Pretentious Snobby Bastard Fly Fishing!

Fly Fishing Reports => Western Destinations => Topic started by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 10:49:44 AM

Title: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 10:49:44 AM

I started the CPA exam a few years ago.  Was kind of struggling with it so my wife suggested I set up a reward for myself if I pass it for motivation. A trip to for Golden Trout was picked as the reward and after much agony and gnashing of teeth, I passed the exam last year.  Now I had to find a peckerhead willing to go out west and hike around for a week in a dusty environment.  Doug was my first choice and he surprisingly agreed quickly.  We planned and tweaked the route for a year after lots of topo map readings, online research, and emails with people from out there.  Plan for first day was to fly into LAX, rent a car, pick up fuel canisters, grab dinner, drive to trailhead, and hike a mile into Inyo National Forest and set up camp in the dark.  Woke up at 5 am est and set up camp 9 pm California time.  It was a long jet lag day but here are the pictures from day 1.

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Lynchburg flights don't get royal treatment at Charlotte.

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Baggage shoot got clogged up and took 45 min. to get bags.  Wonder whose luggage clogged it up?

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Welcome to LA

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Headed out in a hurry.

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But first In n Out

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Fire damage.

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And up we go

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And up some more.  Drove from sea level in LA to almost 10,000 ft at trailhead. Hiked a mile, set up camp, and got a restless night sleep.  To be continued.


Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 11:57:58 AM

What was in my red duffle. Small foam pad, rod tube and trekking poles are missing.
46 lbs. of goodness, all in.

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Onslow on August 03, 2020, 12:54:17 PM
That is a stout pack. There is much I'd, and probably many others, would like to learn from this trip.  Please discuss pack contents, and every detail if you have time.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 13:33:01 PM

Started day 2 by hiking 4.3 miles up to Cottonwood Lake 3.  Was planning on going up and over New Army Pass today to Solder Lake but we were feeling the altitude/jet lag and decided to stage at Cottonwood today and go up and over in the tomorrow morning. Cottonwood area was not busy like it normal was from readings on the interwebs.  Had maybe 3 groups camping that we passed which is lite for that area.  Caught some fish in Lake 3 for the first goldens/golden hybrids of the trip.  I was in awe of the colors of these fish. We got to hear some elk bugling in the background and witness an insane mosquito hatch that had trout 6-10 trout rising every 5 seconds on a pond for 3 hours. 

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First of many marmots chirping at us.

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I did not starve

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First fish.

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Lake 3

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Got 2 bags of cheetos in my bear vault

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Not a bad way to cap the first full day.

Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 13:48:52 PM
Kelty Trekker 65
Pack cover (never used)
Black Diamond Trekking poles

Clothes:
2 long polyester pants
2 long polyester shirts
2 polyester underwear
2 smartwool pairs of socks
All of the above, wear one of each 2 days, switch to others, wash the dirty.
Sleeping clothes: one lightweight pants, one long cotton shirt, lightweight socks, beanie.
Smartwool medium weight long top (never needed it)
Patagonia Nano Puff jacket
Ball cap
Buff
2 Bandanas
Rain jacket (never rained)
Teva sandals
Low hikers (Oboz)

Bear Can with 7 1/2 days food - 9 1/4 lb.
Backpacking stove w/1 med, 1 small fuel canister
Titanium 800ml Pot and mug
Titanium Frying pan and spatula (never used)
Spork

Small paperback
Lightweight umbrella (never rained, good for shade though)

3 man Big Agnus Seedhouse tent
Nemo air mattress
3/4 length closed cell foam pad 1/4" thick
Down 10 degree hammock quilt
Sleeping bag liner (slipped over air mattress)
Head lamp and small flashlight
Spare batteries
First aid kit
Toiletries
Sunscreen, chap stick and hand lotion
Hand sanitizer and castile soap
Spray bottle (no TP was used)
Fabric bucket
Wash cloth and tiny towel
Clothesline
1.5L water bladder and 1 liter bottle
2L bag and 500ml bag and Sawyer mini filter

