R03/R04 TR: Mosquito Flat Trailhead to Pioneer Basin 6/18/2022-6/19/2022

[maxr22]

https://caltopo.com/m/6C901

Had Monday off for Juneteenth so I did a last minute trip just for a night and leisurely afternoon fishing in Pioneer Basin. Planned to arrive back at the car around 7pm on 6/19.

Starting at Mosquito Flat on 6/18 at 1:30pm and wow it was crowded! Every single parking space was taken at the trailhead, so I had to employ some beach parking tactics that I've developed while living in San Diego...

Getting up to mono pass was not difficult, after the first 15 minutes from the trailhead I did not see another person until the top of mono pass. There was a few small snow fields on the pass. Here is a photo from mono pass looking towards little lakes valley.

I saw one more person on my descent from mono pass and we chatted. They happily reported that no one was in pioneer basin, and that they had spotted quite a few fish (they saw my fishing rod on my pack). Further descending down the pass I started to have some light snowfall! The air was nice, cold, and CRISP.

Here is a photo from mono pass looking towards pioneer basin

Here is a photo further down the pass looking through the valley that mono creek runs down.

The area where the trail to 4th recess lake, mono creek, and pioneer basin converge is a little bit tricky of an area when approaching from pioneer basin. There isn't signage and there are a few 'ghost trails' that could throw you off. As well as some limited long distance visibility from being in the valley and some denser forest.

I was able to make it to pioneer basin well before sunset. Here is pioneer basin looking towards mono pass (in the upper left corner).

Caught a bunch of trout in the 6 inch to 9 inch range. New to this whole fishing thing. Looks like a brook trout/golden trout hybrid?

Found this fat little marmot as well.

Happy to report that there were absolutely 0 bugs in this area. Even in little lakes valley I did not encounter any mosquitos. Beautiful trip. Perfect for the casual weekend warrior like me.

[dil950]

Great pics. That’s always my greatest fear at the start of a trip…getting to a trailhead and no parking. One time I tried parking on the side of the road by devils postpile. Decided it was probably safer to park at the edge of the overnight parking area. Turned out to be the right call after a ranger told me they were dining people a few hundred for parking around the area I was originally at. Btw brook trout can’t actually cross with rainbows/goldens. I think something to do with them being char. But what you have could be a young rainbow or a golden rainbow mixed.

[balzaccom]

dil950 is correct about the trout. Brookies cannot hybridize with rainbows or goldens. But that area has a lot of golden/rainbow hybrids.

[maxr22]

Thanks for telling me about the trout! Learning something new everyday.

The trick for parking is to find the parking row with the most cars, stop at the beginning of the row and put your blinker on (it makes it seem like you are waiting for a particular parking space). So when someone does leave you have dibs on the spot. Just make sure to leave enough room for cars to easily pass you. I've never waited more than 10 minutes with this method.

[windknot]

Thanks for the report and photos! Looks like you had a great trip.

[Love the Sierra]

Very lovely! We were there last year and OMG was the parking lot crowded!!!

[narc1370]

I just got back from a similar trip a couple days ago. I left on a Thursday morning and returned Saturday afternoon. I was still walking back to my car when a BMW pulled up to me and asked if I was leaving. I told him it would be atleast an hour as I was going to ditch my pack in my car and go down to the river and clean up. I spent atleast 30-45 minutes doing so, and when I returned, he had his hazard lights on, parked next to me, waiting to leave. After seeing only a handful of people over the course of three days, this was a culture shock!