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Desolation Wilderness
The Desolation Wilderness is a 63,690 acre wilderness area located along the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, just west of Lake Tahoe in California [El Dorado County]. It is a popular backpacking destination, with barren rocky terrain at the edge of the tree line. The wilderness has extensive areas of bare granite. The Tahoe Rim Trail and Pacific Crest Trail pass through this wilderness.
Passing of time ...
1899
The land which became Desolation Wilderness was part of the Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve.
1910
When the first tourists were beginning to make their way over the narrow dirt roads of Echo and Donner summits, the area was made part of the newly formed Eldorado National Forest.
1931
The area was named the Desolation Valley Primitive Area
1969
Desolation Wilderness was Congressionally designated and included in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Dead Spruce Stands Guard at the Trail Head. Lake Aloha is one of the most beautiful features of the wilderness area, with its shallow, clear waters sitting in a wide granite basin carved by glaciers in the last ice age. The Crystal Mountains are within the wilderness with Pyramid Peak as the highest point in the range at 9987ft. Among the many waterfalls within the wilderness, Horsetail Falls is one of the most renowned.
Source:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos from the El Dorado County Photo Library