Crowds
I worried about crowds, especially on the section of the JMT between the Duck Pass trail junction and Lake Virginia, but thankfully my apprehension was mostly overblown. We only ran into a handful of people on the way in once we got past Duck Pass (several day hikers before the pass), and a larger handful (but still not crowds) on the way out. We camped at the back side of the small tarns above Lake Virginia, so although we could see hikers crossing the inlet creek to Virginia they were far enough away that we still felt like we had a semblance of solitude.
Mosquitoes
I was even more worried about crowds of mosquitoes than about crowds of people, but this worry was even more overblown. We didn't see a sign of mosquitoes as we headed up to Duck Pass, and a passing backpacker confirmed that they weren't bad at all at Lake Virginia. We did in fact see plenty of mosquitoes at Virginia, especially around late afternoon until dusk and then in the early morning, but nothing horrible. During the day, they were pretty much a non-factor everywhere we went.
Smoke
I wasn't too worried about smoke from the Washburn Fire. So of course we woke up Saturday to a definitively hazier sky than the day before, and realized that a new fire must have sprung up somewhere. One might say that the smoke had really blown over. It wasn't until we got back out on Sunday afternoon that we learned the Oak Fire had started Friday afternoon.
Cross-country exploration
On Saturday, we did some wandering up the drainage to a small unnamed lake perched on a shelf 500 feet NE above Virginia. This was a nice little tucked away spot to hang out for a while. (Fun fact: the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has an internal name for this unnamed lake, "Amy Lake," and the name is at least 45 years old as this lake is described as "Amy Lake" in the old Fish Creek Angler's Guide from 1977.) From there, we traversed north to the low and easy pass into Ram Lakes Basin (strictly Class 1 walking). We spent several hours in the very scenic Glen/Glennette Lakes and Ram Lakes subbasins. The Ram Lakes are, as has been often noted here, more challenging to walk between than one would expect based on the topo. Lots of <40-foot high cliffs and rocks to scramble over and around. I saw one party at the lowest Ram Lake, but other than that we didn't see anyone else all day until we dropped back down over the pass to camp at Virginia.
Fishing
No surprises on the fishing front, unfortunately. This area's fisheries are pretty well-documented, and what I found matches what I've read before: small goldens throughout Ram Lakes Basin (though some lakes had slightly larger goldens, and I didn't see anything at all in Glennette), and medium-sized rainbow/golden hybrids in Virginia. Not bad fishing, but if one were designing a trip exclusively to catch trout then there are other places that require less hiking to reach, or have larger/more numerous fish.
Miscellaneous Observations
- Duck Lake is seriously huge. I knew it'd be big, but it was so much bigger viewing it in person than seeing it on the map.
- In exchange for relatively mellow elevation gain on the hike in (2,700 feet), we had to endure the sinking feeling of dropping 1,500 feet of elevation too, knowing full well we'd have to hike back up that 1,500 feet on the way out. Even so, our hike out was faster by about an hour and twenty minutes and we made it from Virginia to the trailhead in just a hair over 3 hours and 30 minutes. There's something to be said for the motivating factor of a hot lunch in town after an exit day to crank it up into high gear!
- I tried out my new (to me) Durston X-Mid 2p for only the second time. The hype is justified. I'm still learning how to get a proper pitch, but the amount of space it provides for the weight is seriously impressive.
- We ate at El Charro in Mammoth and it certainly lived up to expectations. I'm not sure which is better -- El Charro, or Salsa's Tacqueria -- but perhaps it doesn't matter because both are great.
- After 15 years, I've finally learned how to add bullet points to a HST post.
Duck Lake with the Silver Divide in the background
Lake Virginia
Camp at the Lake Virginia inlet tarns
Climbing further up the drainage above Lake Virginia on Saturday -- note the haze over the Silver Divide
The unnamed lake NE of Virginia (CDFW name: Amy Lake)
Peeking into Ram Lakes Basin
The view of Horn and Hoof Lakes while scrambling around the "shore" of Ram
And here's Ram
One of the goldens I caught
A golden/rainbow hybrid
Another golden/rainbow hybrid
And another golden
Dusk over Lake Virginia
