6/23-25/10 TR: Solo BP to Ranger Lakes
Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:15 pm
The ranger issuing my permit at the Grant Grove Visitor Center on Wednesday morning warned me that trail conditions were really tough in the area and hikers had been turning back, but I had been planning (and pushing back) this trip for months, so I decided to proceed anyway and simply bail if it got too bad. I arrived at the trailhead, filled out the first slot in the register, and headed out. The first few miles to Rowell Meadow were clear, but once I got up above the meadow toward the Belle Canyon entrance I began encountering large drifts of snow. It took some time to stop at frequent intervals and hunt around for where the trail picked up again, but eventually I made the ridge.
Although the trail was wet and there were still intermittent patches of snow to contend with, I had relatively smooth sailing once I entered Belle Canyon until I arrived at the Ranger Lakes in the late afternoon. I fished a bit, then made camp and enjoyed the evening alpenglow on Silliman.
As I fished the following morning, I spotted a bear ambling around the northwest corner of the lake and disappearing out of view in the vicinity of my camp. I took this as a sign (along with the slow action) that I needed a change of scenery, so I leisurely packed up and hiked over to Lost Lake. For calibration purposes, here’s a view of the snowline across Crowley Canyon.
Arriving at Lost, I sprawled out on a warm rock to eat lunch and sample the abundant brookies in this gorgeous lake.
After setting up camp, I made the quick climb up to check out the beautiful Upper Sheep Camp Lake and found it still partly frozen.
No dice in about an hour of tossing flies, so I returned to my camp, had dinner, and spent the rest of the night reading and assuring myself that the footsteps I heard outside my tent were deer. On Friday morning, I packed up and headed back to Upper Sheep Camp to catch a couple of chunky brookies before picking my way down to Lower Sheep Camp.
From there I headed over to Seville where I caught a ton of brookies to 11" on flies and lures, chatted with the family camped there who expressed their gratitude for the tracks in the snow I had left for them to follow the day before, and then stuffed a few fish in a bag to take to the folks back home before I followed the ducks along the old use trail from Seville up to the pass and pounded back to the trailhead. All in all, it was a great first solo trip! Virtually no mosquitoes, great weather, my first backcountry bear sighting, and a few fish to boot.
Thanks for reading!
Matt
Although the trail was wet and there were still intermittent patches of snow to contend with, I had relatively smooth sailing once I entered Belle Canyon until I arrived at the Ranger Lakes in the late afternoon. I fished a bit, then made camp and enjoyed the evening alpenglow on Silliman.
As I fished the following morning, I spotted a bear ambling around the northwest corner of the lake and disappearing out of view in the vicinity of my camp. I took this as a sign (along with the slow action) that I needed a change of scenery, so I leisurely packed up and hiked over to Lost Lake. For calibration purposes, here’s a view of the snowline across Crowley Canyon.
Arriving at Lost, I sprawled out on a warm rock to eat lunch and sample the abundant brookies in this gorgeous lake.
After setting up camp, I made the quick climb up to check out the beautiful Upper Sheep Camp Lake and found it still partly frozen.
No dice in about an hour of tossing flies, so I returned to my camp, had dinner, and spent the rest of the night reading and assuring myself that the footsteps I heard outside my tent were deer. On Friday morning, I packed up and headed back to Upper Sheep Camp to catch a couple of chunky brookies before picking my way down to Lower Sheep Camp.
From there I headed over to Seville where I caught a ton of brookies to 11" on flies and lures, chatted with the family camped there who expressed their gratitude for the tracks in the snow I had left for them to follow the day before, and then stuffed a few fish in a bag to take to the folks back home before I followed the ducks along the old use trail from Seville up to the pass and pounded back to the trailhead. All in all, it was a great first solo trip! Virtually no mosquitoes, great weather, my first backcountry bear sighting, and a few fish to boot.
Thanks for reading!
Matt