High Sierra Topix

I've been wanting to visit the Ram Lakes Basin for nearly 15 years, but it has just never moved high enough up my priority list to happen. The drive to Mammoth is a bit far for a weekend trip, and the hike in is just long enough to make it less appealing than other places with choice campsites a bit closer to the trailhead. The fishing prospects, while solid, never seem tantalizing enough to vault it above other targets. But due to a combination of various factors, this itinerary finally rose to the top of that priority list this summer, and so we spent three days up over Duck Pass this past weekend. This area is well-documented, so I'll try to stick to information that may be useful or novel (to me, anyway).

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.

Some llamas we came across at the top of Duck Pass


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

Thanks for the report and pictures. Brings back some memories. I've been through that area a couple of times but so far we've skipped the Ram Lakes also. I really enjoyed fishing at Virginia Lake and that lake you call Amy I thought was interesting. It somehow seemed like an entirely different area for some reason.

Thanks for this post! Years ago I dayhiked from Duck Lake to Purple and took the use trail from Purple up to the first Ram Lake. As you mentioned, it was difficult to get around between the lakes and given that I was on a long day hike I never got a chance to spend the time to properly explore that basin. Your approach from Virginia instead of from Purple looks like it brought you in from above rather than my approach from below, and I imagine it helped you to explore that basin more. It is great fun to see--through you--those places that I narrowly missed out on.

Thanks for posting the TR. I like the pic of the last golden and I believe Virginia Lake is where the state record golden was caught years ago(9 1/2 lbs in 1952).

Texan

Love the landscape photos that really capture the long views of lakes framed by mountains, especially the first image of Virginia lake. And the Golden's are super clean - very nice fish especially when caught on the big foamy stuff.

I've been eyeing some 2P trekking pole tents so thanks for including the short review on the Durston.

Great trip, photos and fish. Thanks for posting all this tantalizing stuff! Cheers, Ian.

p.s. Are we due for another, even more impressive set of fishing trips from the Eastern Sierra? Saw something amazing on your website recently?

Thanks all! This is indeed a scenic area, and we were fortunate to enjoy good weather and minimal bugs.

Harlen wrote: ↑Fri Jul 29, 2022 12:32 pmp.s. Are we due for another, even more impressive set of fishing trips from the Eastern Sierra? Saw something amazing on your website recently?

Ian, unfortunately I have no such luck! I'm just a year behind on posting reports to my blog. That trip report is from last August, and I believe you've already seen it here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21904

Great report..
Nice to see shots on an area that really doesnt get that much attention.

I too have had this on my list to get to this area for years..and somehow it never makes it to the top..

You got a lot done in a short period of time...

Hi Windknot,

I'm starting to catch up on some other folks' TRs which I can do now that I got mine posted and this was a delightful overview of an area that clearly sees far fewer folk than it could accommodate. Having been out over the same period as you were, we were obviously worried about crowds, but were spared the commotion in favor of a couple buggy days and some wild thunderstorms. I need to check out your restaurant recommendation! Thanks,
Cameron

We were out there August of 2017 and it WAS SO CROWDED although we did not go off trail. That trip was the one that made me decide to never go near the PCT again. We also encountered llama packers. Duck Lake is beautiful. We saw a seagull swimming when we were there! (No mistake, it was a seagull)