The Five Lakes are the headwaters of Five Lakes Creek which led James on his 1913 horseback descent into Hell Hole in the company of Bob Watson, the guide. The pair camped at Hell Hole, then ascended the Rubicon River to Rockbound Lake, where they camped again. Rockbound Lake is now in the Desolation Wilderness and is near the headwaters of the Rubicon River. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District controls a dam within the Desolation Wilderness: Rubicon Reservoir. Desolation Wilderness was created in 1969.