Fishing chest pack
One fly box, tippet spools, floatant, forceps and nippers
6' Sink tip extension
Folding net
Lightweight double rod tube
5 piece 7'6" 4 weight
6 piece 9' 5 weight
2 reels

Phone (camera and messaging thru Garmin)
Solar/battery pack and cable
Garmin Inreach Mini
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 14:04:00 PM

J neglected to mention that in our haste and darkness, we set up only about 30-40' off the trail that first night. We were awakened at 3:30 by a string of hikers with headlamps shining on our tent as the headed up to summit Mt. Langley. That's like a 15-16 mile day trip and a 4K+ total elevation gain. :o
We struggled to breathe that thin air and were popping ibuprofen to fight off the altitude headaches. Semi-Pro tip: start taking it when you leave the airport, drink gobs of water.

Cottonwood Creek breakfast stop.

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Sunrise from camp.

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 03, 2020, 16:24:59 PM
Very nice going so far, I was going to mention that y'all needed to be hydrating on the flight — but that has its own problems these days!

What did Jacob eat besides snickers and Cheetos?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on August 03, 2020, 17:01:08 PM
Great report!  Really enjoy the photos of the fishes and the water.  Glad you both returned safely east with unforgettable memories.

Please tell us about the blisters.  A CA search-and-rescue friend called with the story of rescuing a Virginia angler/camper/hiker from your area of adventure who was rendered immobile from blisters.  She (the S&R gal) did not have a name of the tenderfoot, but I was concerned for you two.
 
Again, great job and thanks for sharing.

More please.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Onslow on August 03, 2020, 17:02:08 PM
Was the lake fishing part of a strategy to keep the feet out of the water, and spare the feet?  As much as I would like to backpack, and fish locally, the foot problem always looms large.

The highlands of California are underrated imo.  Looks like you all planned a good spot to hike, fish, and to stay the hell away from the Grizzlies of Montana and Wyoming. The mountain lions tho....

This is just plain awesome.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 17:14:48 PM
Quote from: Onslow on August 03, 2020, 17:02:08 PMWas the lake fishing part of a strategy to keep the feet out of the water, and spare the feet?  As much as I would like to backpack, and fish locally, the foot problem always looms large.

The highlands of California are underrated imo.  Looks like you all planned a good spot to hike, fish, and to stay the hell away from the Grizzlies of Montana and Wyoming. The mountain lions tho....

This is just plain awesome.

Stay tuned. A little stream fishing is coming. Tevas waded.
Jake can tell you about wading boots. LOL.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Phil on August 03, 2020, 18:13:14 PM
I'm just reading, looking at the pics, drooling, and interested in everything about the trip you guys post here. Awesome stuff so far.  :bow
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: ryguy on August 03, 2020, 18:34:38 PM
Great report.  Looking forward to reading more.

How were the flights over to LAX?  I'm curious to see how many folks are flying this time of year.  There are still a bunch of airplanes sitting at Richmond, on pause from COVID I believe.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 18:49:13 PM
Quote from: ryguy on August 03, 2020, 18:34:38 PMGreat report.  Looking forward to reading more.

How were the flights over to LAX?  I'm curious to see how many folks are flying this time of year.  There are still a bunch of airplanes sitting at Richmond, on pause from COVID I believe.

Flights to and from LAX was 6 seats across. Flight out was almost full, flight back was completely full. About got in confrontations with 2 people on flight out haha.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 19:27:16 PM

Day 3.  The most brutal day for me.  Hiked 7.4 miles.  Up over New Army Pass that sits at 12,310 ft and all the elevation gain is in a set of tightly wound contour lines. It was really fun with a pack somewhere in the low 50 lb range.  It was slow going up New Army Pass, but what really got me was the sun on the backside going down to Soldier Lake.  There was at least 5 miles of the hike where you had no shelter from the sun.  The last mile I was feeling rough but luckily by then we had worked our way back into the tree line and I just keep trudging along.  Soldier Lake was a pretty lake that was unlike a lot of the other lakes we fished.  It had grass around the banks and a good bit of trees on one side where we camped.  There was a good hatch at night which provided for lots of goldens caught on a dry. 

