Backpacking Camp Highway 50: It's Dark!  Campsite #3

North Toward Echo Lake

maps index

Desolation Wilderness ended on the North side of Upper Echo Lake, but the Lake Tahoe Basin Administrative Unit continues to the Carson Gap.

The Meiss Roadless Area, AKA Meiss Country, begins South of Echo Summit.

Echo Lake to Echo Summit

Elevation: Lake Level: 7414' feet.

Elevation: top of rise between Echo Lake and Echo Summit: 7610 feet.

Elevation: Highway 50 crossing: 7200 feet

Elevation: Echo Summit trailhead: 7380 feet

Highway 50 Crossing

Mileage: 29.71 miles from the Meeks Bay Trailhead. 1 mile to the Echo Lake Trailhead. 1.00 miles to Echo Summit Trailhead.

mileages and elevations

Camp Notes: Arriving Highway 50

Location: On South Side of Highway 50, 35 yards up trail after turning left off the dirt road towards Echo Summit. I found a flat spot big enough for my pad and Sleeping bag.

Sunset, Late September @ 6:42 pm or so

Temp before Sunset: Mid-50's

No weather, no mosquitoes: no tent

"or so" note: I record the Sunrise/Sunset times, the time of the transit of the Sun, and the Moon Phases for the day each trip begins as the header of my journal.

This allows me to use the Sun as a compass and a clock.

The times above reflect the time of the start day of the trip. In fact, each day the Sunset and Sunrise change, so my accuracy diminishes. The rate of change is up to a minute a day for both Sunrise and Sunset.

Astronomical Information

Emergency Camp by Highway 50

It was a brief hike South down to Highway 50 after my almost disastrous ford. On my immediate right (West) at the Pacific Crest Trail junction with Highway 50 is Little Norway. Little Norway has undergone numerous transitions through the decades. Long ago it had food and rooms for travelers, and pretended to be a Winter Resort. Now it appears to be a unique community of people renting rooms and maybe apartments in the disheveled structure.

Between Little Norway and the Pacific Crest Trail on the North side of Highway 50 sits the raging torrent of the very same creek that I had almost fallen into minutes before. The creek runs into a rock lined culvert that passes under Highway 50 into the South Fork of the American River.

Its flow is determined by the operation of the flood gate at the Lower Echo Lake dam. It was a raging torrent the evening I passed by.

It was now completely dark, but on the positive side I now knew where I was going to get water. Now I just had to figure out where I could throw down my pad and sleeping bag.

I crossed to the South side of Highway 50 and proceeded East along the shoulder for the brief distance to the Southbound Pacific Crest Trail marker posted at the junction of a dirt road and Highway 50. About 100 feet down this road the Pacific Crest Trail turns left off of the dirt road to parallel Highway 50 Eastbound up to the Echo Summit trailhead.

About 100 feet up the trail I noted a small flat shelf in the forest floor debris to my immediate left off the trail. It was also equipped with a nice little granite boulder that I could use as a backrest. Perfect. This would be where I would spend night 3.

Because it was so late in the season, the American River, here a little creek running along the South side of Highway 50 down from its headwaters at Echo Summit, was not flowing. I hung my two big bags of food on the trees at the trail junction with the dirt road, pulled the Garcia bear canister out of the pack, and set off for the big creek from Echo Lakes next to Little Norway to fill my water jug so I could make dinner and filter some fresh water.

I sure would have liked to camp at a better site. But sometimes this is how things work out when you are pressing hard on the trail, and you have to make due. I knew this would happen as I constantly stopped to meet other backpackers along the trail throughout the day, took detours to chase interesting bugs, and stopped to take pictures for this trail guide.

No big deal.

Tomorrow morning we will have a very short hike up to the Echo Summit trail head.

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Topo Hiking Map: Echo Lake South              Topo hiking Map: Echo Lake to Echo Summit

Miles and Elevations

North: Highway 50 to Echo Summit

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Section: Meeks to Echo

Segment: Highway 50 camp