Jabu Lake (Desolation Wilderness)
2 Days Total Miles- 10
After parking the car at Echo Lakes lodge we bought our tickets to take the boat across the lake. This saves a few miles of hiking and is an enjoyable ride. This trailhead offers easy access to some of the best wilderness in Desolation. The weather was a different story though.. the wind was howling across the surface and I knew it was going to be a cold night out. We did not have a particular place to stay for the night planned out. I ended up talking to the boat guide what he thought would be best. That is when he mentioned Lake Jabu. I said, "where is that?" It ends up being a little known lake that is near lake Aloha. It is perched high up on a ridgeline and requires a bit of crosscountry to get there. I had never been there, he recommended it, so that is where we were headed. If we could find it.
Sam enjoying the trail next to Eagle Lake.
Ah, feels good to be on the trail!
Here we are at Lake Aloha. From here we hiked up a ridge to find Lake Jabu.
It was not visable from below and took some time to finally locate it. That evening it was so cold outside that we made dinner in the tent. Here is the spot right next to the water. There was quite a sweeping view looking east into a deep valley.
On the trail with Echo Lakes in the distance.
To get back to Echo Lake we took a slightly different route. We took a trail to Lake of the Woods before meeting back up with the trail to Echo Lake. I don't remember much about this trip except we were a bit cold at night. It was Sam's first backpacking experience and it was a rough start. Probably good to start off like this because the next trip with classic sierra weather will be a snap. Anyway Jabu Lake was a good spot, but it really was too cold, windy and a bit exposed to enjoy it.