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Doug's morning ritual of spilling coffee grounds.

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Morning at camp.

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Marmots galore

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Top of the mountain is New Army Pass....

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Some flowers broke up the desert vibe.

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Almost to the top.

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Done. 12,310 ft.

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Backside of New Army Pass. Langley to the right.

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Where we were going.

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Dan Tope Lucky 7 went with me.

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Soldier Lake

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Dry sipping Golden.

Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: RiverbumCO on August 03, 2020, 19:31:46 PM
Keep er comin
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 19:33:16 PM
Quote from: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on August 03, 2020, 17:01:08 PMGreat report!  Really enjoy the photos of the fishes and the water.  Glad you both returned safely east with unforgettable memories.

Please tell us about the blisters.  A CA search-and-rescue friend called with the story of rescuing a Virginia angler/camper/hiker from your area of adventure who was rendered immobile from blisters.  She (the S&R gal) did not have a name of the tenderfoot, but I was concerned for you two.
 
Again, great job and thanks for sharing.

More please.

Ha! I thought those prayer calls would get you from lying so much. 

I hiked the first two days in neoprene socks and wading boots.  For some reason, I was born a moron.  It is a real issue I have to combat on the daily.  Had two good hot spots and a blister that formed by the end of the trip, but it didn't really slow me down.  Just threw some gauze and electrical tape on them in the morning and was good to go.  I hiked in a spare pair of boots I brought that I should of been hiking in to begin with.  Lesson learned.  Just had to carry around 5 extra worthless lbs of boots for the next 5 days....
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 20:13:47 PM
Gulping low oxygen air. Our first big haul. New Army Pass.

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Yeah, that's snow.

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 03, 2020, 20:17:31 PM
Quote from: Big J on August 03, 2020, 19:33:16 PMI hiked the first two days in neoprene socks and wading boots.  For some reason, I was born a moron.  It is a real issue I have to combat on the daily.  Had two good hot spots and a blister that formed by the end of the trip, but it didn't really slow me down.  Just threw some gauze and electrical tape on them in the morning and was good to go.  I hiked in a spare pair of boots I brought that I should of been hiking in to begin with.  Lesson learned.  Just had to carry around 5 extra worthless lbs of boots for the next 5 days....

:o  yikes! Bet you don't do that again! Didn't Doug try and talk you out of that?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: croaker on August 03, 2020, 20:25:50 PM
Wow!  That brings back some memories.  Went through there in '74 over Old Army Pass. Grand report and pictures.  The colors of them Goldens are still etched in my mind.                                           
                                                                                                           
              'c;   
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 20:34:36 PM

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 20:38:48 PM
Quote from: croaker on August 03, 2020, 20:25:50 PMWow!  That brings back some memories.  Went through there in '74 over Old Army Pass. Grand report and pictures.  The colors of them Goldens are still etched in my mind.                                           
                                                                                                           
              'c;   

We were fishing at #4 and saw some folks coming down Old Army Pass. Sketchy. Not maintained any more. Time saver, but...  :o
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: driver on August 03, 2020, 20:41:33 PM
did you guys see a lot of people out there? Other fisher folks?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 20:46:05 PM
Quote from: driver on August 03, 2020, 20:41:33 PMdid you guys see a lot of people out there? Other fisher folks?

