Whakaputaina: 05.08.2019
Desolation Wilderness is something like a huge nature reserve with limited controlled access by visitors.
You can camp wild, but you have to get a permit beforehand. I get the second-to-last spot.
(Again, I don't understand it at first, the area is huge, why this effort? If it weren't so, probably some people would set up their residence there in a tent - in which case you would have to go shopping by helicopter... it wouldn't be a problem for the Americans. Better tents probably have a similar insulation to most houses here. The administration for publicly accessible land is simply restrictive here).
I get some food beforehand and load my backpack: tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag and - bear canister for food!
The bears smell the food and can't take it out of the canister. You should also store the canister at a safe distance from yourself.
I am rewarded with beautiful scenery.
After about 1.5 hours of ascent, I find a good spot. After about 0.5 hours and a few curses of the kind
1) why am I actually doing this? 2) damn American tent
I have set up my quarters.
The trail continues to Mount Tallac (2986 m, Lake Tahoe about 1900 m) and despite my cold, I can't resist climbing up there (easy route, no difficult passages). It is still one of the highest peaks in the surrounding area, and I am glad I managed to do it.
I am amazed by the landscape (wow..., oh man..., just awesome - well-mannered expressions that fly through my head).
The descent in the sunset is also beautiful.
When I arrive back at the tent, it is already dark and I am seriously afraid to get some dinner from the food canister - in the end, hunger wins.
An impressive starry sky is revealed between the treetops, and I sit outside and look up in awe.
During the night, there is often rustling outside the tent, I guess it's squirrels or something, clearly someone is hanging around there.
In the morning, the first trail visitors arrive early (it's Sunday). I pack up leisurely and leave the wilderness again.
A great adventure!
(Land of contrasts: you stand in the supermarket, where every consumer desire (over)fulfilled for dollars, 2-3 hours later you are almost secluded and have to reckon with bears.)
Unfortunately, there were no bears.
I continue to Bridgeport, a small town on the way to Mono Lake.
On the way, the landscape changes and you enter a plain east of the Sierra Nevada. If you thought the development was extensive so far, you'll be proven wrong (without a car, you simply don't belong here, Nevada state).
I do some more shopping, because only small towns will follow. On the way, I pick up a hitchhiker from Austria :).