| A Backpacking Adventure in the High Sierras Part I By Rocky Ferraro There I was inching my way down a glacier but that was a relief. The challenges were all accomplished and all we could think of was to get back to our vehicles. Our bodies had withstood all that we had asked of them so far. There still was another 12 miles of back country to walk out of and still may beautiful mountain scenes, valleys, rivers and lakes to see on the way back but we were ready to head back. Along the way we had caught and eaten wild mountain trout almost every evening. I had portaged a float tube, no small feet, through miles and miles of back country up and down many thousands of feet in elevation gains and losses, sometimes in the same day sometimes in the same few hours. I had float tubed many lakes that had seldom seen a float tube and had gotten the wild eyed look of wow someone brought a float tube all this way! We had traversed where the pioneers came through with their wagons. Some of them survived the pass some of them never were heard from again. I have to say this was my first experience with a snow storm in August at high elevation. So much for global warming up here. Yes, it all started in beautiful Leavitt meadows located in the Eastern Sierras. Gary and I had met up just as I arrived. In a few minutes we were crossing a bridge over the Walker River and out through a meadow on to our first stop, Fremont Lake. On the way the temps were warm, the sky blue, the streams flowing and the trail dusty. We arrived at Fremont Lake and found Tony resting from the long hike. I set up my tent and not long after had my float tube in the water. It was windy but I was able to cover quite some distance. I measured the lake water temperature with my thermometer and found the water to be in the 70 degree range. The lake was also quite weedy for a higher elevation lake. I did not catch any fish at Fremont Lake. The next day we were off to Cinko Lake. Once we arrived I set up my tent and float tube and went fishing. This lake had some smaller brookies. I was able to catch enough for a good meal at this lake. The float tube gave me several advantages at these lakes. I was able to search the whole lake for fish. I was able to get to places that you could not cast to and I was able to fish structure that most of the time could not be seen from shore. The next day we were off on a long hike through Emigrant pass and ended up camping near Middle Emigrant Lake. After we set up camp Gary and I headed to Lower Emigrant Lake with the idea of catching some trout for dinner. As I was getting my float tub together Gary caught a very large rainbow trout. By this time I was ready to get going. The lake was silted in were I launched my float tube from so I decided to fight the wind and head over to the deeper side of the lake. This paid off nicely as I caught some of the biggest trout of the trip at this end of the lake. Needless to say we had a nice meal of trout that evening. In fact we ate trout until it was coming out of our ears. After the nightly discussion of where we were headed the next day over a nice cup of hot coco, rum and cookies we all hit the sack, our bellies full of gourmet trout almandine. Next month the saga continues with part II |
| Hi Sierras Backpack Fly Fishing Trip Part 1 |
| Foster City Rod and Gun Club |
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| Click on photos to enlarge |
