Eagle Lake
Camp Review
Cassie and I camped at Eagle Lake for one night.
Although Desolation Wilderness allows for dispersed camping, dispersed camping near Eagle Lake must be at designated spots only. Thankfully, we found them on the southeast side of the lake. The designated site was a very good site. The ground could have been a bit more level, but it had nice tree coverage and protection from winds. It was large enough for a 3-person backpacking tent, so our two-person one fit just fine.
We got to the parking lot around 2 p.m. and it was totally full. We got lucky though, and a car pulled out after we had waited 30 seconds across the road.
There was no one else at the lake after 6 p.m. It was so quiet and very lovely.
The lake was almost totally frozen over (there was exposed water at the mouth and outlet of the lake). The middle of the lake was solidly frozen and made no noise as we walked across it. Near the island of the lake, there were plates of ice lifted askew, and we could see that there were multiple layers of thick ice.
Hike Review
I remember the hike to the lake as an easy 1-mile jaunt. In the winter, the steep sections were death traps with it being totally frozen over and extremely icy. We took it slow/easy and just tried to enjoy the beauty around us.
The trail was more crowded than I thought it’d be with the temperature being in the 40s. After Eagle Falls, the number of people dropped off, and we ambled along quietly.
I was on the lookout for ice climbing opportunities and I saw many short little climbable patches of solid ice. I hope to come back next year and give it a shot.
There was a bit of dog poop on the trail, sadly.
We wore sunblock, but it wasn’t strictly necessary with the tree coverage, mountain coverage, and the sun going setting behind the mountains early. But better safe than sorry, eh?
What I Learned
I forgot my ice screw in my climbing backpack, even though I brought the long aluminum one specifically to bore into the lake to see how safe it was to walk across it! But after watching multiple people walk across the lake, and the fact that there were no sounds, gave us confidence to walk across the lake. Still, I gotta remember next time and be better safe than sorry!
The designated tent site was harder to find than I had expected. I wish I had found it and marked the specific GPS coordinate on my map before heading out. We totally walked by it the first time and had to come back and find it on our second try.
I tried the MSR Whisper Lite stove for the first time, and while the white gas can get a little messy, it worked so well that I am very happy with it. The isobutane stoves that are so popular these days work beautifully in the summer, but can be problematic below freezing.
Cassie wore her mountaineering shoes for the second time, and I wore my new mountaineering boots for the first time. Cassie found out how the extra insulation in her boots was absolutely necessary to keep her cold feet slightly warmer. For me, I found out that my new boots were comfortable, and my feet were happy hiking in them. We both wore our crampons on the hike down, and the used crampons we got worked like magic to keep us steady on icy terrain.
Cassie figured out her sleep system for 20-30 degree camping. Basically, she needs to wear her base layer, mid-layer on top, down layer, and get deep into her zero-degree sleeping bag. For me, I was sweating a little bit while wearing the base layer in the zero-degree sleeping bag, so I should probably bring cotton underwear/shirt as my pajamas.
I brought a snow shovel, and it was nice to have it to move snow around to make our tent site a bit more comfy. Because the snow was icy, the shovel was worth the weight to carry in. I also used it to pile snow on the tent stakes to freeze it in place. It worked, as the stakes were exactly where I put it when I checked in the morning.
Because it was so icy, we really should have brought hiking poles. They would have helped a lot.
For some reason, we stopped by a Raley’s in Tahoe and changed our dinner plans. Instead of instant ramen and a dehydrated meal, we picked up Amy’s Tom Kha soup (canned) and a baguette to eat for dinner. We found it to be super delicious, but it just wasn’t enough food, so we topped it off with the instant ramen.
We brought the Sawyer Squeeze and it worked better than I expected given the freezing conditions. I thought by morning it’d be totally frozen, but it worked even in the morning, though with a reduced flow rate.
Last time I camped in snow, I had a terrible night. My three-season tent didn’t block the terribly cold winds; my three-season sleeping pad couldn’t keep the cold away, even after I added a closed-cell sleeping pad underneath it; and my sleeping quilt leaked air at the top. This time, I was so warm in my sleeping bag that I zipped it halfway open until the morning.
In the morning, we weren’t very hungry, so we just drank some hot chocolate to start the day. It was delicious.
What Happened?
