Eagle Lake

I don’t even remember who I went to Eagle Lake with the first time. It was a high school acquaintance who invited me to go camping with their family. I suppose Eagle Lake had such an effect on me as to wash away an entire weekend of memories. I may not remember the people or what we did exactly, but I’ll never forget the place.

Eagle Lake lies in California’s Desolation Wilderness, on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range just southwest of Lake Tahoe. Desolation Wilderness, as its name implies, is an undisturbed federally protected wilderness area. The area sits within the El Dorado National Forest and is accessible only by foot. The lack of vehicles, comparatively speaking, makes Yellowstone seem like Manhattan. Eagle Lake is only about a mile hike in from California highway 89. There’s a small parking lot, which was probably sufficient when it was built, but is now always full on weekends. Most folks only walk in about a 1/4 mile to see Eagle Falls, and I think that’s a good thing. It leaves the best for the dedicated. To be truly honest, other than a mild and brief headache due to the altitude, the hike up is not too bad. The trail is well maintained, and has stone steps where it’s steepest. It slices right between several 8,000 — 9,000 foot peaks, and can be breathtaking, both in the literal and figurative sense. Push on, and after 30 minutes or so, you've arrived.

The final approach to the lake is a bit deceiving. There’s no gasping drop off or whooshing flow of water to garner your attention. You get a glimpse through one tree and another, and then there it is: the quiet and serene setting of a small alpine lake. In pace with your environment, slowly, you begin to realize there’s something special about this place. There aren't many trees at this altitude, and even fewer animals. There are large ants here and there, and they move slowly. Some rodent types are about and stare at you at night, but other than those, it’s just you and Mother Nature. Giant granite boulders dot all sides of the lake, but are gathered mostly on the west side, near a large water fall. The water is snow runoff, so swimming is rather refreshing, but bearable on a warm summer’s day. There’s a small island in the middle of the lake, with a lone pine like a natural flag pole. A swim out to the island kind of puts you in a trance. All around is the raw beauty of nature.

Part of the serenity is the quiet, and for those who have never experienced quiet like this, it’s rather mind blowing. One night, while camping with friends and sitting high on an outcropping on the north-eastern side of the lake, I stopped and truly listened. From my perch I could see and hear the wind rippling the water as it blew across the lake, many seconds before it reached me. Each time I felt the breeze it seemed like a small gift. It was as though the mountains were taking slow and careful breaths in the night hours. The moon was out and the sky was clear. The number of stars visible here makes you wonder if you had been wearing sunglasses all the other times you looked up at the night sky. If you've only looked up from the light polluted streets of a city, in a way, you have. But the hour was late, and there was a lot to explore tomorrow.