As fun as our time in Idaho was in August, it was actually the opening act for the main event of our big summer road trip - a month in the Sierra Nevada in California! So in late August, Claudia and I hit the road again and continued on from Idaho to California for the first of our Sierra adventures: a backpack trip up to Lake Aloha in the Desolation Wilderness, just southwest of Lake Tahoe.

Lake Aloha fills a broad and shallow granite basin at an exact water level that leaves hundreds of small islands poking out of the water; truly a granite paradise! I've been to some amazing granite lakes before in other ranges, but nothing on this scale! Like many places in the Sierra, though, it is a popular destination and camping here requires overnight permits secured months in advance (and of course the usual leave-no-trace practice).

During our time here we enjoyed one of our all-time most epic campsites, which featured our own cove and granite peninsula nearby where we swam, laid in the sun, drank coffees in the morning, and generally just lounged around savoring the scenery. What a great intro to our Sierra travels!