It was scary how few of people were over New Army Pass. Maybe saw 20 people in 4 days over New Army Pass. Cottonwood Lakes and Trail to the lakes was insane. Crawling with people.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 03, 2020, 20:51:52 PM
Spin, 10:1 at Cottonwood. We were out fishing them in my opinion.
Beyond that, we saw few fishers. Fly out there.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: RiverbumCO on August 03, 2020, 21:23:49 PM
What was the biggest fish caught?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 03, 2020, 21:41:19 PM
Quote from: RiverbumCO on August 03, 2020, 21:23:49 PMWhat was the biggest fish caught?

Patience. There is still 5 more days left to this TR.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Phil on August 04, 2020, 06:16:06 AM
Quote from: Big J on August 03, 2020, 21:41:19 PM
Quote from: RiverbumCO on August 03, 2020, 21:23:49 PMWhat was the biggest fish caught?

Patience. There is still 5 more days left to this TR.

Good! Keep it coming. This is the best shit ever!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: troutrus on August 04, 2020, 07:10:37 AM
Beautiful scenes and fish. Bet the trouts were tasty.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 04, 2020, 08:03:15 AM
Going to lump day 4 and 5 together since we spent two days in the same spot.  Left Soldier Lake and headed up the next valley over to Sky Blue Lake.  I think I told Doug it was an easy 3 mile hike, but I think it ended up being a 5 mile hike with some pretty big gorges and falls to scale.  In between the first ascent into the valley and the first gorge there was a very scenic meadow named Penstock Meadow by the horse riders.  We chatted with one of the wranglers on a stop up to Sky Blue and got some good info about the area and some stories about some of his clientele base.  He said the meadow is a natural pen for the horses.  It is just steep enough down in the entrance to the meadow that the horses have to be forced down, and they can't make it up the gorge so riders can just leave the horses in the meadow and not worry about losing them.

After an hour plus of "is the lake above this ledge?", we finally arrived to Sky Blue Lake.  We were planning on going up the next day over Crabtree Pass and dropping down to Crabtree Lake, but after seeing how much harder it was to get to Sky Blue than we thought, we knew the trailess crawl up to Crabtree Pass was going to be a pain in the rear.  We both agreed and decided to just spend 2 nights at Sky Blue Lake and hike out the way we came.

Sky Blue Lake was the pinnacle of our trip.  This lake was extremely deep and our best fish were landed here.  Caught a several dozens of fish and the average size for me was bigger than the biggest fish I was catching at Soldier Lake and Cottonwood Lake.  Doug lost a very big fish and I had several fish follow my fly that were pushing the 18" to 20" range.  Tanks.  Another aspect of this lake is the brutality of the sun.  When the sun gets on this lake, it stays on the lake.  There are no trees and very few spots with shade against the high afternoon sun. 

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Leaving Soldier Lake

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Penstock Meadow

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First Gorge

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Sky Blue is up at the top of the 3rd set of wet rocks.

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But it is worth it.

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There are about 5 mountains that encompass this lake with peaks over 13,500 ft. and the lake itself is at 11,500 ft. 

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Evening dry sipper

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Morning Marmot harassing us.

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This fish was probably one of my favorite from the trip.  I had a 4 wt rigged up with a nymph and a 2 wt rigged up with a elk hair caddis.  I saw a 10" fish sipping some bugs off the flat so I grabbed my 2 wt and royally blew my shot and the fish ran off.  Out of the corner of my eye I see two bigger fish enter the flat.  I lead the first fish by 3 ft and wait.  Like slow motion the lead fish goes up and sips two bugs on his way to my fly.  Then, slowly swims up and sips my fly.  Hook set, fish on, and a heck of a bend in the 2 wt.  Had to keep the fish from going off flat and under the rocks to break me off.  It was a take and fight that have replayed in my head often.

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Doug getting his evening fish on.

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To Be Continued. . .

Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 04, 2020, 08:47:43 AM
We had maps. The best maps. Our maps don't lie.
Guess what? Those mileage numbers do lie. You can add 10-20% to most of the mileages we covered.
Of course, once we got out of the second gorge, there was no distinct trail. Lots of rock hopping. And as J said, which rock wall/waterfall was the lake behind?! Camped above the tree line. We had three camping nights above 11000'. Two were here. Three nights with temps right at freezing. Two were here. And my worst physical ailment had beset me. Sunburned lips. Lip balm and the buff over my ears and lips for the remainder of the sun time for me.

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You had to watch your itchy trigger finger/strike here. An 8' leader, a 5' sink tip and 5-10' of sunken fly line put you down at 15'+. You could see the fish approaching the fly from below.  :o

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Tent at lower right. Who put the loose boulders on top of these outcroppings?
Nature is grand.

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The big fish breaking me off on a granite ledge still haunts me.

Continued... :Dance  






Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: troutboy_II on August 04, 2020, 08:48:22 AM
Wow!  Just Wow!  Not sure what else I can say. Wow!

TB
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Friar Tuck on August 04, 2020, 09:17:35 AM
Brilliant! Or as they say in California, Double-Double, animal style!

 :bow  :bow  :bow
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Phil on August 04, 2020, 09:29:53 AM
Not to offend any other members here, but this is the best TR ever imo.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Onslow on August 04, 2020, 10:22:29 AM
So many aspects of this trip are simply amazing. There have many great day trip, expedition reports on various message boards, but this 7 day backpacking trip in the High Sierra w/some serious goods that was self guided blows simply kills it.

I honestly would have been stood off by hiking Army Pass, or the hike to Blue Sky lake with a 40 pound pack.  Seems like you all were rewarded for your effort. It appears you all chose your destination well, planned well, and were plenty ambitious. This is a very inspiring TR.

Doug, did you Philmont experience contribute to any of the confidence, and intelligent planning for this trip, or did Jacob do most of the steering?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 04, 2020, 10:37:20 AM
Quote from: Onslow on August 04, 2020, 10:22:29 AMSo many aspects of this trip are simply amazing. There have many great day trip, expedition reports on various message boards, but this 7 day backpacking trip in the High Sierra w/some serious goods that was self guided blows simply kills it.

I honestly would have been stood off by hiking Army Pass, or the hike to Blue Sky lake with a 40 pound pack.  Seems like you all were rewarded for your effort. It appears you all chose your destination well, planned well, and were plenty ambitious. This is a very inspiring TR.

Doug, did you Philmont experience contribute to any of the confidence, and intelligent planning for this trip, or did Jacob do most of the steering?

I came up with the route. Doug at first wanted to go more of a southern route that involved more stream fishing and more of your traditional sense of golden trout small stream fishing. I really had it hard for the high alpine lakes and getting to a couple lakes that had some big goldens. I really planned my trip around Sky Blue and Crabtree Lake 2. Those two are supposed to have the biggest goldens. I got Doug on board when he realized how set I was on it and he refined the route and timeline. Dougs expertise came in with packing the packs. I still brought stuff that Doug scoffed at. Like a tomahawk, a leatherback journal, and 2 bags of Cheetos. I had a 57lb pack at the trailhead but 12 lbs of that was food that I got down pretty quickly. Lost 1.5 Lbs a day in food.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 04, 2020, 10:55:30 AM
Ken, Philmont is a distant memory. The only thing it taught me is that I did not get altitude sickness over 12K feet. But that was 45 years ago.
We're both hard headed and determined, imho. We did good research on High Sierra Topix forum, looked at every map known to mankind, and went with our gut. We had to adjust on the fly to arriving late and then realizing how frigging difficult it was to breathe! It took a lot longer to go uphill out there. I have been training with a 35lb pack and doing a 2 mile up and 2 mile down route up Roanoke Mtn. No stops to rest or catch my breath. Going up New Army Pass, we stopped every 100-200 feet?!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: ryguy on August 04, 2020, 17:19:58 PM
Whelp there goes any hope for work productivity.  Thanks for the awesome read!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: brownhunter on August 05, 2020, 06:52:36 AM
 <-;:  <-;:  <-;:

Simply amazing!! Thanks for report, but this was so much more than a report. In awe of the pictures and the writing and the... Well, like it has been said, this was awesome!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Fishbug on August 05, 2020, 10:00:16 AM
 :o

Doug - Worked w Laura yesterday and she told me you got back from California catching "little gold fish."

