TR: Lake Bagging and Fishing around the Middle Fork Kings – 6/19 to 6/26 2021

[Fly Guy Dave]

Looks like an epic trip! But bushwhacking...no thank you! Thanks for the TR.

[sekihiker]

Wow! What an adventure through some little traveled country. Thanks for posting.

[johnz]

Looks like an epic trip! But bushwhacking...no thank you! Thanks for the TR.

Thanks, yes I do have a perverse love of bushwhacking. I figure this will serve me well as I get more into fishing.

Wow! What an adventure through some little traveled country. Thanks for posting.

Thanks sekihiker -- I have enjoyed reading your many trip reports!

[johnz]

The rest of the trip was mellow, although my fondness for it is just as great as for the first, more difficult, half.

We left the sandbar and started heading back toward our first night’s camp, right after Palisade creek joins the middle fork.

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That evening and the next morning Jerzy and I caught another dozen or so trout on the Middle Fork Kings in various pools near camp.

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The next day was a beautiful lazy day. We walked an hour or so to Grouse Meadow. There, in the late morning, I took a nap in the grass, then fished for lunch.

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We made camp near the start of the Bishop Pass trail.

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[We camped at a large site where I think horsepackers stay. We were dismayed to find a big, mostly full can of white gas and an open pile of dry rice. There they sat at the top of a chute leading directly down to the water. We wouldn’t have even seen it had we not had to go down to the river for water. The next day we left the white gas at the ranger cabin.]

On the last full day of our trip, we slowly made our way up to Rainbow Lakes.

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[johnz]

That evening, we camped on a ridge above lower Rainbow Lake that gave us some relief from the mosquitoes and afforded us a great sunset.

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In the morning, we headed home.

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Prior to this trip, I had never really fished in the mountains. Now, it is hard for me to imagine doing another trip in the Sierras that doesn’t involve some type of fishing. See you next year, trout.

Sincerely,
John

[giantbrookie]

Super cool off trail stuff, especially to those remote lakes W of the Dumbbell Lakes! I never thought anybody would even consider heading to those spots (I have in fact looked at the "Island" lake on the topo and wondered about it). I really enjoy off trail backpacking and hiking but I will confess bushwhacking is not one of my favorite things. I guess the only good thing I'll say about High Sierra bushwhacking is that it is superior to the low elevation (usually CA Coast Ranges) bushwhacking I do as a field geologist in areas where a significant amount of said brush is poison oak, plus I frequently have ticks hopping on to me, and have to be alert for rattlesnakes.

As far as fishing goes.....As much as off trail travel has long been one of my favorite things to do on High Sierra trips, fishing remains no.1. The two go well together, too, because that off trail travel gets you to some really choice fishing spots. I am sure you will enjoy some phenomenal fishing experiences on your future adventures.

As for bushwhacking and fishing? Usually bushwhacking isn't a big factor to get to some of the premium off trail fishing spots in the Sierra, but there are some notable exceptions. For example, I can think of some really choice trailless destinations in NW Yosemite that have some terrific fishing, and, depending on route choice, may subject you to some of the most intense bushwhacking in the Sierra. The ruggedness and brush density of this region is why I've long called it the Bermuda Triangle of the Sierra.

[johnz]

Super cool off trail stuff, especially to those remote lakes W of the Dumbbell Lakes! I never thought anybody would even consider heading to those spots (I have in fact looked at the "Island" lake on the topo and wondered about it). I really enjoy off trail backpacking and hiking but I will confess bushwhacking is not one of my favorite things. I guess the only good thing I'll say about High Sierra bushwhacking is that it is superior to the low elevation (usually CA Coast Ranges) bushwhacking I do as a field geologist in areas where a significant amount of said brush is poison oak, plus I frequently have ticks hopping on to me, and have to be alert for rattlesnakes.

As far as fishing goes.....As much as off trail travel has long been one of my favorite things to do on High Sierra trips, fishing remains no.1. The two go well together, too, because that off trail travel gets you to some really choice fishing spots. I am sure you will enjoy some phenomenal fishing experiences on your future adventures.

As for bushwhacking and fishing? Usually bushwhacking isn't a big factor to get to some of the premium off trail fishing spots in the Sierra, but there are some notable exceptions. For example, I can think of some really choice trailless destinations in NW Yosemite that have some terrific fishing, and, depending on route choice, may subject you to some of the most intense bushwhacking in the Sierra. The ruggedness and brush density of this region is why I've long called it the Bermuda Triangle of the Sierra.

That's interesting to know about low elevation bushwhacking. Speaking of rattlesnakes, Joe -- one the other guys on the trip -- almost stepped on one this time as we were hiking on the north side of the middle fork toward Woodworth. There was a log that he jumped over. A little rattlesnake was on the other side of the log. He didn't even see it, but since I was right behind him, I saw the snake slither out of the way after he almost jumped on it. It really spooked us, and we decided to walk on the riverbed for a while after that.

I vaguely remember you mentioning the triangle before -- is this the area around Richardson Peak or Stubblefield Canyon? I also recall you talking about the lakes near Tunemah that are above Goddard Creek -- they look amazing and that is definitely high on the list for future trips!

[giantbrookie]

As for bushwhacking and fishing? Usually bushwhacking isn't a big factor to get to some of the premium off trail fishing spots in the Sierra, but there are some notable exceptions. For example, I can think of some really choice trailless destinations in NW Yosemite that have some terrific fishing, and, depending on route choice, may subject you to some of the most intense bushwhacking in the Sierra. The ruggedness and brush density of this region is why I've long called it the Bermuda Triangle of the Sierra.

That's interesting to know about low elevation bushwhacking. Speaking of rattlesnakes, Joe -- one the other guys on the trip -- almost stepped on one this time as we were hiking on the north side of the middle fork toward Woodworth. There was a log that he jumped over. A little rattlesnake was on the other side of the log. He didn't even see it, but since I was right behind him, I saw the snake slither out of the way after he almost jumped on it. It really spooked us, and we decided to walk on the riverbed for a while after that.
I vaguely remember you mentioning the triangle before -- is this the area around Richardson Peak or Stubblefield Canyon? I also recall you talking about the lakes near Tunemah that are above Goddard Creek -- they look amazing and that is definitely high on the list for future trips!

Rattlesnakes are part of the game in the "Bermuda Triangle" too. What I call the Sierra's Bermuda Triangle is trailless part of NW Yosemite accessed from Hetch Hetchy or Cherry Lake, with the core area being Kendrick Creek with Edyth Lake, the unnamed lakes downstream from Edyth Lake and the spectacular waterfall that is a bit over 2 mi upstream of Edyth L. The "Emerald Staircase" of unnamed lakes downstream from Little Bear L to Flora Lake is also within this area, although they killed the fish out of those (once had some big rainbow trout in at least two of those lakes). There is a lot of crazy slab and bushwhacking routes possible in this area, and Edyth, the lake downstream of it on Kendrick Creek, Bearup and the lake downstream of it, as well as the creeks themselves have good fish in them. I have never been to the waterfall upstream of Edyth: I've only gazed at it from a distance, but I know of folks who have been there (I recall there was a Topix TR that in fact described such a trip). I would guess there is good fishing in the lake upstream of Edyth, too (downstream of the big waterfall and upstream of the spectacular cascade that drops into Edyth itself.

From a scenic standpoint, Edyth is the crown jewel of the area sitting below the enormous granite cliff of Nance Peak and below this huge cascade. The unnamed lakes downstream of it are also special, particularly those north of the trunk stream (but the ones off the trunk stream don't have fish). There is a trade off between freedom of movement and big water in this area. Early season is best for the most stupendous big water scenery, but it also makes crossing the biggest stream (Kendrick/Eleanor Creek) impossible, as well as making some of the lesser stream crossings a bit dodgy. The most over-the-top bushwhacking I've ever done was on a route along the north side of Kendrick Creek to Edyth L in early season 1986 but that deadended at the lake (cutoff by creek) and the crossings of Bartlett Creek and Kibbie Creek were marginal. The more reasonable and flexible route drops into Kendrick Creek canyon from the Laurel Lake side (to the lake downstream from Edyth) and that's the route my group followed in May 1992, exiting from Edyth L to Frog Creek then heading to Bearup L. There is brush on the southern "saner" route, too, but the north side route is crazy and the "death gully" which gains something like 600' over the northeasternmost of the unnamed lakes downstream of Edyth is incredibly difficult: I think it took me and my hiking buddy 2 hours to get up that and we were two young guys in our prime then. The descent of it the next day featured the most memorable bushwhacking move we've ever done: something one might call a "Tarzan swing" or perhaps a "Veggie rappel". When we got hung up on the top of a small cliff we did this swing off move holding on to a stout but flexible branch. It worked perfectly and let us down gently at the bottom.

[johnz]

Rattlesnakes are part of the game in the "Bermuda Triangle" too. What I call the Sierra's Bermuda Triangle is trailless part of NW Yosemite accessed from Hetch Hetchy or Cherry Lake, with the core area being Kendrick Creek with Edyth Lake, the unnamed lakes downstream from Edyth Lake and the spectacular waterfall that is a bit over 2 mi upstream of Edyth L. The "Emerald Staircase" of unnamed lakes downstream from Little Bear L to Flora Lake is also within this area, although they killed the fish out of those (once had some big rainbow trout in at least two of those lakes). There is a lot of crazy slab and bushwhacking routes possible in this area, and Edyth, the lake downstream of it on Kendrick Creek, Bearup and the lake downstream of it, as well as the creeks themselves have good fish in them. I have never been to the waterfall upstream of Edyth: I've only gazed at it from a distance, but I know of folks who have been there (I recall there was a Topix TR that in fact described such a trip). I would guess there is good fishing in the lake upstream of Edyth, too (downstream of the big waterfall and upstream of the spectacular cascade that drops into Edyth itself.

From a scenic standpoint, Edyth is the crown jewel of the area sitting below the enormous granite cliff of Nance Peak and below this huge cascade. The unnamed lakes downstream of it are also special, particularly those north of the trunk stream (but the ones off the trunk stream don't have fish). There is a trade off between freedom of movement and big water in this area. Early season is best for the most stupendous big water scenery, but it also makes crossing the biggest stream (Kendrick/Eleanor Creek) impossible, as well as making some of the lesser stream crossings a bit dodgy. The most over-the-top bushwhacking I've ever done was on a route along the north side of Kendrick Creek to Edyth L in early season 1986 but that deadended at the lake (cutoff by creek) and the crossings of Bartlett Creek and Kibbie Creek were marginal. The more reasonable and flexible route drops into Kendrick Creek canyon from the Laurel Lake side (to the lake downstream from Edyth) and that's the route my group followed in May 1992, exiting from Edyth L to Frog Creek then heading to Bearup L. There is brush on the southern "saner" route, too, but the north side route is crazy and the "death gully" which gains something like 600' over the northeasternmost of the unnamed lakes downstream of Edyth is incredibly difficult: I think it took me and my hiking buddy 2 hours to get up that and we were two young guys in our prime then. The descent of it the next day featured the most memorable bushwhacking move we've ever done: something one might call a "Tarzan swing" or perhaps a "Veggie rappel". When we got hung up on the top of a small cliff we did this swing off move holding on to a stout but flexible branch. It worked perfectly and let us down gently at the bottom.

Very cool -- thanks for the beta!

[papercup]

Awesome report. Thanks for posting.