Lake Aloha Loop
Trail Review:
On the first day, I hiked from the Glen Alpine Trailhead to the east side of Lake Aloha. I hiked the Tamarack Trail to the Pacific Coast Trail to the Lake of the Woods Trail to Aloha Desolation Trail.
The Tamarack Trail was tricky to navigate in parts and I genuinely got off the trail a few times. Basically it’s so overgrown that there are parts where the trail just disappears. I had to zoom into the saved GPS route and kind of head the right direction until I found the trail again. Most of the elevation gain on the first day was on this trail. The views from the top of the trail looking down at Fallen Leaf Lake are stunning.
The rest of the trails were well worn and fun to hike with lots of shade. At Lake Aloha, I found the water level super low, but it just added to feeling of there being hundreds of islands and peninsulas in the lake.
On the second day, I hiked from where I camped back to Glen Alpine Trailhead via the Pacific Coast Trail to the Glen Alpine Trail.
The Pacific Coast Trail was majestic—with beautiful views of lakes and fun boulders to climb. There wasn’t much shade on the trail though.
The Glen Alpine Trail brought me back into the forest, and it was mostly a rocky trail back down to the Glen Alpine Resort, which wasn’t open, but was an interesting place to see and read about.
What I Learned:
I started off the trail without finding my headlamp and without having my map downloaded. I thought about driving back out for at least the map, but with the parking being so limited at the trailhead, I decided to continue (I did have a GPS track to follow, but with no map layer, I knew it’d be confusing). Within the first mile, I took a wrong turn, but after a mile or two, I was able to get signal and download the map. As for the headlamp, I have my iPhone, so it ended up being not an issue. I guess it meant no night hiking, but I hadn’t planned on it anyways.
I brought some extra fun toys like my GoPro, tripods, and climbing shoes, which ended up making my pack heavier than 30 lbs. I definitely felt it 6 miles into the hike.
I got worried about how windy it could be (forecast said gusts of 30mph+) and packed a sweater. When I woke up at 6:30am to 65 F, I felt silly and put the sweater all the way on the bottom of my backpack, next to my shame of having overpacked.
I started late in the day (day one), and I regretted the late start. Compounded by the fact that I wasn’t yet acclimated to the altitude, I just had the worst time hiking in hot weather. I hiked slower than 1 mph for the first few miles, which felt embarrassing, given how much pride I take in being in shape.
It was definitely windy at night—the worst part was all the dust/sand it brought into the tent.
I bouldered about 7 or 8 random routes on random boulders as I hiked the PCT on the second day. I was really happy that I had brought my climbing shoes, as I needed grippy feet for all of those routes.
I don’t know if I like swimming, but I sure do like jumping into lakes when I’m hot. The day was just so hot that I appreciated how there were multiple lakes right next to the PCT. Having said that though, I only jumped into Le Conte Lake. If I were with a friend, I think I would have jumped into a half dozen more.
I really hate doing outdoor activities in hot weather. I hiked with the temperature being 80-85 degrees on both days, and I hated it. I couldn’t get into a groove or anything. Next time, it might be better for me to cancel a reservation in hot weather and just head over to somewhere with lots of altitude or next to an ocean.
Media Consumed:
Four Lost Cities—finished!
The English Patient—finished!
What Happened?
6.3 miles, 5 hrs 4 mins, 2538 ft of ascent
8.3 miles, 4 hrs 54 mins, 527 ft of ascent
I wanted to do a two night backpacking trip to Desolation Wilderness and see the vaunted Lake Aloha. And while I was doing that, I thought I’d also check out Lake of the Forest, and various other lakes as well.
I had originally wanted to see both of these lakes via Pyramid Creek Trailhead, but I couldn’t get the trailhead reservation due to last year’s fires. So instead, I started from Glen Alpine Trailhead. This was less badass compared to the Pyramid Creek (you have to hike up a waterfall), but I was still amped up about it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel great hiking both days due to the weather. I couldn’t sleep well due to how hot it was in my tent, and when I woke up at 6:30am, I found the temperature to be 65 degrees! That’s the warmest temperature I’ve ever woken up to, and this was at 8000+ feet! I was hoping that the promised 20-30mph winds would cool me down, but I only felt a small part of that on the first night after setting up the tent, and I didn’t feel much wind while I was hiking. This meant that I was overheated and miserable while I was hiking—I ended up cutting my trip from a two night backpacking trip to a single night one. I skipped over Half Moon Lake, Gilmore Lake, and Grass Lake, but I guess this means I’ll have to come back for these lakes in future years. Oh no /s.