Month: July 2022

Vicki and I did a ten day backpacking trek from Mono Pass to Piute Pass, starting in Little Lakes Valley, climbing over Mono Pass, descending Mono Creek, heading south on the John Muir Trail, climbing over Selden Pass, ascending Piute Creek, and, eventually, arriving at our car at North Lake.  We had a wonderful time exploring deep lakes, high peaks, stunning passes, and raging creeks.  All told, we hiked seventy miles, climbed nearly 12,000 feet, swatted many mosquitos, and caught countless trout, several of which we ate.

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While acclimating to elevation, Vicki and I spent a day checking out Convict Lake, located in the Eastern Sierra south of Mammoth Lakes.  I did a bit of fly fishing, too, but had no luck catching a trout, which was not uncommon; although the lake is regularly stocked, it is also very heavily fished.

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Vicki and I spent several days acclimating to elevation, camping and hiking in the beautiful Little Lakes Valley, along Rock Creek, in the High Sierra south of Mammoth Lakes.  We did a bit of fly fishing, too, and caught several trout.

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I solo-hiked a 50 mile loop in the High Sierra, visiting the remote Gardiner Basin as well as the stunningly beautiful Sixty Lakes Basin.  I started in Onion Valley, crossed over Kearsarge Pass into Kings Canyon National Park, camped at Charlotte Lake, then climbed over Gardiner Pass roughly following the unmaintained Gardiner Basin Trail, which  was tough enough that it took me an extra day.  After a terrible bushwhacking experience down in Gardiner Creek, I climbed relentlessly into the austere High Sierra landscape of Gardiner Basin.  The next day I climbed up and over Sixty Lakes Col, after which I explored Sixty Lakes Basin from top to bottom, then exited east to the Rae Lakes Basin for the night.  To make up the lost day, I followed the John Muir Trail back over Glen Pass, to the Kearsarge Basin, and eventually arrived back at my car.  It took me seven days to do it, and I managed to do some fly fishing (catch and release) at a number of lakes along the way.  It was a difficult, yet beautiful, trek to a rarely-visited region of the Sierra Nevada.

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