Desolation 2026

Troop 344’s high adventure this summer was an 11 day trip to the amazing and beautiful Desolation Wilderness in California (west of Lake Tahoe). The trip started by flying into Sacramento, California and renting a van to drive to the Desolation Wilderness area where we basecamped for 3 nights. Day 2 we travelled to Calaveras Big Trees State Park to hike among the Giant Sequoias. Day 3 we did a 7 mile dayhike with an elevation gain of 1200 feet to Island Lake to help acclimate to the mountain environment. On Day 4, we started our 6 night, 7 day backcountry backpacking experience. We backpacked about 46 miles in the backcountry with over 6500 feet in elevation gain during the trip. After leaving the trail, the last part of this trip was a full day of white water rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River. This was a Class IV+ experience and will be remembered by the participants for its steep wilderness canyon walls and world famous whitewater rapids. It involved a run through the Tunnel Chute Rapids which has been featured in multiple Hollywood movies.