Backpacking Location Recommendation?

[Loren E]

Hey all, so here is my situation:

A close friend and I are going on a 3 day/night backpacking trip next week. Here is our criteria...

-He has never fly fished so my goal of the trip is to get him into it by finding some lakes with eager and numerous, even if small, trout of any species.

-I am also going to take my underwater housing to do some shooting, so would love high country lakes with very clear water.

-We are in Marin and looking for somewhere that is no more than a 4 hour drive

Ideally we could find a loop or even an out and back where we could visit 2 or maybe even 3 lakes with uneducated high country trout and clear water. Does anyone have any recommendations? Feel free to contact me via PM if you would prefer. I realize some folks are touchy about asking for spot recommendations, but I'm really just looking for a rec on a good backpack trip location to get him into some small dumb trout, not which rock on the Truckee your 20" is sitting behind, so I hope nobody takes offense!

Thanks for any help! -Loren

[Loren E]

By the way I am leaning towards Desolation Wilderness but have never been and there are way too many lakes there to hit in a couple of days!

[Darian]

Loren,.... There are some lakes on the westside of the crest from Desolation that would seem to fit your needs. The jump off place is at Wrights Lake off Highway 50. a trail on the east side of the lake leads to a couple of small lakes, one of which is Twin Lakes. These lakes have a bunch of Brookies/Rainbows in them.

If you choose to, you can fly fish in Wrights Lake or nearby Dark Lake as well. Both have gin clear water. The feeder stream into wrights is an interesting place as well.

The climb is relatively short and fairly steep. You can check it out on a Topo map.

The only problem with any of the lakes/streams in that area is that they get a lot of pressure over the course of a summer.

There are several lakes along the Hwy 80 corridor that are hike-in possibilities as well.

Hope you and your friend have a good time. :D

[jbird]

Waitwaitwait!! Underwater housing?? Fill me in Loren. :-)

[BobVP]

I agree with Darian about Desolation filling your needs. You might also consider going in at Echo Lake and hiking in from there. Once you get off the main trail there are several small lakes that have less pressure. Have a great time.

[Ed Wahl]

Shot you a pm.
Ed

[Mark Kranhold]

Loren pm sent

[Loren E]

hey thank you guys very much for the tips! The generosity of this community is awesome. I think we will definitely head to the Desolation Wilderness, and I will be sure to post a report on how we do afterwards!

Hey JBird, I broke down and got an aquatech housing and LP-3 dome for my D7000 in the spring. It is a ton of fun. I have my first published shot from it coming out in the next issue of Fly Fisherman magazine, so hopefully it will pay itself off sooner rather than later!

Cheers -Loren

[jbird]

Wow! Thats very cool. I'll be sure to check it out. Are you liking your D7000?

[Loren E]

definitely digging the D7K, so much so I got a second one! Only thing that really bugs me is the control wheel is too loose so has to be checked often

[Loren E]

really bummed to report we had to cancel our trip..hopefully next summer! Thank you all for your tips and help, I really appreciate it. -L

[Ned Morris]

Just sent you a FB Message. Oh well next year! Wanna catch up before you head north. Let me know when in the hood

[OregonSalmon]

Lots of creeks in the Serria. Big Vally creek, Monumental Creek, and the worst, Big Granite.
The last was the hardest hike ever. Ruthless. Plenty of trout since who would go there after the first try.
Grass lake. Little late now but you have the thing to yourself. Cool spot.