sleeved fishing shirts, a light jacket, rain gear, a headlamp, and something good to read.
Access
Getting into the Desolation Wilderness is not just, ahem, a walk in the park. You have to go online and get a permit. (Go to www.recreation.gov, then search for “Desolation Wilderness Permit.”) You will see that the wilderness has been divided into 45 zones, and you have to purchase a permit for a particular zone for a particular night. The idea is apparently to spread people out. The first night, you must camp in the zone you reserved, but after that, you are free to hike or camp anywhere you want. You are very likely to meet rangers in the Desolation Wilderness who will check your permit, so print it out in advance, and carry it and your fishing license with you.
Wilderness
If fishing should be only part of your plan when you visit the Desolation Wilderness, that implies there are other reasons for exploring it. The value of wild places is a personal thing, but I’ve spent enough time out there to know what appeals to me.
Despite the fact that the Desolation Wilderness could be considered “crowded” compared with other wilderness areas, natural beauty abounds. You will see other folks from time to time, but the landscape is so grand and the distances so expansive that people genuinely seem insignificant there.
I’m always amused by people’s reaction to the lack of technology in the wild, especially the lack of cell phone reception and wi-fi. The Desolation Wilderness handles this the old-fashioned way. People talk to each other face to face. “Hey, I see you brought fishing rods. Some guy caught a mess of brook trout last night on upper Velma.” “Have you seen any bears? One was spotted on the south shore of Dicks Lake yesterday, so be careful!” “Haven’t you heard? The mosquitoes have been vicious on Lake Lois lately. I’d go somewhere else!”
The point is, people you meet in the wilderness are often friendly and eager to talk, and you don’t need technology for that. In a city, this might verge on being annoying. But in the wilderness, where there are very few people per square mile, the opportunity for some friendly chat becomes somehow fun and desirable.
It’s not uncommon for folks camping nearby to drop by your campsite, and you might even recall what so many humans seem to have forgotten, that contact with other people is a genuine human need. We typically go to the wilderness to get away from others, but once our need for solitude is satisfied, we remember how important and wonderful companionship can be. You automatically have something in common with people you meet in the wilderness, because hey, you’re both out there, right? If fishing is part of that, so much the better.
Go to the Desolation Wilderness for the beauty. Go to escape. Go to slow yourself down and recall the simple pleasures of being human and alive. And be sure to bring your fly rod.
