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LAKE SYLVIA
- An overnight trip into southwestern Desolation Wilderness.
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This was an experiment to get used to the altitude. The past few years I've noticed much more sensitivity to altitude - and downright suffering with altitude sickness. I wanted to see if I could camp low, hike high, and still get significant time outdoors in nature. My experiment wasn't successful in that I still suffered from the altitude, but it did help me learn and come up with new ideas for my next trips. And I did still get to enjoy a few hikes in the gorgeous landscape with beautiful late summer/ early fall weather.
DAY 1
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| Lyons Creek Trailhead |
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| Trail through the Massive Burn Area |
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| Bloodsucker Trail Junction |
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| Caldor Fire Damage |
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| Massive Mushroom |
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| Lake Sylvia |
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| School of Fish |
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| View from Above |
Day 1 Highlights
- Brutal traffic getting from the SF Bay Area to the trailhead. But got a good nights sleep. There were better camp sites just on the other side of the bridge, north of the trailhead.
- My plan to "hike high" did not work. I may have done too big of a hike this first day at over 10 miles round trip. This night, I felt terrible again and left my Wrights Lake campground to a motel in Kyburz below 5,000 feet.
- The trail was easy to follow and rose very gently - super nice. It is intense to walk through so many miles of fire damage to suddenly come to the untouched forest surrounding Lake Sylvia.
- Such a great area! And once you are above Lake Sylvia you really feel like you are in an alpine (or sub alpine) environment. Beautiful.
- Brutal traffic getting from the SF Bay Area to the trailhead. But got a good nights sleep. There were better camp sites just on the other side of the bridge, north of the trailhead.
- My plan to "hike high" did not work. I may have done too big of a hike this first day at over 10 miles round trip. This night, I felt terrible again and left my Wrights Lake campground to a motel in Kyburz below 5,000 feet.
- The trail was easy to follow and rose very gently - super nice. It is intense to walk through so many miles of fire damage to suddenly come to the untouched forest surrounding Lake Sylvia.
- Such a great area! And once you are above Lake Sylvia you really feel like you are in an alpine (or sub alpine) environment. Beautiful.
DAY 2
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| Morning at Wrights Lake |
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| Trail to Wrights Lake |
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| Willie Goat at Wrights Lake |
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| Trail to Rockbound Pass |
Day 2 Highlights
- I traveled back to Wrights Lake and still felt mild to medium symptoms of altitude sickness. Spent a nice, lazy morning along the shore of Wrights Lake.
- Had a great conversation with a stranger who was looking for somewhere to just walk for a bit and process a big decision.
- Decided to see how I felt on a day hike. Scouted out the path to Rockbound Pass. Not a fun trail with ups and downs but it does provide access to some very cool areas that I'd like to explore more.
- So many people at Wrights Lake - what an incredible campsite. Even with some construction at the Twin Lakes trailhead.
- Not a bad way to spend the day!
RECAP
- Location: Lake Sylvia and Wrights Lake, Desolation Wilderness.
- Date: September 2026.
- Stats: ~17 total mileage with ~2,500ft elevation gain.
- Maps: NatGeo 803 Lake Tahoe Basin map, USGS Rockbound Valley topo map and downloaded Gaia GPS maps. Desolation Wilderness day permit and overnight permit (with the parking permit for Rockbound trailhead).
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| Day 1 Route Map Gaia GPS | © Mapbox | © OpenStreetMap Contributors |
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| Day 2 Route Map Gaia GPS | © Mapbox | © OpenStreetMap Contributors |
| Lyon's Creek Trailhead |
I'll keep experimenting.
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