Kayakers Going Into Le Conte

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DJG
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Kayakers Going Into Le Conte

Post by DJG »

Came out of Dusy Basin after several days there (7-31 to 8-5), had a great time fishing the lakes of the basin with my wife, lots of quiet and solitude as we were a bit off the trail and up above the lakes some. On the way out, on Bishop Pass were 3 kayaks being carried by a group from South Carolina. As our lunch break went on, one by one additional guys carrying kayaks arrived at the pass. They said they were headed to the Middle Fork of the Kings River, would get to float (hopefully) for 5 days down to the confluence with the South Fork of the Kings.

Ended up there were 9 of them altogether and that they have done this before elsewhere (one guy said they posted a report of last year's trips on "Seven Rivers Expeditions.com" but I haven't checked for that site yet. Anyway, I thought that was really cool that they were going for it that way and they all seemed so stoked (but looked like a real trudge carrying the kayak on the backs with the headstrap). Cool, yes?

We had wonderful week in the area. Stayed at Parcher's Resort to acclimate a couple days. Fished South Lake with some friends who went on to stay in the Mammoth Lakes area. We were planning on going in to Le Conte Cyn to Grouse Mdws but found such a wonderful spot we decided to have more layover days there in Dusy instead of making the trek down to Grouse Mdws (figured the bugs would be worse down there, plus my wife enjoyed not hiking down there to confirm it, only to hike back up to where we were).

This trip was to commemorate the first anniversary of my dad's passing so I wanted to go where he and I went on some special trips long ago. Instead it turned into a special time for my wife and I, while still being the right place to be for the occasion.

My previous stays at Dusy Basin had always been in bad weather, cold wet windy fog or rain. Last week was pure blue skies, little wind and only one rainy late afternoon thunder shower. Bugs were manageable. It was great! Also, we enjoyed 3 days of lazily fishing the lakes, both of using only one fly apiece (all fish were C&R).

Just wanted to share it.
Dan
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SSSdave
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Post by SSSdave »

Enjoy hearing how others also enjoy one of my favorite places. I've backpacked there 7 times. The views of surrounding peaks from many locations in the basin are among the most impressive on the continent. And despite the usual crowded camping conditions at the first lake below the pass and where the trail meets the lower lakes, there are some areas with superb views where one can also enjoy relative isolation from others most of the time. Those kayakers must have had quite an adventure. I'll be interesting in reading their TR if anyone happens to run across it on the net. ...David
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Post by quentinc »

People definitely do it. I once enountered several women carrying kayaks down from Lower Dusy Basin towards Big Pete Meadow. Some of them looked awful tired, but I was certainly impressed!
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Kayakers in Dusy Basin

Post by langenbacher »

I saw Kayakers there 4 years ago. They got packers to haul their packs up to upper Dusy, but they had to haul the Kayaks themselves. One of them offered us $50 to carry their Kayak down to the river, but we were headed to Palisades Basin, so we were even less inclined than "no way". I think the correct price for missing Palisade Basin would be on the order of $1024 to $2048 :)
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Post by quentinc »

$50 per foot! (Amazing, the nerve some people have.)
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