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Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:45 am
by Rockstar fisherman
Wow, we've gotton a lot more info this time around than when I originally asked about this lake that beckons me to visit it. I feel the same way, for some reason this place keeps telling me to "Come here!"

Don't know if this will help with all the great info in this thread but here's my thread from last year, it was also kinda my introduction to this forum as well.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3418" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mike

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:35 pm
by rlown
Thanks Rockstar.. missed the earlier post. Still looks like a nice lake to go to, and maybe lots of lil' protein in the water to enjoy with the scenery.. I'm still thinking if i did it, it'd be from the North, despite the skree/talus slope.. almost looks like a rock glacier from that approach, but i'm not a geologist.

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 2:23 pm
by SSSdave
Rockstar, all my searching outside hst never got a hit on your earlier post either for some reason. Search engines are odd like that sometimes so ought not be too trusted.

If one is just going to Burro Lake, then there is not all that much difference in total vertical to climb whether coming in from Virginia Lakes or Lundy. From Lundy the climb from 8200 to 10550 is all up or 2350 feet then all down. From Virginia one starts at 9850 via a longer more gradual mostly trail hike, climbing up to 11250 or 1400 feet but then on the way out must climb up another 700 feet from the lake for a trip total of 2100 feet. So the difference might be which route has less painful steeps? Giantbrookie has made a case for the VL route. In my situation, I have other photo reasons besides the Burro basin to go up from VL towards Virginia Pass in the late July through mid August period so now that the Burro Col route sounds more doable will opt for that.

At this point I'm even more interested in going up there than when I started this thread so have decided to put it near the top of my list for next year. To take care of both my targets, I will need at least 3 days and if I haven't any domestic issues limiting that would rather do it as a more releaxed 4-day trip with 2 in that basin in order to take care of what-ifs like weather. If any others on this board with solid offtrail skills have an interest in joining me (independently with their own travel, permit ,etc) I'm open to a sharing the effort.

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:58 am
by Rockstar fisherman
Well you titled this topic perfectly, the mystery of Burro Lake. I've only been able to google one image of the lake which I saved and found out pretty much everything else that you did about the place. It sure looks beautiful and like it has some awesome camping there as well. Oneday I'll have to try this place out. More for the conqueor than the fishing from what it sounds, but I'll still fish it.

Mike

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:16 pm
by SSSdave
This last while I worked on one of my basin maps discussed on the following thread that includes the Burro Lake Basin.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4708

I cropped out a 2424 x 1824 pixel section of the full 3200 x 4000 pixel map so any of you interested in the basin can freely download and print it out if desired. With the print scaling set for 210 pixels per inch, the map will provide 1050 pixels per mile over a map distance of 5.0 inches. Note the full map has a key mentioned in the above thread but that is not part of this crop area and includes the upper Virginia Creek headwaters basin and the Green Creek headwaters. The map crop jpg is 1.9mb at this link:

http://www.davidsenesac.com/_a-z_evad/burro_lake1.jpg

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:40 am
by doughunt
Mysterious is a good description of Burro. In the early 70's my folks, Lee and Beth Hunt, owned Lundy Lake Resort on the east shore of the lake and on the site of the town of Lundy which supported the operation of the Mae Lundy mine in the 1880s. There's a lot to explore in this magical canyon. Having moved from Anaheim California this high country was all new to us and we were anxious to do some hiking. Maybe it was the extreme challenge of the trek that incited the locals to give up this secret treasure to the 'flat landers'. My brother Steve and I packed our gear and started up the boulder field just east of Burro's outlet at Mill Creek. The effort was well worth it. I had never been in such a serene place. I was so impressed with the experience that I wrote down this song as soon as we returned. The following expresses my feeling of this mystical place:

Sierra Song

High in the mountain where the country lies still
you only talk to the wind
Black fingers reaching up into the sky,
make bed on a sleepy knoll

Sometimes I'm crying, sometimes I'm dancing
sometimes I shout and no one hears
Morning skips along a sparkling stream
with night fall the image fails

Flowers grow wild in patches of blue,
dwarf pine gnarled and old
You haunt me and you love me
and you leave me alone...

Sometimes I'm crying, sometimes I'm dancing
sometimes I shout and no one hears
Sometimes I feel like I'm lost in a song
with only one place to go

--Doug Hunt

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 12:24 pm
by balzaccom
Never been there, but there is a use trail off the Virginia Lakes Pass trail, just before you get to the pass, as I recall. Looks perfectly hikable from there, but we were headed over to Soldier and Return lake....

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:08 am
by broggerp
Been there three times.
Agree with giantbrookie's first post on this thread: Go to the top of the trail out of Virginia Lakes trail (past Frog Lakes) and turn south -- it's a short walk to the rim. Circle toward the west until the loose orange stuff to the northwest, then down into the bowl lying behind the lake. From there it's boulder-hopping to the shore. I exited the lake with the outflow, rode the loose stuff down, then a routine descent until a real struggle finding a way through the quakies along the Lundy Creek trail. (Spending some extra time heading east while going down one may be able to avoid this last bit -- but I've yet to succeed at that.)
First time I went, we tried climbing the boulder field to the east of the lake, rather than the loose stuff on the outflow side. Either way up is a heartbreaking pain -- the Virginia Lakes approach is far superior. (Of course, exiting via Lundy Canyon usually requires a separate drop-off or pick-up trip.)
The lake itself is a gem, and for me warranted repeat visits.

