Echo Lake via picture point.

Leading up to my Volcanic 50 race on Mt. St. Helens I spent a few days at Echo Lake relaxing, exploring, and getting training runs in before heading out to Washington.  The oxygen in the atmosphere was noticeably reduced compared to the levels I’m used to in Santa Barbara, it took me a day or so to get accustomed to moving under these conditions.   Echo Lake is a glacial lake located near south Lake Tahoe at 7,400 ft of elevation, and is divided into upper Echo Lake (lake nearest in the image above) and lower Echo Lake (lake furthest in the image above).  This slice of paradise is one of the last stops before heading into Desolation Wilderness.  During my stay here I was lucky enough to experience rugged, yet beautiful terrain on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

Ralston peak; elevation 9,300ft.

Several lakes surround Echo Lake which make  detours off the PCT a most welcome adventure. The first venture was to Triangle Lake, on the way to this small lake there were plenty of snow mounds left over from a relatively intense winter season.  Indeed, I later discovered water was overflowing the Echo Lake dam as a result of the large amount of snow melt.  On this very warm summer day the trek to Triangle Lake was filled with mosquito’s and towering pine trees.

Heading towards Triangle Lake.

Triangle lake.

After Triangle Lake, the adventure continued onward and upward towards Lake Aloha (image below) about 5 miles away from Echo Lake.  Lake Aloha is a large body of water that was a highlight of my time in the area, here I enjoyed peaceful stillness of the water, the sun was perfect and a gentle breeze made for ideal napping conditions on a rock near the water.

Crystal range towering above Lake Aloha.

Sign posts guiding hikers and backpackers on the PCT.

Weather around Echo Lake changed frequently and rapidly, there were a couple of hours of sporadic thunder and lightening, one minute there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the next minute a series of storm clouds rolled through the area on there way towards Lake Tahoe.

Lower Echo Lake.

Verga seen over lower Echo Lake during a thunder storm.

Some trees in the area are well over 1,000 years old.

One phenomenon I continually noticed on runs were trees that had branches point in only one direction.  The locals explained that the wind can be a brutal element and creates these wind swept trees (image below).

Wind swept pine.

Lastly, one of my favorite experiences about my time at Echo Lake was sleeping outside under the stars.  The last time I slept outside was a couple of years ago on a rock in the ‘foothills’ of Santa Barbara.  On this particular evening there was a waxing gibbous moon in the night sky, even so, the Milky Way was quite visible, I don’t recall ever seeing so many stars under a moonlit sky.  I can only imagine what the Milky Way looks like here under a new moon. Perhaps life will be kind enough to allow me a return trip with a more appropriate lens for the environment and on a moonless night.

Milky Way from lower Echo Lake.