Crowd Control

We tend to stay home over three day weekends. I admit that some of it is due to my inability to make plans far enough ahead of time. However, the other part of it is due to the crowds: let's face the fact that the weekends to get away from it all are typically anything but. Every cute town, campsite, trail, paddling area, bike route and more is inundated with people looking to live it up.

This year, we were no different. Bionica had a rare full three day weekend so we made a backpacking trip of it. Not knowing a lot about the Sierras still, the places I found were likely the places everyone knows about i.e. Desolation Wilderness. After some research, it seemed our best bet was to enter from the west side of the area and not the Tahoe side, if we wanted to avoid crowds. Got a permit online (good sign) and made plans.



Fast forward weeks later, and we are at the trailhead parking area. There's a swarm of kids running around, one boy telling another that HIS dad brought a hatchet. More cars are pulling in. The prospects of low-key are not looking good. Still we left for our destination, Rockbound Lake and hope for the best. The trail itself is pretty easy overall, but certainly rocky over the last third of the hike.



By the time we get there, all was quiet. Campsites were not immediately obvious, but we found a good one eventually. An hour later, after some searching, we figured it out...we were the ONLY ones there. The entire lake was ours. Dinner above the lake shore, clear skies, and a light breeze. The next day was lounging, snacking, exploring, reading, etc. Back home the third day. Turns out that this three day weekend really was about getting away from it all. Who knew?