High Sierra Topix

The next time I go into Humphreys Basin my plans have been to spend a couple days at Packsaddle too. Love the story of how Lupe enjoys eating your trout.

Noticed your comment about eating your big golden. Am wondering if that has more to do with how it was cooked?

For this person big mature goldens always have the best taste of any Sierra trout being much like salmon. Of course to some extent the taste of any fish depends on what they have been eating and among the numbers of those large goldens I've caught in the High Sierra they have been so similar that reflects a diet of high elevation insect life. A significant difference between the mature wide body and hook jaw models and smaller sub 12 inch fish that are very similar to your average rainbow trout. And generally small eastern brook are a bit tastier than small goldens. For years we have always released any fish over 15 inches while readily enjoying eating the 13-15s.

When cleaning those fish one finds intense red flesh much like that of freshly migrated from the Pacific steelhead that tends to have an extra amount of fat within tissues. That fat when correctly cooked tends to fry the fish in its own oil much like one can do with salmon. The guts of those fish also are neon-like with purple and magenta hues.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/_a-z_evad/golden_pan.jpg

Very nice report WD. I love that area and agree with your opinion of Emerson Lake. Its kinda funny how much quieter it is compared to down at Piute. Packsaddle is a very pretty lake as well. I have only been there once in ~1992 and didnt make it up to Paine, but we met a couple on that trip that apprently liked the area a whole lot. I was in the basin with my wife, my son who was 2 1/2 at the time, along with my brother and his wife. We had day hiked up to Packsaddle to fish and had been there for about 45 minutes fishing when this woman pops up out of the rocks. She had heard our voices and came out to check thinking it was some friends they were expecting. She was very excited to see us with our young son becasue as it turned out, her young son was at a nearby camp napping. She wanted us to stick around so her son would have someone to play with, but an encroahing storm didnt provide the time for the kids to get together. What amazed me was her story regarding why her and her family were there and who she was waiting for. Turns out that her and her husband had gotten married 10 years earlier up on the Paine Galcier itself. They were coming back to celebrate their anniversry, and were waiting for the guy that married them and some other friends when we met. These two were definitely mountain folk indicating they typically spent 6 to 7 un-interupted weeks in the backcountry each summer. Must be rough!!

Well I digress, and thanks for a very nice TR with great pics WD as usual. I'm hoping to do a Piute-Pine Creek trip with my son next year, but I'm also having some ticker issues so we will see what gives.

I really enjoyed seeing pics of your husband and dispite what you wrote would have liked to have seen fotos of you.

Nice report WD and nice to see pictures of hubby and beautiful dog. Too bad he is not into UL!

Trout dog 59- Nice digression!

Breathtaking scenery, hiking, camping & chasing trout......my favourite combo's.
Nice trip report, WanderingDaisy.

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Nice trip report. Love the photos and love those lakes! Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting your tr and beautiful photos!


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WD, I always love reading your trip reports (and your insightful comments on other topics/issues as well) --- I have to learn to fish; that dinner looked delicious!!

[rimg]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg23 ... saddle.jpg[/rimg]
This is the route to Paine Lake. It follows a set of diagonal vegetated areas with some talus and rock slabs in between. It was pretty logical and obvious, and once on the route I ran into many cairns. I came down it carrying two trekking poles and my fishing pole in my hand; so use of hands is handy but optional. Some zig-zagging. A bit of brush. Took me 20 minutes to get to Paine Lake from the outlet of Packsaddle Lake. About 550 feet elevation gain.

our route down from Payne to Packsaddle (the red line approximate):
We followed and headed for a brush-line as well, but we looked at the area you came up and it didn't seem good for us. We came to Payne first over the ridge to the East, and ambled on down towards Payne (wish we could agree on that name) Pretty sure that lake is named after Edgar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Alwin_Payne

Anyway, fun in the back country!

Thanks for the feedback WD.. Never saw a cairn at Payne to indicate a direction so it came down to discussion and decision.

Russ