Tag 26 & 27 - Desolation Wilderness

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 :).