Desolation

Continuing my quest to put together long trail run loops in Emigrant/Carson-Iceberg/Mokelumne/Desolation, I did a decent 42-mile loop in Desolation Wilderness Saturday. I had some ideas for the eastern side of Carson-Iceberg Wilderness for today, but George said he was done, so we came home.

For my money, Desolation is the shortest drive from the bay area to serious granite. Shorter drive on HWY 50 than 88, 4, or 108, and more exposed granite. But it's fairly small, and a lot of the trails dead-end at lakes in cirques. There are only two real trails traversing the Wilderness north-south, one being the PCT. That's just me saying I've seen most of the trails that can be used to construct a decent-sized loop. I'm sure there's a lot of good off-trail stuff to do, and I know of some folks who do a peak-bagging adventure run, but I've got a race that day.









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