I recently (aka I started writing this post right after my trip but am finishing it like 4 months later) went on my very first backpacking trip in the Desolation Wilderness, outside of Lake Tahoe. Despite experiencing abject terror of bear attacks, using the bathroom, and having no face wash (or worst of all, all three happening at the same time), I had such a good time and now I’m backpackpilled. We saw some amazing birds, many of which I think would have been basically impossible to see unless we were camping in this secluded area!
Lay of the Land
The Desolation Wilderness encompasses nearly 64k acres of subalpine and alpine forest and includes many beautiful lakes with crystal clear water. To backpack in the Desolation Wilderness, you need a permit. Because of this, there are not very many people here. Birding aside, it was a really fun trip and I hope to do it again!
We had panicked about bears, but due to a recent rule requiring bear bins in the wilderness, there have generally been way less bear sightings here. Also Marghi acted as Bear Tzar and moved our bear bins many times throughout the evening just to throw the bear off our trail.
PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION!
If you give a shit AT ALL about birding while doing secondary, lesser activities like hiking, you will get one of these bad boys.
If I had $5 for every time someone mocked me to my face for wearing this, I would have paid the vest off by now. But whatever, it’s worth it. I also have an attachment to keep a big iron on my hip (binocs).
Now onto some Avian Highlights!
Black-backed Woodpecker
Also known as the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, BBWs (I know) live throughout boreal forests of North America. In California, they live exclusively in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. BBWs are seen frequently in burned areas of forests between 1 and 8 years old and their coloration is designed to help them blend in to the charred trees.
The burned forest we saw him at was involved in the Tamarack Fire of 2021, which burned over 68,000 acres, resulting from a patriotic strike of lightning on the 4th of July. But wait—put down that match! You don’t need to do arson to spot a Black-backed Woodpecker. You can simply use one of my favorite eBird features: Species Map and find an already lit up forest near you.
Another fun fact is that these woodpeckers are part of a three-member Three-Toed Club. Along with the American Three-toed and Eurasian Three-toed woodpeckers, BBWs are the only other sub-four-toed woodpeckers. This may be an evolutionary advantage allowing them to lean back farther and bonk trees harder, accessing grubs n’ stuff on harder-to-peck trees.
Sooty Grouse
Our Sooty Grouse sighting was a testament to the power of manifestation: Patrick and were discussing the birds we were hoping to see on our trip and then we looked up and were about 10 feet from a Sooty Grouse strutting her stuff. Sightings like these are why I recommend including 1-30 N2Y birds on your annual vision board.
Sooty Grouse live only on the Pacific Coast and are bronze-medalists for largeness in the USA—nice.
Not to be a mens rights activist but I would have preferred to see a male Sooty Grouse, which has an insane vibe:
Bonus Mention: The One That Got Away
On our way in, we briefly caught a glimpse of the Alpine Quail but the encounter didn’t yield any photos for me, RIP. I did do some listening tho: one morning, I was lying awake for sunrise and heard the dawn chorus, including what I am positive was the call of Alpine Quail.
I’m looking forward to going back to Desolation Wilderness and waking up before sunrise to see and hear more backpacking-exclusive birds! Thank you for tuning in!
join me on a wild goose chase 
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