Knew where to look - did not disappoint.

Prettier than Brook Trout?!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 05, 2020, 10:10:43 AM
Quote from: Fishbug on August 05, 2020, 10:00:16 AM:o

Prettier than Brook Trout?!


Both are beautiful. Brookies are subtly beautiful. Camouflaged.
Goldens are more out there. Flashy. Some good par marked fish are coming up.  d:b
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Phil on August 05, 2020, 11:09:29 AM
What amazes me from your pics of the goldens are how much different they look from the sickly yaller "goldens" that were stocked (dunno if they still do) in the Cherokee trophy waters. Fished there once several years ago and those things did indeed look like pond-type "goldfish." 
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 05, 2020, 12:25:45 PM
Day 6.  I will start out by saying I do not recommend the Mountain House Lasagna with Meat Sauce.  It messed me up.  4 times to be exact and a long restless night.  Of course it might of been the prospect of knowing I was going to have to go back over New Army Pass.  The night before Doug and I schemed with the maps on a way to get back to the trailhead without going over New Army Pass.  You can go over Cottonwood Pass which is a lot lower elevation to the south, but the issue is there is no fishing opportunities. Doug and I agreed we should just face the music and go back over New Army and fish Cottonwood Lakes one more time before hiking out. 

On the way out we ditched our packs and broke out a fly rod and hit the stream in Penstock Meadow where the horses were.  All the riders had cleared out so we had the stream to ourselves.  In a hundred yards of the stream, with one rod between the two of us, in one hour, we caught easily 60-70 fish.  They were all between the 3" to 6" range, but it was still entertaining.  You'd cast a dry into the stream and immediately a posse of fish would fight over the fly.  It was stupid. 

We threw our packs back on and continued hiking.  We decided to stage at a meadow just before the serious ascent up New Army Pass.  Our game plan was to wake up early and get as far as possible up New Army Pass as we could before the sun got on that side of the ridge. 

The Meadow we stayed in was a secluded spot on a plateau that I'm sure does not get used much.  On the opposite side of the creek we heard some coyote talking to each other for a couple minutes.  Only a few hikers passed by on the trail that we saw. Several naps were taken as the section of stream we were on didn't have goldens as far as we could tell.  I fished a 100 yards of the stream without seeing any fish.

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 05, 2020, 13:15:41 PM

I should mention that during our first night at Sky Blue, a 4.3 earthquake hit suburban LA. I heard/felt a "boom" at 3 am, rolled over and kept getting it in the low 30's air. My wife informed me in our messaging that morning.The following day we were fishing and rocks started rolling off the mountain on the opposite shore. Meh. Cali falling down?

The trip down from Sky Blue was done at warp speed compared to going up. The meadow fishing was fun. Those small stream fish have a really short season to pack on the calories and they attacked with vigor. Little jewels. We reached the bottom meadow and turned uphill again. Frack.
It was a dusty haul for 2+? miles. We were scaning the left ridge for a camping spot as the stream got skinnier and skinnier. About a hundred yards before we crossed the stream for the last time, which was our drop dead camping locale, I spotted a meadow a few hundred feet above us to the right. A little piece of heaven. Wildflowers, hummingbird visits, shade to take a nap, a flat rock in the sun to take a wash and soak up the sun.

Good morning! Coffee and oatmeal by 5:30.

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Tent is right rear.

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 05, 2020, 18:49:30 PM
What map(s) did you find to be most useful / accurate in planning? How was navigation? GPS or old school?

