A Highlight Segment
along the
Tahoe to Whitney Trails
This next very short segment of trail stands out among the wonders between Tahoe and Whitney.
Both for Being and Seeing.
Rubicon Lake
Elevation
8320 feet
7.75 miles South of the Meeks Bay trail head.
2081 feet above the Meeks Bay trail head.
1.13 miles and +480 feet of elevation South
to Phipps Pass' 8800 feet of elevation.
3.75 miles South to TYT-PCT-TRT junction
North of Middle Velma Lake.
The Hike Over Phipps Pass
Hiking South after our nice refreshing break beside the compact beauty of Rubicon Lake on its little forested ledge brings us winding up through a switchback up to the treeline limit of the dense forest around us.
We hike upwards through the diminishing forest into increasingly magnificent exposed granite terrain opening up as we come out of the last bits of a short forested chute. We're stepping out onto an exposed channel cut across the top of sheer granite formations dropping to the Southeast under the East Flank of Phipps Peak. We are just getting looks down at Cascade Lakes between grand granite ridgearms.
We pass out onto an exposed section of rock trail cut, really looking like it was hand-chiseled into the terrain, making a gently rising chute traversing a long exposed patch of granite terrain up to Phipps Pass.
Coming into this expansive view out from the tattered high fringe of the treeline above Rubicon Lake puts us high up above the sheer Southeastern facing flank under Phipps Peak. We see a thin scattering of lonely trees has sprinkled itself across the top of the ridges' sheer cliff faces.
We are entering a dramatic scene.
As we climb out of the "close-in" forest and granite terrain above Rubicon Lake an even more expansive view to our far Southeast opens up, and close-by below and around us we can see the two epic granite ridge arms reaching Southeast from under Phipps Peak, pinching the Grouse Lakes between their sheer faces below. Below the Grouse Lakes we can see this gorge under Phipps Pass drains into Eagle Creek and down to the Lake and Falls of the same name. Eagle Creek flows into Lake Tahoe from Upper and Lower Velma Lakes, which drains the whole Northeast side of the basin stretched out below us.
Interestingly, Middle Velma Lake drains West.
Let's get some context with the maps:
All Desolation Wilderness
Backpacking Map
The View Southeast from Phipps Pass
Looking further afield to our Southeast beyond Grouse Lakes and the impressive ridge arms surrounding them at our feet, we can see the distant terrain forming up into an epic broad panorama composed of the main elements of the Southeastern Corner of Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Basin. Well, the terrain that we can see between and around the massive ridgelines descending off Maggies and Tallac Peaks, dropping North down to the Western shore of Lake Tahoe.
Tallac and Maggies Peaks are the commanding features decorating our view of the near and middle distant terrain from Phipps Pass. Maggies Peaks rise to become the far Southeastern side of the basin holding the Velma Lakes below, between us an Maggies Peaks.
Maggies Peaks are about a mile distant across the basin, Mount Tallac rising in the Southeast maybe two and a half miles from Phipps Pass, beyond the both the basin and Maggies Peaks. We can even make out the outline of Freel Peak far to our East dominating the Southeastern corner of the Carson Range beyond the Southeast corner of Lake Tahoe. Closer to us we can see the North end of Cascade Lake sticking out beyond the North end of Maggies Peaks ridgeline where it steeply terminates descending to Eagle Falls.
We have quite an expansive view from Phipps Pass.
Closer to us, below and even rising above us to the East-Northeast of our position approaching Phipps Pass is the remarkable, stunningly-beautifully impressive thousand foot+ sheer Southwest-facing flank of shattered granite cliffs making up the face of the ridge wrapping around the North and East Shores of Grouse Lakes, capped by peak 9195. A picture of its Southwest-facing flank decorates the banner of this guide page, above.
Is that a stunning chunk of shattered rock, or what!
