Mok-Deso Lite 7/21-23: Resort-based dayhikes

[giantbrookie]

OK, this is sort of a pedestrian report but....After one month away from High Sierra hiking, including a week involved in a Sierra Nevada geologic research forum and two weeks doing research fieldwork in Newfoundland, it was terrific to get back to walking around in the High Sierra, even if these were mellow dayhikes done while "camping" in full-fledged lodging in South Lake Tahoe.

Prior to this month away from my favorite recreational mountain range, Dawn and I had done a second backpacking trip (June 14-16) to Green Lake out of the S Fork Bishop Creek. That trip featured the most sustained fishing skunk I've ever experienced---probably 12 hours of fishing spread over 3 days at Green L without a single strike--along with gullible, numerous, and amazingly tiny fish at Hidden and Baker Lakes. The only true fishing success had been on day zero out of Leavitt Meadow where we caught and released some large brookies. The best parts of this trip were the scenery and the surprising solitude at the day zero lake and our backpacking destination. The Newfoundland trip was an intense research experience for the supremely high level of scientific discussions and the physically demanding fieldwork under fairly harsh conditions for this native Californian. The High Sierra seemed a much more hospitable place than the Newfoundland wilderness with less brush, less rainfall, and fewer biting insects. Thank goodness we don't have those little black flies in the High Sierra.

With approximately a month of summer left before my classes begin I have a lot of research-related stuff to wrap up, but my focus for the next month will be spending more recreational time in the High Sierra with a series of easy trips scripted from over a month ago, the first of which would visit Round Top Lake near Carson Pass, Gilmore Lake in Desolation, and Lost Lakes (S of Carson Pass and N of Blue Lakes).

On Thurs. (7/21) we left the Bay Area a bit later than planned and headed for the Woods Lake trailhead just W of Carson Pass. Although we didn't camp at Woods Lake campground I remember staying there in the 80's, it remains one of my favorite "official" campgrounds for its layout (campsites spaced so that each campsite has decent separation from next). Judy and I hadn't hiked in the Carson Pass area since the 80's, long before having kids, my most recent trip was a solo trip in 2003. It was great to be back, because every part of the Sierra has its own charms. The Carson Pass area is characterized by open sight lines with rugged peaks made of knobby volcanic rock. This area is also justifiably renowned for its wildflower displays, although our hike from Woods Lake to Round Top Lake didn't really go through the highlight areas (best is trail from Carson Pass to Winnemucca Lake) and I think we were just a smidge after the peak bloom anyway. Round Top Lake itself is a classic "Sierra volcanic country" lake nestled beneath the premier peak in this part of the Sierra, the poorly named Round Top, whose summit is in fact a knife edge. To me it is the 2nd most visually attractive lake in this area after big Winnemucca Lake. It was fun to rekindle old memories with Judy and introduce Dawn to this area. Dawn had seen the classic view of Round Top across Caples Lake when we headed up CA-88 to other destinations, but this was her first time on the ground in the Carson Pass area.

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The hiking conditions were pleasant, owing to a consistent breeze (otherwise it might have been on the warm side). After our hike we headed to South Lake Tahoe. Originally, we had planned to cook fish in the kitchen of our unit, but we didn't have enough fish to cover three of us. In addition, we found the unit didn't have the full kitchen (we had stayed there in 2017 and that year we had a full kitchen in which Lee cooked up some delicious cutthroat). They had a counter, a microwave, half fridge, coffee maker, various cooking tools, and toaster, but no stove and oven. In looking through the cabinets we found an electric flying pan and a crock pot. I thought about the former and it dictated some shopping choices at the Raley's nearby. We decided to eat out and went to Subway (would have been a brewery if it had been just me and Judy) where we were annoyed and entertained by the worst Subway staff we'd ever encountered. At Raley's we picked up some produce for a green salad for the next night, plus some cooking oil; there was salt and pepper in the unit.

The next morning it took two attempts with the coffee maker--we didn't realize that there was this lever on the top that controlled whether one brewed coffee paler than a pale ale, or a more properly robust carafe. I had brought my own banana-nut-raspberry cake for our breakfast, along with some milk, so our breakfast was pretty much as we normally do it at home. We did not, however, get going as early as I would have liked, so our starting time for our hike to Gilmore Lake from Glen Alpine was something like 740 am. Before we started hiking we met another group who was taking off via "Gilmore Direct" to climb Mt. Tallac and it occurred to me that this superb trail is in fact most direct trail to Mt. Tallac as well as Gilmore Lake (the split to Tallac is about 1 mi short of Gilmore L). Not long into our hike we met another group descending; it turns out they had climbed Tallac and viewed sunrise from the summit and were now heading back for breakfast. It was clear that Gilmore Direct has been seeing more use in recent years and this is good news for those who like this trail, because the path is clearer than ever before and the volunteer maintenance, including sawing through downed logs and likely trimming back brush, has been excellent. No amount of maintenance, however, can change the climactic "Gilmore Catwalk" ledges that feature some exposure.

