Upper Velma Lake to Inspiration Point
(5 miles, +800/-2,000 feet)

Sometimes I read the topo map wrong.

Today was one of those days.

I assured ZoZo that we had “just one more up” of a few hundred feet, and then it was all downhill to finish up our three day trip in the Desolation Wilderness.

But as we would soon find out I was wrong!

The morning started out beautiful after a good night’s sleep deep in the forest on the shores of Upper Velma Lake.  As it turns out, we had the whole lake to ourselves, and it was lovely listening to birds landing in it, splashing around, and talking to each other in the late evening and early morning hours.

We got started on our climb this morning, and boy am I glad we had a trail.  The path up to the ridge traveled through complex terrain that I previously considered for a cross-country romp.  It would have taken us a really long time without a trail.

As the sun climbed it positioned itself directly in front of us as we pieced our way through the boulder fields.

We finally made it to the ridge that I thought would be the end of our up.  But it just kept on upping!

Finally, around mid-morning we reached the shoulder of Maggies Peak at about 8,400 feet above sea level.  We got our first views of Lake Tahoe.

As we descended I really loved the transition to chaparral because the trees stuck around, too, poking their way through the manzanita.

And then we were done!

It was time for showers, food, beers, and relaxing by the lake.