After leaving Gilmore Lake, the ladies climbed Dick's Pass before dropping down to Dick's Lake and then left the PCT to head east on the Bayview Trail.
Dick's Lake, (foreground) Fontanillis Lake (back left) and Upper Velma Lake(back right)
I took the opportunity of having the day off and hiked in with Janice & Kona from the Bayview Trailhead at Emerald Bay to surprise Nana and Janet for lunch. They had already planned to meet Janice at 12:30pm near the Fontanillis Lake trail junction, some 5 miles uphill.
Janice gets ready to hoist her pack...
Although the trail climbs steeply for the first couple of miles, the views are well worth it. You can see Emerald Bay below as well as most of Lake Tahoe, Cascade Lake, Fallen Leaf Lake and Granite Lake.
Janice and Kona at the entrance to Desolation Wilderness...
Beautiful views of Emerald Bay...
Shortly after 12:30pm, we met up with the ladies west of the Velma Lakes trail junction. Unfortunately, Mother Nature once again was messing with things with winds gusting over 30mph and temps some 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. It was downright chilly up there with only a short sleeved T-Shirt to my name.
Janet, Janice, Nana and Kona on the trail...
Nana and Janice mulled over the maps and their plans during lunch. They decided that their original destination, Fontanillis Lake was too exposed and would be miserable with the winds (which are predicted to continue all night) and cooler temps. So, they modified their itinerary and headed for the Velma Lakes which are more sheltered and sit below the ridgeline. This would put them in a position to finish the trip tomorrow, one day early, at Emerald Bay in lieu of at Meeks Bay on Thursday.
With that decision made, we all headed down the trail to the Velma Lakes junction where Nana and Janice headed north while Janet and I headed east, back to the Bayview trailhead.
Janet bids Nana and Janice farewell...
A few miles and a couple of hours later, Janet and I were at the parking lot saying goodbye. It was the end of the journey for Janet after 19 days and some 170 miles of trail. Another "Long Walk" under her belt.
After leaving us, Nana and Janice hiked in to Upper Velma Lake and found a nice spot to camp in the rocks which gave them some shelter from the wind.
Janice enjoys a glass of wine with dinner...
The wind did finally die down and they settled in for the evening.
Bill
2 comments:
Hi...Me, My sister Mimi and friend John saw you guys when we hiked up to Velma last Sept. I remember your dog Kona for sure. We were the Asians with the fishing rods...We were at Fontanillis fishing when you stopped to chat.
Terry
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing your hiking story around Lake Tahoe. It was almost like I was there with you all.
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