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While hiking Dawn reminded me to grab a handful of sage to cook with, mirroring what I had thought the last evening while shopping (cook fish with peanut oil, salt, pepper, sage, in electric frying pan with slice of lemon to finish). Dawn and I had a bit of extra leisure time as we waited for Judy to catch up. Judy, while still strong, has not been training as Dawn and I have. I had been slowly building back from my slow-healing January knee injury and had just started running again before the Newfoundland trip. The Newfoundland experience was one of those "if you don't hurt the knee, it will be better because of the workout". As the trail levels out above a crossing of an unnamed stream one enters the Gilmore Mosquito Zone, which features nice wildflowers (underrated in my book) as well as abundant mossies. Dawn was tormented and whereas I did some swatting, thing seemed pretty mild compared to Newfoundland. For our family, the hardest part of a Gilmore Lake hike begins after we arrive there because we always scramble to the "far side" of the lake. This involves sidehilling over steep talus as well as some bushwhacking. Again, the Newfoundland hiking experience helped make sidehilling and bushwhacking more tolerable.

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As happens more often than not, Gilmore Lake itself was swept with strong winds, keeping us cool and keeping the bugs away. For our three-day trip we planned the middle day as "All Day Gilmore" taking advantage of our local lodging. We didn't depart the lake until a bit after 530 pm. For the 2nd consecutive day we had to go shopping because of fishing equipment issues: first it Dawn breaking her rod and losing a bunch of line and this time it was Dawn losing more line. We were pretty beat by the time we got back to our lodging at 830-ish and, as is usually the case, the first thing I did was crack open a beer. Actually, no, the first thing was a quickie shower, then the beer. Once the beer started flowing, Judy made a tossed green salad topped with pistachios (Dawn's idea; the pistachios were part of our hiking snack supply), then I seasoned a solitary 14-inch orange-meated cutthroat with salt, pepper, and fresh sage, fried it in peanut oil in the electric fryer, and served it with a slice of lemon. Yummy. Judy was so beat she didn't have a huge appetite, hence the single fish instead of more; this just left more to take home (fish were stored in the "fish towels" and put in the refrigerator). We enjoyed being able to relax, shower, eat without being harassed with mosquitoes, etc, but Dawn still said she likes backpacking much more.

On the last day we had a fairly relaxed start, enjoying our morning coffee and banana cake before checking out and hitting the road back to the Carson Pass area. We headed for Lost Lakes, south of Carson Pass which we'd heard of and seen on the map, but never visited. I was unsure of the state of the road, so I parked at a parking area near the Upper Blue Lake campground, even as Dawn chided me for not having my usual appetite for 4-wheeling. As we walked up the hill, I studied the road and concluded I had in fact erred in timidity. 4-wheel drive and high clearance needed but it is not a difficult road. This ease of access is reflected in the large number of people there. The population density at Lower Lost Lake was significantly higher than Upper Blue Lake where the visitor density is thinned by the much bigger size of the lake. There were so many people around Lower Lost Lake and in the water that it looked like a giant public swimming pool. We headed directly for Upper Lost Lake which is more barren than the wooded lower lake and had an order of magnitude fewer people (three groups camped there plus day visitors). After a fairly brief stay we hiked out, stopped a short while at Upper Blue Lake, then headed for home. We made an ice cream stop (tradition on all trips with Dawn) in Pine Grove and then made a small detour to hit Bass Pro Shops in Manteca to get more fishing gear. The fish we brought home would form the foundation for the next two nights' dinners that Chef Lee would cook. Whereas difficult off trail backpacking remains the favorite sort of trip for me and Dawn, the cushy sort of day tripping of this sort suits us just fine, too.

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Now for the usual asynchronous fishing report. We sent casts into five lakes in those three days. One lake has self-sustaining brookies, self-sustaining rainbows, planter rainbows, and possibly (just guessing) self-sustaining cutthroat. We skunked there, taking about 15 total casts apiece. Three lakes we visited are dependent on air drops. They apparently received rainbow fingerlings in 2018 and cutthroat fingerlings in 2020 and 2022. I caught a fat 14-inch cutthroat out of one of them and had one other strike three casts later, then nothing. We fished from about 1-4 pm and I'd guess the action may have been better had we arrived earlier. We saw no rises or cruisers, nor did we see any trailers on our retrieves. At another of those lakes I caught a 12-inch cutthroat and Judy caught a broad-shouldered 17-inch rainbow. We fished from about 10 to noon. I may have seen one rise (not easy to see in those choppy wind-swept waters) and saw no cruising fish nor trailers. We skunked at the third of the fingerling-dependent lakes.

