The Early Hiker in the Desolation Valley Primitive Area

I am at the back left. My brother Tim in the foreground, brother Bill to the right.

Dad was camp doctor for the old BSA (Boy Scouts of America) camp that was at Upper Echo Lake. We hiked all over the glaciated granite mountains.You could drink water straight from the creek without filtration using your Sierra Cup. Dad dumped lots of grape Kool Aid into the water. I think they thought sugar gave you energy.

We had the doctor’s cabin at the lake. Cabins still ring the lake though the camp is long gone. No way to haul that much sewage when the Eldorado NF clamped down on pollution. People would ask Dad to do things like remove a fish hook stuck in a dog’s mouth. Of, course, Dad took care of it. He had an air pistol that we shot pine cones with.

This is probably around 1968 or before.It is now called the Desolation Wilderness Area or, to most people, simply, Desolation (external link for map and information).

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