Dreamcatchers: West Again

After much wait I am finally getting around to posting the rest of my summer 2017 stories.

August 2017,

As usual, I had been frantically trying to find a backpacking destination for late August. It is always difficult matching up reasonably priced flights with backpacking destinations that fit our schedule and permits. We had initially settled on a trail in Olympic National Park - really there were two trails we were discussing. One option was a remote hike following one of the major rivers in the park. The other was one of the more popular hikes up to a glacier. We eventually settled on the hike to the glacier, but flight prices would not cooperate to get us near our destination. As the trip grew closer and closer I started to look at alternative destinations. Burnt into my mind was the hike I had done the year before through Kings Canyon National Park. Rugged and jagged peaks! Beautiful alpine lakes! Fantastic fishing! The Sierras were calling my name once again. I found good deals into Sacramento and I started planning. We were too late to acquire a permit for Yosemite and many other places, so I started to explore an area that had always intrigued me. Years ago when I looked at my Yosemite map this area beyond the park border had always struck an interest from me. I had daydreamed about trips to Thousand Island lake and what it might be like. So I started explore trailhead options in the area. Permits were hard to match up, but I finally found an opening beginning in Inyo National Forest along the pacific crest trail. We booked it and our journey was set. But this was only the beginning we would soon find out!

We touched down late in Sacramento with plans to travel all the way to Mammoth, CA some 5 hours away. We made our stop at the local In and Out burger and started our trek to Lake Tahoe. Somewhere past Lake Tahoe we encountered our first obstacle. We had turned off and started traveling south toward mammoth when all of the sudden we came to a road block and sirens flashing. The road was closed due to wildfire. After consulting our map we found the only way to get where we needed was to drive back towards Tahoe and cut into Nevada. Knowing we wouldn’t make our destination at any sort of reasonable time, we stopped in the early hours of the morning in a small hotel in Nevada. Not my ideal first trip to Nevada! But the next day we awoke and travelled south to Mammoth. After picking up our permit and bear cans we were all set. We hit the trail in the early afternoon and started our longest trek of the trip. The first part was grueling as we climbed up high on the ridge side above the tree line almost immediately. This vantage point offered impressive views, that were somewhat clouded with smoke from wildfires. As the day progressed we ran into a spot up shower or two. Enough for me to put on the rain gear only to take it right back off. I was a bit bummed that the smoke had obscured some of our views and I didn’t know what lied ahead for the rest of the trip. Would it all be that smoky? Would it become a problem? We would soon find out. We made the most of the long hike spending some time on an exposed cliff face for lunch. As evening came we arrived at thousand island lake. As is the case with many alpine lakes, the scenery was unreal. Towering in the background was Mt Ritter and Banner Peak. We set up camp at a beautiful exposed piece of land overlooking the lake. It was then that we found out we forgot tent stakes. Had this of been last year in the Beartooths this would have been a major issue, but we made due with sticks and it worked just fine. Awaking in the morning the skies and smoke had cleared! It was a new day! We would hike to Garnet lake next. This trek was not overly hard, but choosing a campsite on the far end of the lake made our trek a bit further. It was worth it to get to the far side of the lake though. After setting up camp we walked to the top of the Ridge that was saddled in-between thousand island lake and garnet lake. It was a beautiful scene to see. We soon realized that the mosquitos were horrendous and they were relentless. Constantly attacking one after the other. To get my mind off the struggle I strung up the fly rod and went hunting. I found a few willing brook trout that had good meat on them but none exceeded 12-14 inches. I was using my new echo 3 weight rod, which I really liked. We wrapped up the day there and started hiking to Ediza Lake which would be our last stop for two nights. Once we crossed over the outlet of Garnet Lake we blindly followed a group of people down a trail we thought was ours. We had talked to them earlier and they were going the same way. After climbing down some sketchy terrain we realized we were going the wrong way! Simple lesson in being careful who you follow! And don’t trust other people’s map reading skills! We climbed our way back out and got set up the right direction. Lake Ediza was a climb. But we made it there and picked out a high campsite on the far end of the lake with Mt Ritter on one side and the Minerets on the other!! There was a small meadow stream that ran nearby our site and we had an overlooking view of Lake Ediza and the canyon below. Perfect and ideal to spend the next two days. I hiked up through the small meadow stream and found several willing rainbows. All were small, but still fun in the setting. The next day we hiked right up to the base of Mt Ritter. It was an awesome view! We looked over the ridge at the lakes we had initially considered staying at. Beautiful, but I was glad we stayed were we did! The next day we packed out the canyon and shuttled back to mammoth. It was another awesome trip that I will add to the list of favorites. Maybe someday I will be able to return again!