I made the drive up from Bakersfield to McGee Canyon north of Bishop on Sat. morning, and was on trail probably about 8am. One of my primary purposes was to try and take some photos of some aspens in fall color on this trip. Unfortunately, for the most part on Saturday, I was too early for good light, and too late coming down for good photos of the aspen trees. However, the 6 mile jaunt to Steelhead Lake from the McGee Creek traillhead was very pleasant, and even though it was not very warm, it seemed just right, with a mild breeze. I fished for maybe a couple of hours off and on at the lake. A trail guide I read said the lake was named Steelhead, because the rainbows in the lake had a light color to them, not that there were steelhead trout here. However, like many lakes these days, it seems as if fishing info is becoming quickly outdated. I found nothing but brookies here, catching a number of fish in the 8-10" size range.
I left Steelhead Lake around 3, but only arrived back at the car at dusk, because I just had to stop and fish McGee Creek on the way down. There is an area about 3 miles from the trailhead that is dammed up by beavers. It has a little sentimental value for me, because 30 years ago, a friend and I backpacked here, and he tried to teach to fish with Mepps spinners in this creek. It was quite a thrill back then to catch a golden trout from this creek. The beaver activity and dam is so big now that it is like a small, shallow lake compared to 30 years ago. There were fish rising everywhere when I reached the creek area about 5pm, so I just had to toss a few lures for old times sake. No more golden trout that I can tell are in McGee creek, but they might be fat little hybrids.
The next morning, after a night in civilization, in Bishop, I arrived at Little Lakes Valley trailhead about 7am. It was very cold, and you could tell from the cloud formations that a front was on the way. I usually avoid Rock Creek, and Little Lakes Valley, for they are so crowded, but when I got there, there were only a few cars and 2 people around. My plan for the day was to go up to Chickenfoot Lake, spend a little time, then be back at McGee Creek by midday so I could go up trail and get some better aspen photos. I had the high country to myself on the Little Lakes trail until I started downhill, and then, it seemed as if it was the Mt. Whitney trail! Very popular place on a Sunday morning. I will post a few more photos, and then post a link to my Picasa page. Too many aspen pics to post in a TR. I thing I always appreciated about Maverick was he was very quick to engage posters about their trip reports, and several times passed on very helpful info and tips on how I might take better photos, even taking the time to PM. I hope he changes his mind about involvement. His departure leaves a hole at HST.
On they way down Rock Creek, I saw this closed campground access road, and wondered if there might be a photo op.
Very nice little trip, probably my last trip of 2012. Here's a link to more photos, BISHOP2012 FOLDER, the aspen photos can get a little redundant.
