R03 TR: Hilton Creek Lakes Basin Grab Bag 7/30-7/31 2022

[cgundersen]

Shawnterustic,

True confessions, I was having some of the same issues as Ed, but it kind of did not matter, because the enthusiasm came through regardless. Thanks! And it will only matter if someone wants to visit the same, encomium-laden spots you mentioned. And as gobs of folks have already commented this year, the mountains are not exactly crawling with backpackers, in spite of the heavily subscribed sign-ups at recreation.gov. So, while it may be a limited audience, we are easily confused.

So, the tiny insight I can offer (as a fellow topo-nerd) is that the USGS has inserted milage markers for waterways on some of their maps. And that numbering system starts at the ocean and works its way up to the origin/headwaters (check out the San Joaquin river on the Ritter top). If one uses that precedent as a guide (or the naming of the lakes in the north fork of Big Pine basin), one would begin counting low and work to higher elevations. With that assumption.....well, I think you can see how confusion got the best of us. Cameron

[SSSdave]

lake numbering

https://flyfishingthesierra.com/hilton.htm

[shawnterustic]

@cgundersen & @Gogd - I hear you on the confusion factor here! When I arrived at the initial trail junction that splits off toward Davis Lake and Lakes Not-Davises, the sign pointed right for what was referred to as Lake #2 and Davis Lake, and left for what was referred to as Lake #3 - which led me to presume that Davis Lake, then, was also #1. My buddies and I mused over this one for a while! I happened to also see the fishing map that @SSSdave linked above and that guided my subsequent numbering

[Gogd]

@cgundersen & @Gogd - I hear you on the confusion factor here! When I arrived at the initial trail junction that splits off toward Davis Lake and Lakes Not-Davises, the sign pointed right for what was referred to as Lake #2 and Davis Lake, and left for what was referred to as Lake #3 - which led me to presume that Davis Lake, then, was also #1. My buddies and I mused over this one for a while! I happened to also see the fishing map that @SSSdave linked above and that guided my subsequent numbering

Thank you, Dave and Shawn, for the clarification.

The fascinating thing about the number schema used in the fishing guide is some of the numbered lakes are not on or drain into Hilton Creek; and one lake is not numbered at all, albeit drains into a numbered lake.

The general rules appear to be sequencing everything in the basin based on altitude, but ignores the convention of not numbering lakes already assigned names.

Ed