Dan, Bob and I had planned to to to the central Cascades in Washington but fires and very hot weather changed our plans. Oregon was burning but California seemed to be in better shape. The Desolation Wilderness, SW of Lake Tahoe became our destination. The first part of the trip we left from Wright's Lake on the SW side of the wilderness and backpacked up to the Twin Lakes basin. This is a very popular trail, as are most trails in Desolation, but we were midweek and late enough in the season that we saw very few people.
After complaining about fires we were deluged each afternoon by absolutely torrential rains, and since we were camped on pretty much solid granite the water had no place to go. Our tents stayed dry inside but after a while all was damp. We opted to go back down after two nights and to then go in search of perhaps drier hiking.
We drove to the east side of the Desolation and found clear, dry weather. It was a nice relief. We day hiked up Mt. Tallac, although a knee problem turned us back at about 8100'. But still a nice hike with beautiful views.
After complaining about fires we were deluged each afternoon by absolutely torrential rains, and since we were camped on pretty much solid granite the water had no place to go. Our tents stayed dry inside but after a while all was damp. We opted to go back down after two nights and to then go in search of perhaps drier hiking.
We drove to the east side of the Desolation and found clear, dry weather. It was a nice relief. We day hiked up Mt. Tallac, although a knee problem turned us back at about 8100'. But still a nice hike with beautiful views.