WATERSHEDS
About halfway across this long traverse South under Phipps Peak we finally cross the line of the watershed, Phipps Pass, dividing the Northeast and Southeastern flanks of the Phipps Peak draining into Lake Tahoe from the Southwestern Flank's draining West into the Rubicon River, and ultimately the Middle Fork of the American River. Our gradual final ascent up to Phipps Pass shifts to a long gradual descent once we cross the pass and start hiking down the Southwestern Flank of Phipps Peak.
Our hike down from Phipps Pass to the PCT trail junction, then further down the TYT to the low point of this segment of trail at Middle Velma Lake, is much less steep than our hike up to Phipps Pass from Stoney Ridge Lake.
Meeks Bay to Echo Summit
Backpacking Miles and Elevations
Weather Information
Local Temp and Snow Reporting Stations
Click the Big Red Dots.
Lake Tahoe Basin 7-Day Weather Forecast
WHY DESOLATION
This is way-cool terrain across Phipps Pass. All across Desolation Wilderness, in fact. The accessibility of this striking beauty is why Desolation is so popular. Stunning beauty is so very close to a road, and so many people are located nearby in the Tahoe Basin, in Reno and Carson Valley, and coming from Sacramento and the Bay Area.
It is 8.88 miles to Phipps Pass from Meeks Bay. And, access gets better as we hike deeper into Desolation Wilderness. The route North to Phipps Pass from Eagle Falls Trailhead is 7.7 miles, putting the distance from Meeks Bay Trailhead to Eagle Falls Trailhead at 16.58 miles of fun. That trip puts us both at the bottom of the gorge below Phipps Pass and onto Phipps Pass.
My point is that our route on the TYT-PCT-TRT across the length of Desolation is paralleled by a series of Trailheads on Highway 89 along the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.
All Desolation Wilderness Backpacking Trails Map
The character of Desolation's striking beauty goes through a range of different expressions and juxtapositions that we can easily access for shorter Trailhead to Trailhead Trips and longer Backpacking Loops using this range of trailheads stationed parallel to the the route of the TYT-PCT-TRT across the length of Desolation Wilderness.
This federal document is informative about Desolation Backpacking:
National Forest Complete Guide, PDF
Planning Backpacking Trips in Desolation Wilderness
Also see
Desolation Wilderness and related permitting information resources.
Local Beauty
Local Backpacking Trip Options
Our views of these massive ridge arms descending off Phipps Peak to the Southeast are quite remarkable, and well worth the pain of walking a heck of a lot further and longer than the 8.88 miles we hiked to get up here from Meeks Bay.
We mentioned above the shorter, but much steeper trail hiking West from Eagle Falls Trailhead on Highway 89 to the TYT at Middle Velma Lake. This route brings hikers West passing under the base of the amazing granite gorge below the Southeastern facing flank of Phipps Peak.
The trail West from Eagle Falls passes through a narrow gap in the mountains between the base of these cliffs off the Southeast flank of Phipps Peak and the steeply terminating Northern ridgeline of Maggies Peaks. The trail climbing steeply West from Eagle Falls is on its way West to intersect with our route TYT-PCT through a series of trail junction to our North.
The route West from Eagle Falls splits through all three of the series of 3 Bayview-Camper Flat trail junctions we will encounter hiking South of Middle Velma Lake. We Southbound backpackers on the TYT hit the first, the Northernmost of these 3 trail junctions just steps South of Middle Velma Lake.
Northeast Desolation Wilderness Trailhead to Trailhead Backpacking Trip
We will check out more of the route of this 16.58 mile potential Meeks Bay to Eagle Falls trailhead to trailhead trips as we hike South approaching the second Bayview-Camper Flat trail junction. The second Bayview-Camper Flat junction is where we would continue hiking East towards Eagle Falls and Lake Tahoe, rather than turning Right to stay on the Southbound Tahoe to Yosemite Trail.
