Gold in the Backcountry

[windknot]

With the notable exception of SHig's great report, I haven't seen a whole lot of backcountry action going on here lately so I thought you guys might be interested in seeing a few pictures of goldens caught during an 8-day backpacking trip in the Sierra last week.

Now's the time to get out there!


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[mar]

Pure awesomeness right there. Never caught a golden before. That’s definitely on the bucket list. Soon I hope. Thanks for sharing.

[SHigSpeed]

Thanks for sharing those over here!

So, eight days - what was the trail weight of your packs going in? Did you use a bear canister? What, no float tube? ;)

_SHig

[windknot]

Thanks guys.

Haha Scott, we brought two bear canisters and since my dad hadn't had the benefit of prior backpacking trips to condition this season, I tried to carry all of the shared gear and heavier food. My pack was about 55 pounds, and his was about 25. It was definitely slow going at first!

[EricO]

Superb Windknot.

Btw, how many miles in and out? I imagine quite a few to get to goldens that size.

Oh, and your blog/report is one of the best high country reports I've ever read on this board.
Love it.

EO

[windknot]

The entire loop was about 45 miles, with the closest golden lakes about 6-8 miles in, and the farthest ones about 15 miles in if you were to hike directly there. Though some of the farthest lakes in do indeed have large fish, they're interestingly not any larger than the ones in the lakes that are closer to the trailhead. High country fisheries are a bit of an amateur academic interest of mine, and I've found through experience and research that spawning capacity and growth potential of a given lake have much more influence on fish size than fishing pressure/relative inaccessibility.

[jbird]

What a wonderful report! Thanks for sharing it with us. Looks pretty close to heaven.

[JJ]

Windknot,

One of the best posts in a while. The goldens in the high country are the best. Great photos.

JJ

[Ned Morris]

Ahhhh....how I miss Lamarck. Never had time to pull fish that size out of the waters. Nicely done!

[Mark Kranhold]

Great report and pics! I need to hit the high sierra's before the weather comes, been jonesin since I saw Shigs post. I need to pull out the packs to get the wife motivated:D Thanks, Mark