A4AEA81A-3513-4BE4-9F25-3343DAB770A9.png
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Onslow on August 05, 2020, 19:08:28 PM
Love the campsite. Love all of this.

What kind of trees were camping under?

Aside from the overgrown groundhogs, did at any point you feel threatened by predatory wildlife such as mountain lions?  I have a boner for Beartooth Wilderness (Rosebud Creek watershed) north of Yellowstone, but I suspect there are black bears, grizzlies, wolves up there.  I camped at Crandall Creek near Clark Fork in 1993, the moon was full, there were animal shadows casting upon my tent.  Needless to say, I was a little creeped out. Thinking wolf.  Seems like the Sierras may be a better choice for high adventure. I've seen lots of kayaking vids of Cherry Creek, Kings, but the scenery pics you've posted are far more attractive than anything I've seen.



Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 05, 2020, 19:14:53 PM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on August 05, 2020, 18:49:30 PMWhat map(s) did you find to be most useful / accurate in planning? How was navigation? GPS or old school?

A4AEA81A-3513-4BE4-9F25-3343DAB770A9.png

Old school. We ordered 4 Tom Harrison topo maps to plan this trip. Ended up taking the Tom Harrison Mount Whitney High Country map.

And I had my GPS watch and Doug had his GPS. We only fired them up a couple times mainly to see how much further we had on a couple of the hikes.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 05, 2020, 19:18:30 PM
Quote from: Onslow on August 05, 2020, 19:08:28 PMLove the campsite. Love all of this.

What kind of trees were camping under?

Aside from the overgrown groundhogs, did at any point you feel threatened by predatory wildlife such as mountain lions?  I have a boner for Beartooth Wilderness (Rosebud Creek watershed) north of Yellowstone, but I suspect there are black bears, grizzlies, wolves up there.  I camped at Crandall Creek near Clark Fork in 1993, the moon was full, there were animal shadows casting upon my tent.  Needless to say, I was a little creeped out. Thinking wolf.  Seems like the Sierras may be a better choice for high adventure. I've seen lots of kayaking vids of Cherry Creek, Kings, but the scenery pics you've posted are far more attractive than anything I've seen.





Nothing threatening. Doug has a Coyote pass him on the Trail back from fishing Cottonwood Lake 4. Said it barely even looked at him. The Horse wrangler said most of the bears are south of us where food is easier pickins. The Mitter basin is rumored to have quite a few mountain lion but we didn't see any. Wondering if it's like Hiner's "rattlesnake dens" he claims are on every brookie stream.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 05, 2020, 20:52:03 PM
Nothing disturbed our bear cans any night.
Nothing bigger than the rogue coyote was seen.
Nights in the tent were peaceful.
My perennially sore shoulders bothered me more than what was outside the tent.

Two to three species of pine were the entire tree population.
One was the predominate.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: RiverbumCO on August 05, 2020, 21:17:39 PM
Ponderosa?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 05, 2020, 21:24:26 PM
Ponderosa is a Rockie tree. Tamarac/Lodgepole is the biggie. Limber is number two.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 06, 2020, 09:41:03 AM
Day 7 was the day we were going back over New Army Pass.  We woke up at 5 am, ate breakfast, broke down camp, and hit the trail by 6:45. Was able to get over the first big ascent towards New Army Pass before the sun got on us which was a drastic help on the day.  While temps only got to mid 60's most day, long hikes with no relief from the sun would really zap you.  We made it to the top of New Army Pass by 9 am and we didn't pass a single person on the way up.  Short break at the top and with the relief of knowing the rest of the hiking for our trip would be downhill.  We passed a couple groups going up New Army Pass with one group trying to make it all the way to Guyot Pass by nightfall.  Highly doubt that group made it as quite a few were lagging behind on New Army Pass and they still had a long way to go to Guyot. 