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I've fished one of the lakes we visited more than any other backcountry lake in the Sierra; this was my 11th visit dating back to 1997. That lake contains self-sustaining lake trout (mackinaw) and brookies. I once spotted a brown in there (late 90s) so it may have a small self-sustaining population of browns, too. This lake is said to be the deepest hike-to lake in the Sierra backcountry with an estimated maximum depth of over 200 feet. The bottom of this lake is rocky very far from shore and there is an unusual abundance of logs far from shore, too; this lake has claimed more of my lures than any other. I lost 8 lures this time. Fishing was slow and we kept at it for nearly 7 hours. Judy caught and released the two smallest macks that have ever gone after our lures: two 7-inchers. I released two 9-inchers. We can't ever recall seeing so many small macks aggressively following the last part of our retrieve. Fortunately for our meal planning I was able to catch some keepers, too. These fish comprised a 11.5" brookie and macks of 14, 15, 15, and 18". This was sort of redemption trip for me, given that I skunked on my last visit in 2017. Even on the 11th time at this place, there is always something to learn and I think I found 'new' casting spots and made some other observations that I will employ next time.

[balzaccom]

Nice report! We've both dayhiked and backpacked in the Carson Pass area for years. With the 3xception of the Lakes south of the pass--Winnemucxa, Round Top, and 4th of July--the dayhikers leave in early afternoon. Evenings are sweet.

Nice fish!

[TahoeJeff]

Good mix of fish.

[texan]

I like the mix of fish too, not many lake trout in back country lakes in the Sierras also. We all know where that fish came from. Thanks for sharing.

Texan

[SSSdave]

Nice fish as usual. Your visit was just a week or so after mine which visited the Heather Susie zone. I've been planning to set up a 2 day base camp in the zone at the brink where those meadowy streams come down beyond 17E06.1. Nice views west towards lakes and the Crystal Range plus I expect excellent wildflowers and junipers. Unlikely this summer given the smoky fires now crimping everyone's plans.

I have a theory that in lakes that don't have all year larger vigorous streams flowing in, trout tend to prefer bottom lake areas where longest lasting smaller cold streams flow in and then gravity flow sumping down into low lake areas. Those areas have slow underwater flows of such water that will be more oxygen aerated so fish can quietly rest along bottoms. Looking at the Goggle Earth historical mode image for June 2018 one can see how that relates to where you camped and fished as that is where more late spring snows lingered.

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[windknot]

Thanks for the entertaining report! Looks like you had great fishing. I appreciate the photos of the Carson Pass area, as I haven't been back in 15 years.

Funny, I stopped at Bass Pro in Manteca on Thursday evening because I forgot to pack hiking socks. I hadn't been there in several years -- the rainbows in the indoor tank are massive!

[15lbpack]

Prior to this month away from my favorite recreational mountain range, Dawn and I had done a second backpacking trip (June 14-16) to Green Lake out of the S Fork Bishop Creek. That trip featured the most sustained fishing skunk I've ever experienced---probably 12 hours of fishing spread over 3 days at Green L without a single strike--along with gullible, numerous, and amazingly tiny fish at Hidden and Baker Lakes. The only true fishing success had been on day zero out of Leavitt Meadow where we caught and released some large brookies.

Glad I came across your TP while searching for Baker lake. I took the green lake trail last week and had planned 3 nights hoping for a decent fishing trip in green lake and Hidden lake. But got skunked in brown lake, green lake and Hidden lake. Didn't see fish at the inlet or outlet and nor did I see any surface activity. Brookies are plentiful in Baker lake but they are small and I am too spoiled to ignore them. Eventually I left after just camping one night and turned the rest two days into day hike trips into Sabrina basin. The creek flowing to green lake and Hidden has good amount of water with decent depth and slow flow rate yet I don't see any sign of fish. Hopefully they were not killed by the long winter last year.

[Gogd]

Skunk reports at Green Lake - did not know that was possible, wonder if DFW gill netted the lake. It's too deep for a freeze out at that elevation, at least I think so...

Ed

[giantbrookie]

Skunk reports at Green Lake - did not know that was possible, wonder if DFW gill netted the lake. It's too deep for a freeze out at that elevation, at least I think so...
Ed

I have received a reliable report of fish in Green Lake this summer, so it didn't winterkill, nor was there any fish removal conducted since my visit in 2022 when I saw plenty of fish, but skunked anyway, which is what made it the most unusual skunk I've experienced.

[balzaccom]

Just joining this conversation late. This area gets a ton of traffic over the summer, but still has lots of charm. However, I think Lost Lakes is a disappointing destination...as you noted, too many 4WD addicts who have turned the shore into bare ground. Just a few miles in the other direction will get you to Summit City Canyon (with few people at all) and 4th of July Lake, which is quite beautiful. And I would vote for Suzie over GIlmore for the same reason---Gilmore is often crowded as a staging area for Mt. Tallac. Suzie (and nearby Heather and Half Moon) are much less crowded.

But there are few hikes anywhere that deliver the scenery/mileage value that Round Top and Winnemucca do!

i volunteer in both Desolation and Mokelumne Wildernesses...please say hello if you see me on the trail.