Fontanillis Lake Loop
MVP
Salomon Running Shorts—First, they kept me cool during my hike. Second, they work super well as swimming shorts, which was super convenient when I wanted to swim, as I just needed to take my shirt, shoes, and socks off, then jump!
Hike Review:
This trail isn’t very difficult, offers beautiful views, and visits 3 beautiful lakes in the Desolation Wilderness. Out of the three, Fontanillis Lake is the highlight, as it is a beautiful, swimmable lake.
There’s only sparse shade throughout the trail, and the trail can get a little dusty. Lucky for me, there were plenty of clouds, which gave me lots of shade.
Between Dicks Lake and Eagle Falls Trail, the trail can be hard to follow, so having an interactive map is a big plus.
What I Learned:
I forgot to bring my sandals, which meant that I ran around on bare feet while swimming. This oversight ended up causing me to get a blister on the bottom of my feet from stepping on a small piece of granite. It didn’t affect my hiking performance, but it could have.
I left my towel at the camp because I thought, “Why would I need a huge towel hiking this loop?” Well, I forgot about the opportunity to swim! I still swam and just dealt with a wet shirt, which wasn’t a huge deal because it was a warm day. Still, I should carry the towel next time.
Halfway through the hike, I found that my left AirPod would not charge, so I had to limit myself to just the right channel. After I came back, I wiped the stalk clean and voila! It started charging. I should have kept a cleaning wipe in my pack.
What Happened?
4.65 miles, 2 hr 58 min, 632 ft of ascent
After lunch at Upper Velma Lake, I decided to go on a hike to see Fontanillis and Dicks Lake in a 4-ish mile loop. But instead of hiking all the way back to the midpoint between Upper and Middle Velma, I decided to follow some fellow hikers and just hike directly up to Fontanillis Lake. There’s a creek that takes the overflow at Fontanillis and inputs it into Upper Velma, so I started hiking next to the creek.
The creek flows over some beautiful granite, so the hike, although steep, wasn’t bad at all. The granite was so grippy that I had no issue with traction, and the ever expanding views of Upper Velma were just so grand.
At the top, I saw Fontanillis Lake and I thought it was just drop dead gorgeous. The water was super clear, and the lake had this mix of trees, granite, grass, dirt, rocks and ice that just left me with a “Whoa...”. I immediately took some pictures while I contemplated how I wanted to swim in this lake. However, I had left my towel at camp, so I gave up on that idea and just trudged on.
After about a quarter mile or so, I found myself still on the shores of Fontanillis, except I was 50ft away from this small island in the middle of the lake. I was tempted before, but this island with multiple jumping off points was just too much to ignore. I threw caution to the wind, took off my shirt, socks, and shoes and jumped in!
The water was very cooling on my warmed body, but by the time I got to the island, I was cold! The ice-melt feeding this lake was no joke, even if it was late June. I walked all around the island, cannonballed a few times, and swam back to the shore, where I carefully put on all my discarded clothing back on.
I hiked on to Dicks Lake, and found it to be... really similar looking to Granite Lake, though with less fish, but sizably bigger. There were a few friendly hikers enjoying their lunch, so I took a few pictures and hiked onwards.
Very soon after Dicks Lake, I saw the trail sign for Dicks Pass, which was only a mile away. It was a bit too late in the afternoon for me (with the battery being a little too low on my phone for comfort), so I decided not to check that out. Instead, I headed back towards Upper Velma.
The rest of the hike was uneventful, and I made it back to Upper Velma along the now-familiar trail. I was really glad that I did this hike, as if I had not, and had heard about the beauty of Fontanillis Lake from someone else, I would have regretted not checking it out.
