High Sierra Topix

giantbrookie wrote: Red Spur and the basin downstream of Tunemah certainly have a nice remote feel (the latter may be my all time favorite), but the most remote feel I can remember is in parts of the "Bermuda Triangle" (trailless NW Yosemite). The north side of Kendrick Creek (instead of the more traveled south side) to Edyth is part of this, Kendrick Creek upstream of Edyth would no doubt be in that category and then some but I haven't been there.

Cool that you mentioned these places. We wandered around "lower Tunemah basin", I got that same feeling as you there (as well as other secrets). It also coincidentally, is very close to furthest DNR. Also, we did a trip into the Kendrick area for the first time this summer (never been that far west up there). Very much enjoyed parts of the Yosemite Boundary "trail", probably the most remote I've ever felt in the Sierra on trail.

JD

Referring to this as "a state of mind" is interesting and fun to think about. For me it had something to do with my age, how many people were with me and who they were (to me), and their competency level to hike out if something happened to me and I weren't able to guide them. I felt much more anxious when off trail with my son(s) than by myself, and being alone is a little scary.
Red Spur Lakes area (I didn't quite reach Red Spur Lakes) seemed very remote, more so than Goddard Canyon. Both times I went to South Goddard we saw people and that's why.

When I was on Kendricks Creek above Edyth I had only slight fealings of isolation. I was relatively young. I was with 5 other people, 1 of which was more competent at the time than I.

Once at Cirque Lake I was solo and felt very alone because I hadn't seen any one in 3 days and was fairly certain I wouldn't see anyone the next day either (I didn't).

At Dumbbell Lakes I was afraid for my 2 sons, Jim-16 and Mike-11. Those Lakes are fun to walk around and explore. They're easy and interesting. My boys didn't always want to go with me and whenever I left them I was afraid (for them) that something would happen to me. We were on a shuttle trip and at Dumbbell they could'nt have gone back over Dumbbell Pass. There was a snow cornice. I felt more confident hiking up Observation Peak because Mike went with me.

I felt the most isolated on the Tunemah trip because Mike and I were doing a loop trip and until we got to the trail in Blue Canyon I feared for Mike-12. On a loop trip Mike would have to go somewhere he hadn't been, and off trail. His map reading skills at 12yo were not up to that. We went to Tunemah because the year before at the Obs peak summit, in the register an entry stated that "he" had just come from Tunemah where there were large Rainbows.

At Edyth (Edith) Lake one could feel isolated. I rarely felt that way there because I found (and ducked) an easy route in and out. Also you can hike out in one day and most people using my route would do so every time. I did so only once, because I almost always wanted to stop for the afternoon and fish and camp at Laurel Lake.

For me, remoteness certainly is a state of mind along with other factors less important.

Sept. 14-17 I went on a BP trip to a remote place in the Sierra. I was checking out a Topo earlier this year when I saw a lake that appeared to have all the attributes of a great fishing lake. It was off the beaten path, on the way to nowhere, hard to get to, appeared deep and seemed to have a relatively flat inlet stream= good for spawning.

I tried to get info on the lake (Google, books, this website, p.m.) What I got was zero, zilch, and nada. It's nice there are still some places around with the element of the unknown. I wouldn't want to spoil it for the next person who seeks info on it so I will refer to it as: 6.5 kilometers west of the northernmost of the 2 lakes that makes deposits to both sides of the Sierra.

I arrived at the lake around 5 pm September 15th and started fishing. I began to move to a different place when I noticed a brown bear and her black cub headed right towards me about 70' away. She noticed me and changed her course and went away from the lake, up and around me thankfully. I fished for a half hour Saturday and from 6:45 a.m. to noon the following day. Never saw a fish in the lake, never saw a fish surface feed, never had a nibble. Didn't use a fly and bubble, because they're was almost always a chop on the lake. Used a number of different proven lures without any luck.

I checked out the inlet streams, none of them were currently even making it into the lake. The continual upslope wind forces all the small rocks and sand to the inlet side of the lake, creating a berm almost a foot tall in some places, completely preventing the streams from reaching the lake. The inlet streams still had water, saw no fish in them, but I did see a large frog.

