Carson Pass to Winnemuca Lake

Eldorado National Forest
Mokelumne Wilderness
Trailhead: Carson Pass East, off Highway 88
Nearby: Caples Lake, Round Top Lake, Fourth of July Lake, Frog Lake
Total mileage: 10 miles
Elevation gain: 600 ft.

Day 1

1 Night at the Motel

We stayed at El Campo Casa for the night, which is in Jackson, CA. Took about 2.5 hours to get here from the Bay Area. Wasn't a bad motel at all.

Day 2

Carson Pass East Trailhead

Woke up at the buttcrack of dawn to drive 1.5 hours to the trailhead. It was quite a drive. Jon mentioned that it might snow, so we were prepared for wet conditions. HOWEVER, the closer we got to the trailhead, the more snow we encountered. By the time we arrived, it was a full-blown blizzard.

We've never backpacked in the snow before, and our tent (REI Quarterdome T2) was only 3-season. Definitely started to feel a bit nervous.

After getting lost at our Deer Lake trip, we bought a GPS....which of course, was a lifesaver for this trip as the trails were completely covered with snow.

Thankfully I had my amazing Lowa boots, which are fully waterproof. But backpacking in the snow is incredibly tiring!

Winnemuca Lake was completely frozen!

Hmm, Jon planned this one so not sure he did his research properly or did this on purpose. The lake was frozen. At this time, I wasn't vegan so fishing was a big part of our trips. Womp womp.

Setting up camp

I have to say, for a 3-season tent, the Quarterdome T2 held up like a fuckin' champ. Waterproof, not much condensation, and very cozy. But yeah, it's 3-season for a reason. Flash forward to this year (2016), and we had to give it up. The snow seemed to have made the material deteriorate over time. It started to flake off and become sticky. So sad! We bought the new version of the Quarterdome T3 recently and it was terrible. Had to return it.

Snowed in

Thankfully, me and Jon can have just as much fun being cramped up in a tent. I mean, a big part of why we love backpacking is you get to spend very intimate moments with the people you're with.

This was our first time testing the jetboil and boy, that thing is the best!

Day 3

The Sun's Out!

The next day, the sun was out! I'm not a huge fan of snow, but it was just absolutely beautiful.

Hiking Around the Lake

We're not big snow people so of course, we didn't put enough sunblock on our faces. Big mistake that we definitely paid for later. We hiked to Round Top Lake which wasn't too far.

Caples Lake

After exploring around, we made the executive decision to pack up and camp at Caples Lake, which was nearby. You could actually see it from the trail: