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30 Hours At Grass Lake

A memorable trip to California's Desolation Wilderness.

By Peak Design

February 23^rd, 2016

A scosche west of Lake Tahoe lies the Desolation Wilderness, a federally protected wilderness area patched with royal blue tarns, red firs and bulbous granite outcroppings. Through the center of Desolation runs the crest of the Sierra Nevada range.

Last Summer, on the front side of an uber-Californian love fest at Fallen Leaf Lake, a few members of Peak Design and friends took a brief 30-hour trip through Desolation. We stayed at Grass Lake, just a 3 mile hike in. But that 45 minutes of hiking was enough to put us on a totally different planet.

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This shot is actually from the drive in. The American River, blanketed by fog.

THE HIKE IN

We had a rehearsal dinner and wedding to hit up the next couple days and had to take all our fancy clothes with us. That would have been a great excuse for why our bags were so full as we hiked in for an overnight trip, were it true. Nope, we just brought a lot of toys.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

LAKE LOUNGING

The ‘skeeters were out in full force, so we found a rocky peninsula in the middle of the lake and used that as our base of operations. And we’re happy to report that operations went smoothly.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

Molly, our UX designer, taking it all in at Grass Lake. The camera strap she's wearing is Slide.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

GOING OFF THE GRID

The beauty of Desolation Wilderness (aside from, you know, the beauty) is that the terrain is largely uncovered at higher elevations, meaning you can easily explore vast swaths of the ridge line without having to confine yourself to a trail. This is where the real adventure began. Make sure you get your backcountry permit, by the way.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

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30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

There's a person in that tree, fyi.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

It’s easy to get fixated on the grand vistas and formations, but the tiny world at our feet was equally as stunning.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

Sundown

We hightailed it back to our perch to watch the sunset on. The breeze picked up and the ‘skeeters peaced out.

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

30 Hours At Grass Lake

We timelapsed the twilight and our subsequent dinner melee so you can appreciate it too.

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30 Hours At Grass Lake

Footnotes

All photos taken by Adam Saraceno and Annie Nyborg of the Peak Design team.

FootNotes

All photos taken by Adam Saraceno and Annie Nyborg of the Peak Design team.

© 2026 Peak Design

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