I'm guessing there's at least a 90% chance there's no fish in the lake; even so, I very much enjoyed the experience of being there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55102542@N ... 2986/show/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When I first moved here about 15 years ago I bought a set of maps of the Sierra and noticed that there were few trails on the Mt Goddard map. So I did a 16 day trip from North Lake over Lamark Col and around Davis Lake to Martha Lake, then into the Ionian Basin. At Chasm Lake I decided to peek down the Enchanted Gorge and curiosity got the best of me and I ended up going down the enthre thing, bivying half way up Goddard Creek and circling back to Chasm Lake via the lakes north of Scylla. I had alredy been out about 10 days and saw few people so by the time I did the Enchanted Gorge it felt like a long ways from anything. The confluence of Enchanted Gorge and Goddard Creek is pretty remote. The lakes on the west side of the Black Divide are also difficult to get to.

Another area that is remote but not nearly as far from trails is the confluence of Mattehorn, Regulation and Virginia Creeks. Hooper Peak is supposed to be one of the most difficult to reach peaks in Yosemite.

Hoovertime wrote:Sept. 14-17 I went on a BP trip to a remote place in the Sierra. I was checking out a Topo earlier this year when I saw a lake that appeared to have all the attributes of a great fishing lake. It was off the beaten path, on the way to nowhere, hard to get to, appeared deep and seemed to have a relatively flat inlet stream= good for spawning.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55102542@N ... 2986/show/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Took me awhile to figure this one out. I looked at the photos, kinda figured what part of the Sierra this was in, checked the clue, then confirmed on the topo. Then I realized that someone had PM'd me about this place, so I went back and checked and found that it was in fact you. What a gorgeous spot--just as one would imagine it. Too bad about the fish. I had targeted this lake since the 80's or even earlier (even bought a stereo air photo pair to evaluate spawning potential in more detail)--may have thought about this the same time I thought of doing the Dumbbells back in the 70's, but unlike the Dumbbells I haven't gotten around to this place.

It certainly qualifies as one of the most remote spots in the Sierra, that's for sure.

Those clues were a little to vague. Northernmost lake = Peeler

As Wandering Daisy suggests, the Goddard topo has places that have to be the most remote, as well as awesome, places in the Sierra. My Rocky Mtn friens look with awe at the topo.

I've been to Ionion Basin from the west and east, and neither is easy. Mt. Rubenstein or Lamark Col, from Muir Pass area... All are a great x-country treks.

Looks like Tehipite Valley may be a candadite for most remote too. I'll find out this spring.

Goddard 15' quad- best map in California IMHO. Also happens to have the place furthest from a road.

JD

I believe the most remote place in the Sierra would be a really nice lake that is so remote that no one (apparently) has been there.

Is this the lake north of WIndy Ridge? It is below Gray Pass on northwest side. I camped at the little pond above this lake on Ropers High Route this summer.
If you only had one more place to hike to ......A photo follows.

Here is another photo - this one taken the next day from Gray Pass. It is a beautiful lake. It is farther down to the lake than it looks like. The afternoon I was at the little pond above it, the weather was stormy and I was out of energy so did not go down to walk around this lake. I regret that.
If you only had one more place to hike to ......A photo follows.


This is the lake that I saw on the same route, that, TMK, is the only lake past the Horseshoes that is
of any significance on the SHR until you get into the basin below Grey Pass. In Doyle's chronicles, I believe he refers to it as the "lake on the edge of forever"...or some such phrase. And,yes, it is a ways down there....it bears a visit, if for no other reason than to peer over the edge, but time was an issue on the trek to Lakes Basin and something we didn't have enough of.....oh..for another visit w/more time and energy...
If you only had one more place to hike to ......A photo follows.

The string that is entitled "If you only had one more place to hike to ......" also has the three pics.

I have personally been to many many remote places in the Sierra but if this place isn't the most remote I don't know where is. It is North of Windy Ridge, close to Horseshoe Lakes, near State Lakes, out of Kings Canyon up the Copper Creek trail.

Has ANYONE ever been there?????
Apparently not.

I certainly agree about the Mt Goddard 15' quad. I still think in terms of the old 15' quads and to me the old Goddard quad represents the crown jewel of the High Sierra. No other 15' map of the Sierra has so many trailless areas and potential off trail routes.