Central Desolation Wilderness
Backpacking Map
TERRAIN NOTE
The Southern ridge arm bracketing this precipitous Grouse Lake canyon (really a deep gorge running down the sheer Northeast flank under Phipps Peak in a couple of brutally steep steps), also sports a sheer face, but the North-facing cliffs on the Southern ridge arm are different.
The granite of the South Ridge is composed of big expanses of a much harder, and an almost unjointed granite. The ridge arm making up Southern wall of the canyon rising above Grouse Lakes descends off the main bulk of Phipps Peak to the Southwest of, and parallel to the massive shattered granite wall rising above the North shore of Grouse Lakes.
This Southern ridge arm descends to the Southeast from the exact position of Phipps Pass.
The unjointed granite of the South ridge arm is very different from the shattered granite making up the
North face of the ridge above Grouse Lakes!
Shattered granite on the North side of the gorge, smooth on the South.
INFINITIES
INSIDE and OUT
Studying the terrain around us at Phipps Pass reveals a complex scene. "Minor" ridge arms and other fantastic granite features of all forms and shapes decorate and diverge from the main features. All are made up of massive sheer jumbles of shattered rock as well as massive mounds and mini-walls of hard unjointed granite. All descend to our Southeast off of the main crest lines of both ridges at our feet. The sides of these ridges compose the steep canyon walls bracketing Grouse Lakes. Beyond are the major peaks, passes, and ridges of South Desolation Wilderness and the South End of the Tahoe Basin beyond.
To our South and Southeast from Phipps Pass we can see how Maggies and Tallac Peaks highlight the series of mountains wrapping around the Northeastern perimeter of the beautiful basin holding the Velma Lakes. Looking Northwest we can see Dicks Peak capping the ridgeline running North and South dividing the Velma Lakes Basin on its Eastern side, Left from our perspective standing in Phipps Pass, from Rockbound Valleys running North and South below its Western flank.
Whole Emigrant Wilderness Topo Map.
Click Map for Detailed Maps
Jigsaw Puzzle of the Rock Gods
The nearby terrain details on these huge ridge arms are impossibly complex three-dimensional physical jigsaw puzzles made up of every size and shape of whole and shattered granite rocks, blocks, and faces.
Looking a bit further, It looks like there are 2400 feet of amazingly complex cliff/mountain terrain dropping from the top of Peak 9195 (atop the ridgearm/cliffs that rises above the North Shore of Grouse Lakes, the cliff face to our Left standing in Phipps Pass) down to where its base provides the gap the Eagle Falls trail passes West through to enter the meadow below Eagle Lake.
Check the Meeks Bay to Dicks Pass map for details.
In the distance below us to our South and Southwest we can see bits of The Velma Lakes in the basin below, Maggies Peaks rising to their Southeast around the lakes, and Tallac in the further distance to our Southeast.
The complexity of the terrain we can see from Phipps Pass is amazing. This is a great place to sit with a good map and line-up the terrain features with each other and us.
And, our view gets better and more interesting the more time we spend, and the closer we inspect it. We find an infinity of details within nearby terrain, within the narrowness of a close inspection. We find infinity afar, across the vast scope of this grand, breathtaking terrain around us. We find infinity in distance and in detail.
This is going to take a few trips to attain reasonable familiarity.
The Range of Granite in the Range of Light
The range of granite formations we see hiking the short distance from Stony Ridge to Rubicon Lakes to Phipps Pass is frkn amazing. From huge slabs of almost seamless unjointed granite, to huge fractured slabs jointed like a huge shattered rock chessboard. This stack of shattered rock appears to be getting into the middle of a thousand year process of falling apart right before our eyes, if we look real close.
This shattered granite ridge is breaking up in slow motion by our reckoning, but it's plain to see that parts of this massive shattered Northern ridge are breaking up at a break-neck geological pace, while the vast sections of unjointed granite on the Southern ridge are barely wearing at all.
See 'em while you can!
Some of these features will be gone before our lives end, others may well outlast mankind.
Meeks Bay to Echo Summit
Backpacking Miles and Elevations
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