Triangle Lake Trail

Triangle Lake, Desolation Wilderness, California

The Triangle Lake is a small, shallow lake surrounded by trees and rocks. In contrast to many lakes of the Desolation Wilderness that can be overviewed from stretches of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Triangle Lake is hidden away in the forest between Echo Peak and Keiths Dome—north of the PCT.

The hiking distance from the Echo Lakes Chalet to Triangle Lake is 4.2 miles (6.8 km). The Triangle Lake Trail has been rated as moderate: requiring some skill and challenge to travel [1]. The challenge comes with the final dead-end descend to the lake, where the trail is not marked (except by occasional stacks of stones) and where you want to make sure to know your return path through the rockscape.

“Triangle Lake trailhead”

To get to the “Triangle Lake trailhead,” follow the westbound PCT from the Chalet or its water-taxi-serviced access points to the Desolation Wilderness boundary—see The Echo Lakes trailheads for details. Just after passing the boundary sign, a post (shown in left-side picture) indicates where the Triangle Lake Trail forks off the PCT—uphill and northbound. Proceed this single-track trail through dense forest with occasional meadow openings until you reach the flat saddle after less than one mile. On the saddle the Triangle Lake Trail intersects with Lily Lake Trail (here coincidenting with Echo Peak Trail). Triangle Lake Trail continues northwest-bound. Jeffrey Schaffer instructs [2]:

Ascending Triangle Lake Trail

Take this trail northward, first through a meadow [shown in the picture below] then across ducked quartz-monozonite bed rock above the lake, and have an excellent view of Mt. Tallac and its southern slopes. The trail then makes a steep, 40-yard [36.6 m] descent east.

An alpine meadow north of the Triangle Lake Trail/Lily Pond Trail intersection

Schaffer mentions that—from this point—one could “side-track” toward Lost Lake, but says that most hikers opt for the more appealing Triangle Lake by continuing downhill:

From the bottom of the short [40-yard], steep descent, you reach a creeklet and follow a duff trail  down to the shallow, grassy south end of Triangle Lake. From the lake's northwest shore one can look down into the water and see brook trout swimming lazily in this [relatively] deep arm of the slightly cloudy lake. Small, fair campsites can be found in nooks among the ice-fractured rocks above the lake.

There is a good chance you or your party will be alone at Triangle Lake—especially on week days. Or you may meet backpackers and anglers around the lake. A few anglers are said to come up via the strenuous path from the Fallen Leaf Lake/Lily Pond area for fishing.

I couldn't figure out whether Triangle Lake is named for its shape (which deviates from school-book triangle geometry) or for its approximate location in the center of the triangle defined by the west tip of Upper Echo Lake, the east tip of Lake Aloha and the south tip of Fallen Leaf Lake—or for some other feature? Anyway, it is a beautiful, tiny lake worth a visit.

Map at PCT trailhead showing only the dead-end section of the Triangle Lake Trail, but not the section between the PCT at the wilderness boundary and the Triangle Lake Trail/Lily Lake Trail intersection

Reference and more to explore

[1] USDA Forest Service: Desolation Wilderness: Echo Lakes Trailhead. Internet: www.fs.usda.gov page.
[2] Jeffrey Schaffer: Desolation Wilderness. Wilderness Press, May 10, 2010. Internet: book page.