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 9:23 am
by Stardew_Valley_88
Burro Lake is a true hidden gem. I’ve made the tough hike three times. Obviously Burro doesn’t get many visitors. It’s well off the beaten path, and a hard place to get to. That makes it all the more special once you reach it though. Having just returned from a day hike there, I thought it might be time for a recent update on this older thread.

My first two treks to Burro Lake were both from the Lundy side. I did in it the early ‘80’s (I was 20 at the time), and then did it again in the ‘90’s (I was 37). Both followed the same route... jump off the trail at the beaver ponds / Lundy falls... scramble up through the quaking aspens, to the bowl at the base of the waterfall... and then the steep rocky scramble up the left side of the falls. It’s a very tough hike. I recall it took about 4.5 hours from where you leave the trail. I carried a fishing pole both times. Burro Lake had abundant small brookies. I had a strike on nearly every cast. They loved bright little spinners (panther martin, roostertail, etc.). The fish were small, but the action was awesome.

Hitting the fast forward button to July 13, 2020... my current hiking group decided to give it a try, this time from the Virginia Lake side. We parked at the Virginia Lakes trailhead, not long after first light. The hike up through the scattered woods and pretty lakes (Mary, Cooney, Frog, etc.) of the Virginia basin was pleasant. Reaching the end of the canyon, we worked up a small set of switchbacks, reaching trail crest. The trail continues on from here, to Summit Lake. It was from here that we broke away from the trail. We followed the contours, staying east of the two tiny ‘Little Tween’ lakes, and then headed towards Excelsior Mountain. Reaching the southern rim of the Burro Lake mini-basin, it suddenly appeared before us... Burro Lake... looking very much like a beautiful, azure-blue jewel... set in a crown of jagged gray rock. I had never seen it from above before. It is truly a sight to behold.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aWh_vX ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hr7g6a ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ttokxj ... sp=sharing

Now came the hard part. We had previously scouted possible routes using aerial satellite imagery. There are about six steep, rocky avalanche chutes, that one could potentially scramble down (-1,000” vertically), to get down into the Burro basin. We did reconnaissance on them all, now that we were there. They all looked “impossible”. It was just a matter of selecting the one that looked a little less “impossible” than the rest (lat/long: N 38.03630 W 119.29464). We began to slowly creep our way down. The rock was loose. Most cautious steps led to mini avalanches. We had to space out quite a distance from each other, just so we wouldn’t sweep each other away should a larger rock fall occur.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kFt0do ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-iBy4m ... sp=sharing

We crept our way down the chute, and after about an hour and a half, we reached the less hostile footing below, within the Burro basin. A short walk through some glacial kames led us to an outwash fan, and then the grassy meadow that adjoins the lake. We had reached our elusive goal!

The five of us that made this journey each explored the locale in their own personal ways. ‘Pescadores’ Russ and John, pumped up previously by my stories of a “fish on the line with every cast”, methodically fished their way around the lake. Brenner and Bryce were both born of the waters, and need to return to them from time to time. They both waded into to frigid waters of the lake, and plunged themselves... rinsing the well earned sweat from themselves. Yours truly just plopped down in the comfy grass, and simply soaked it all in... the natural beauty.... the deep azure blue of the lake... the peaceful stillness... the golden sunshine... the sweet smell of sage... and the joy shared by me and my trail mates, that only comes from reaching a special goal after a period of great effort and exertion. For about three hours, I was truly at peace... with myself... and the world around me. I hope everyone can spend a few afternoons like that in their lifetime. Shangri-La found!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X3zYBd ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r_jCXw ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eqZHH4 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15pn73P ... sp=sharing

There was one thing about the journey that was weird. I’ve fished little high sierra lakes like this one my entire life. On my two previous trips, I’d seen tons of smaller fish in Burro Lake. This trip... absolutely nothing! Russ and John fished their way around the entire perimeter of the lake. They didn’t see a single fish in the lake. There were a few small fingerlings in the two lower tarns, but that was it. I guess they could have been hiding in some deep pocket out in the center. But I swear to you, that Burro appears to me to have had a total kill off of the once abundant small fish population. It’s not a very deep lake. Could a severe winter have frozen them all out? If you have any knowledge or theories about what could have caused that, I’d like to know. I just know I’m not lugging a pole and tackle up that hill next time.

Reluctantly, there is only so much light in a summer day. No one wanted to leave. But at about 3 PM, we knew we still had a tough climb back out this isolated glacial basin, and head back to our trailhead. We tracked our way back to the dreaded chute we previously slithered down. It was a tough climb back up the very loose rock. The only good news is that it is slightly less exhausting to climb up a chute like that, than to scuttle down. We made pretty quick work of it. A few more pictures, and a few high fives and slaps on the back... and we were headed back to the trail that initially led us up. In a few short hours, our trail led to our vehicles at the Virginia trailhead. A celebratory feast was in order, so we headed to familiar stomping grounds... the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining, CA. Steaks, fish tacos, pizza and several pitchers of ice cold fluids were quickly devoured. A great punctuation for the end of a great day!

Here is a topo map showing our general route... http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=38.04137,-11 ... %2Cunnamed

My awesome hiking crew included... Brian Holcombe (myself) of Bakersfield, CA... John (my son) Holcombe of Sacramento, CA... Russ Holcombe (my nephew) of Temecula, CA... and two of my former Eagle Scouts; Bryce Rankins and Brenner Rankins of Bakersfield, CA. Well done guys!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G8v_FQ ... sp=sharing

Re: mystery of Burro Lake

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 11:56 am
by HighPlainDrifter
Thanks for sharing, very much enjoy stories of the obscure corners of the range...the shot scrambling down the scree chute with the lake perched in the basin really stood out to me.