Field Notes: August 5, 1979
Echo Lake → Lake Aloha → Toward Dick’s Pass
11:18 a.m. – Echo Lake
Alt.: 7,414 ft. | Temp.: 75° | Barom.: steady
Woke at 6:00 a.m. on a rocky ledge above the trail. Even this early, fishermen, hikers, and shoreline residents were on the move. The lake was already echoing with soft morning bustle.
Nothing to do but wait for the post office and write a few letters.
Funny, I’m heading north—by compass—but the feeling is westward. Everything about this trip feels west: not just movement but myth, memory, direction.
1:18 p.m. – Echo Lake (trailhead)
Alt.: 7,414 ft. | Temp.: 75° | Barom.: steady
Resupply complete—fresh socks, clean shirt, morale restored. It’s surprising how material comfort can soften the edges of solitude.
Desolation Wilderness lives up to neither name. It’s beautiful, but far from desolate. Weekend hikers, guided groups, family excursions. And oddly, most seem intent on avoiding each other. No greetings on the trail. Eyes turned away. Solitude pursued without acknowledgment of shared pursuit.
I’ll move quickly through the basin. Hoping to reach Dick’s Pass by nightfall—beyond the foot traffic and ripstop nylon.
2:00 p.m. – Lake Aloha
Alt.: 8,100 ft. | Temp.: 80° | Barom.: steady
Stopped for lunch and a brief swim in the cold, clear water of Lake Aloha. The granite basin here is stark and shining. A beautiful place, marred only by its popularity.
Every turn reveals another blaze-orange tent, another nylon dome wedged between boulders. Still—some quiet beauty remains.
The wind is cool at this altitude. A good time to move.