1.9 miles, 1 hr 10 mins, 479 ft of ascent
1.5 miles, 52 mins, 119 ft of ascent
Outdoor adventure-wise, 2025 had a slow start. With a move and a few health concerns, there just wasn’t time for getting away from the urban and the populated areas. But, on this weekend, we saw an open weekend where we could do anything and decided on snow camping. At first, we thought we’d go to one of the national forests in the Sierras, but a chance Reddit post led us to Eagle Lake.
What was so captivating about Eagle Lake was the beauty of Lake Tahoe, the promise of a frozen lake, and the chance to scout an area that supposedly had one of the few California ice climbing opportunities outside of Lee Vining and June Lake. It also didn’t hurt that the hike would be short and that if there was time permitting, we might be able to ice climb.
I’ve been pretty busy with work, so we didn’t get to prep very much leading up to this trip. Instead, we packed the night before and woke up to pack some more before driving up to Lake Tahoe. The drive was easy and familiar, and we arrived at the Eagle Falls trailhead a bit later than I had initially wanted. We then changed into our camping clothes in the back of Ramona and started our hike (actually, I forgot about the crampons and had to hike back to the car to get it… then we started the hike for-reals).
The hike was beautiful with the mountains looking gorgeous in the low-angle sunlight that hits just right in the winter afternoons. The trail, though, was treacherous from the start, and we had to gingerly make our way up to Eagle Falls. After the picturesque bridge over Eagle Creek, it was more steep hiking on slippery ice.
When we made it above Eagle Lake, we saw that there were these pretty ice formations that were totally ice climbable (albeit only 12 feet or so high) with more frozen ice nearby (we didn’t check these out, but they might have been too shallow or the ice not solid enough). Checking the ice out meant we had to go off-trail into snow though, and Cassie experienced her first of many post-holes. But the sun was getting awfully close to the mountains, so we kept hiking until we got to the frozen lake. It was a happy sight as it meant that we were done with ice on slope-y terrain and it was flat terrain.
We hiked around the east side of the lake, losing and finding the trail that presumably led us to the designated camp spots. We made it to the southeast side, but since we didn’t find any campsites, we just kept hiking, where we saw more formations that looked ice climbable (the one visible from the campsite had human footprints to it that seemed to climb it). We then made it all the way to the south end of the lake, where the inlet was. We peered into the valley beyond and again, we saw more ice formations that we’ll have to come back and climb in the future.
As it was getting colder and darker, we headed back to the south-east side of the lake. Behind a giant boulder, we finally saw the campsite sign (I was very happy in this moment as I didn’t want to camp anywhere we weren’t supposed to). We quickly leveled the ground as best as we could and readied our sleeping arrangements.
We then transitioned to dinner and enjoyed our soup and ramen. Clean up was easy as Cassie devoured all the food bits and I just needed to scrub with some snow before rinsing in a nearby stream (but remembered to dump the water away from the lake or creek).
We then decided to do one more thing, which was to watch the stars on the island in the middle of Eagle Lake. We did end up watching the stars, but first, I laid on my belly to try and get some cool shots of Cassie and I think I succeeded for the most part. I had the most epic shot lined up, but the fast-moving clouds acted as curtains to the striking beauty of the stars… ah well, maybe next time.
When we retired to the warmth of our sleeping bags, we both found ourselves sleepy and succumbed to sweet sleep, even though it was barely past 9 p.m. We both woke up a dozen times in the middle of the night (I think Cassie probably woke up lots from me changing positions due to being a bit too warm), but still managed to feel refreshed and recharged. Cassie had a pretty easy time getting up as she had no clothes to put on besides another pants layer. I, however, dawdled as much as I could as shedding the sleeping bag to put on some cold clothes was anathema to me.
It had snowed overnight, so everything had a fresh layer of white and it was quite beautiful. There were tiny snow flakes that greeted us as we stepped out of our tent and we felt good for the most part (Cassie’s hands and feet were cold most of the time we were outside on this trip).
We were not particularly hungry, so I boiled some water to make hot chocolate, and we cleaned up camp in a quick fashion. The tent was half frozen stiff from the frozen condensation, but we just packed it away—we’d deal with it when we got home.
The hike out was slightly more eventful than it should have been as we only put on the crampons when it got super icy (I think next time we’ll put it on as soon as we encounter any ice) and after I had fallen once. The crampons made the hiking zero-drama, and we appreciated the fact that we could afford such luxuries.
The snow and wind picked up throughout the hike, and I hoped that the next person that camped at Eagle Lake would find it pristine with no evidence that Cassie and I had a great night there. Just a clean slate of white. But Cassie and I will always remember this as it was our first night backpacking in the snow, and you always remember your firsts.
