July 10, 2024
Today I am with two other hikers and will be taking the Bayview Trail to Velma Lakes, Fontanillis Lake, and Dick’s Lake. The trail rises above Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay. I expect to see some amazing views today. The PCT passes by Velma and Fontanillas lakes, and I hope to see some thru-hikers as I am carrying some trail magic with me.
Just about a half mile in we enter the Desolation Wilderness area. There are already incredible views of Lake Tahoe off to our side. We’ve also reached our first small stream.
We stopped at an overlook with spectacular Tahoe Views.
We have come to our first lake known as Granite Lake.
I keep thinking I’ve got the best of amazing views of the lakes below, and then I turn a little corner and it gets even better
Well, we’ve reached the saddle. It is little over 1400 feet elevation climb in 2 miles so that’s a pretty good gain. We took a short little side spur to the edge of a cliff that overlooks Eagle Lake and part of the Desolation Wilderness just looking at it, it’s easy to see why it’s called desolation. A lot of rock faces and areas pretty sparse of trees, but incredibly beautiful.
Blowdowns are something I haven’t seen a lot of since the PCT, and honestly don’t miss them.
the trail follows a small ridgeline dropping down with awesome views off to both sides into granite canyons.
We have had very little wildflowers on the trail today. We did come to one very short section that had these four flowers somewhat together. Mountain Spirea, Mountain Pride, Leichtlin’s Mountain Lily, and Subalpine Fleabane.
We’ve come to an area of granite slab that we will be walking over and the surrounding area continues to offer outstanding views.
I’ve reached the edge of Upper Velma Lake. The Pct is just just a short distance past this and I’m going to go for that junction right now and hopefully find some hikers. It is a beautiful lake.
We’ve come to a small stream crossing that’s flowing nicely between the two lakes. I searched upstream and found a good log for a dry crossing.
The PCT, something about this feels so comfortable when I get on it. It brings a large smile to my face. We will continue north on it for a short distance to find a good spot with a view of Middle Velma.
Just as we sat down to lunch, I saw a couple hikers and asked if they were through hikers. A female named Sara said yes, and the guy with her said my full name! it was Joe who I had worked with for a number of years before retirement. Sara is hiking the Tahoe rim Trail. Joe is joining her for a couple of days. Technically they’re not PCT Thru-hikers, but I gave them each beer and orange anyway.
We’ve come to a peaceful cross trail creek which is at the perfect location. I just finished the last of my water and I needed to refill with another liter. I’m not drinking enough today.
I’ve ran into my first two PCT HIKERS Forque and Shivers. They both got an orange and an orange soda
Toasty and trout are the next two that I came across. Both of them were ecstatic to receive a beer and an orange.
As I reached Lake Fontanillis, I met Maveric who was the last person for me to give treats to. I had one orange left. I wish I would’ve brought a little bit more today, but our starting uphill was pretty tough with the small amount I brought. There are beautiful views from Lake Fontanillis, both of the valley looking down to the Velma’s and Lake Fontanillis itself.
More beautiful picture spots appear with a smaller lake, wildflowers, and snow dotted mountain sides
I had the opportunity to capture these beautiful butterflies on the yellow flowers. I was also able to get this picture of multicolored wildflowers grouped together
We have reached our final Lake. Dick’s Lake. From here we will turn off of the Pct and head back towards the Bayview Trail where we came in. We will be completing a large lollipop circle. We were only on the PCT for a short section, but I gave out everything I brought. I wish I would have brought twice as much, but would not have wanted to have carried it up the first part of the trail.
We reached the junction for Bayview Trail where it leaves the PCT. It is up on top of a knob that has a great view of Dick’s Peak on one side and Lake Tahoe on the other.
We are passing by a small unnamed pond that has a beautiful grass is in the middle
We have reached the junction where we previously split off. This completes the head of our lollipop and now we just have the base leg to complete
Got a picture of this big blowdown on our way up now that we’re on the way back we have to get by one more time. On the way up, I went up and over the tree, this time I’m going down and around . It’s been a hot day and I’ll admit I’m getting a little tired.
We’ve made it back to the parking area. 12.4 miles with 2651 elevation gain. I gave out 4 beers, 2 orange sodas, and 6 cutie oranges. I received some awesome smiles.
