Photos from hikes and camping trips into the western side of California's Desolation Wilderness area.

Images number 2823 through 2849 were taken on a 10 mile round-trip hike on July 8, 2006 from the trail head off of Wright's Lake road to Lyon's Lake. This was a medium ass-buster, and the trip back seemed a LOT longer than going in towards the lake! Lyons Lake sits on the western edge of the Desolation Wilderness area at an elevation of approximately 8,400 feet. And yes, that's snow on the ground - on the trail and up at the lake. It must have been a very snowy winter up here!

Images 5068 and 5070 were taken almost exactly one year later - July 20, 2007. You can certainly see the difference in the amount of snow on the ground. Kinda explains why the ski season this year sucked...