One nighter advice off Hwy 168.....

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Snowtrout
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One nighter advice off Hwy 168.....

Post by Snowtrout »

My wife and I would like to do a short one nighter to get ready for our big trip (July 4th weekend to the Woodchuck region) and would like some advice on some possible areas off hwy 168. We have been to the Dinkey area, Nelson lakes, and Twin Lakes and would like to try somewhere new. We do want to fish, will have two mini doxies hiking with us, and would like to do maybe 3-4 miles one way. Possible ideas I can see on the map that I know very little about are:
Hobler Lake out of Courtright, Hatch and Sportsman Lakes off the Swamp OHV route, Mirror or Strawberry off the Red Mtn OHV, or Corbett Lake.

Any comments on the above areas or suggestions for somewhere I might have overlooked would be appreciated. :)
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SweetSierra
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Re: One nighter advice off Hwy 168.....

Post by SweetSierra »

In the Kings Canyon guide book from Wilderness Press by Mike White, Hobler Lake is surrounded by lodgepole pines and red firs, which provide shade for the smattering of campsites on the grass-bordered lake. In mid-season it's a warm lake with brook trout. I went on a day hike from Courtright with a destination of Hobler many years ago but we never made it there due to snow that covered the trail and pretty much everything else. It was an easy and pretty hike, though, from Courtright to where we had to turn around. I think we were only about a mile from the lake at that point.
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Re: One nighter advice off Hwy 168.....

Post by Shawn »

Cliff Lake out of Courtright is really scenic. I don't recall the mileage, but the hike is very mild.

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AlmostThere
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Re: One nighter advice off Hwy 168.....

Post by AlmostThere »

All I caught out of Hobler were some large, fat Rainbow trout. Did not see a brookie. It's a nice lake. Plenty of open shaded campsites.

Cliff Lake, OTOH, is chock full of fat brook trout. Also plenty of open and shaded campsites along the east and north side of the lake.

Beware that the hike to Hobler is all uphill to about 9,000 feet, and there are stretches of the trail that are unforgivably hot in the afternoons due to hiking for up to half a mile over decomposed granite - I just got back from that area and it is already dry and the stretch of exposed trail along Long Meadow was awful, until a cloud drifted over the sun... take lots of water and sunscreen. It doesn't matter whether you are going up or down - that section is mostly flat.

Cliff Lake is a six mile (one way) hike through the forest, with some switchbacks near the end to gain elevation to the bench the lake sits on. Down the hill from it are Bullfrog Lake (very small, with tiny fish - if there are any left in it at all) and an off trail lake I have yet to visit that isn't often named on maps. Over the ridge are the lakes in the upper part of Dinkey Lakes basin - Rock Lake has good brookie fishing, Island lake has rainbows and hybrids, Fingerbowl is small but very deep and a skillful angler can pull large fish out while avoiding the throngs of tiny ones near the surface, and Second Dinkey has none at all as it's too shallow.
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Re: One nighter advice off Hwy 168.....

Post by Snowtrout »

Thanks for all of the advice. Been all throughout the Dinkey wilderness and have used both trailheads leading in there, so Cliff lake isn't something I'm too interested in right now. Plus the crowds could be something not too desirable since we have dogs.

Almost there, thank you for the heads up about the trail to Hobler. Didn't know that parts of the trail are fairly exposed, so sunscreen will be on but your comment about big rainbows really cemented our trip plans. Watch out fish in Hobler lake :nod:
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