We arrived at Cottonwood Lake 3 to reclaim our campsite from night 2.  We were immediately taken back by how many more people where in the Cottonwood area as opposed to the previous weekend.  It was literally crawling with people.  Campsites of 5 or 6 tents were everywhere.  A group of 6 girls who looked like they were out of a Hiner Filson magazine having girls trip was across the way.  It was interesting to say the least.  We set up camp and Doug talked me into going up to Cottonwood Lake 4 and 5 which was a 1.5 mile hike from our campsite.  Ran into groups of people on the way up and even ran into the horse wrangler who was back up in Penstock Meadow a few days ago.

Lake 4 took a little figuring out but ended up finding a cove where the fish were working a flat.  I caught one eventually on a brown stonefly and decided that was enough for me and left Doug to flog the waters.  Also got to witness a group of 3 work their way down Old Army Pass.  It is insane people still go up Old Army Pass.  I halfway tried talking Doug into trying it earlier in the day as it would cut out 3 miles of hiking.  He didn't take the bait. Also the day before I commented on how it was crazy how we hadn't seen a single rabbit.  That evening I look up and saw the biggest rabbit I have seen in the wild.  It was a white tailed Jack Rabbit that I think any hawk or eagle would think twice before tangling with. 

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Descent down New Army Pass

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Lake 4.  Old Army Pass follows contour line to left of snow pack.  :o

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 06, 2020, 12:14:33 PM

Up and over day, as J said. I got in the lead going down the other side to slow us down. 
Its a long ways down to those bottom switchbacks.  :Dance

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Up to 4 and 5.

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I briefly had a really nice fish on but the hookset wasn't good enough.
I chased a bus of a fish for 3 of his cruising laps. I pitched 6 different flies to him.  n!n

Back down to 3.

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: The Dude on August 07, 2020, 07:03:57 AM
Pretty cool, once-in-a-lifetime trip.  I'm glad y'all made it happen and documented it with photos so you can look back 30 years from now and recall in great detail what an awesome experience it was.
Did you eat many fish?
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 07, 2020, 08:45:35 AM
Day 8.  Last day in Inyo National Forest.  Bittersweet.  Bitter because this will be the last time I will experience this rugged of an environment for a long time.  The sense of being 20 miles away from a trailhead that is still 1 hour from the nearest town.  Albeit, Cottonwood Lakes felt like a resort in terms of the amount of people crawling out of tents and firing up coffee.  It was sweet because I needed a shower, and more importantly, Doug "I didn't bring deodorant" needed a shower more.  We broke down camp, and finished the last 5 mile hike out all down hill.  We must of passed 100 day hikers going up to Cottonwood Lake area.  Saturday there is cray cray.  Like I said earlier, I highly recommend if you go, to spend as little time at Cottonwood Lakes as possible and go further in backcountry.  We saw less than 20 people in 5 days once we got past Langley. 

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Ranger Station.  I can cook.  Hire me.

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Crappy shaded picture

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Pizza in Lone Pine.  Sure tasted a lot better than Mountain House Lasagna with Meat Sauce.

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And watched the rock crawlers drive by.  Desert scene was interesting.

Then it was a hotel stay outside of LA and catching a flight back to East Coast the next day.  Being back around people, especially LA people was interesting too.  There were a few people who really put the icing on the cake with the LA vibe.
 While I am a big supporter of women in general, I feel the need to vividly describe this girl so you have an idea of how much restraint I had.  There was a lot of low hanging fruit I could of picked.  LAX to Charlotte was a full flight.  Overhead storage was quickly filling up.  I had a small backpack as a carry on and found a spot over my own seat to store it.  This girl, who was wearing shorts 3x too small for her body, a shirt cropped way to high for her body, and showing off a garter tattoo on her thigh, with a carry on luggage that was way too large to carry on plane, decided my backpack in the overhead storage was the culprit to her not being able to find space for her luggage. Note, her seat is three rows up on opposite side of the plane.  She immediately starts cussing at my small backpack.  Then tells her man to "take care of this backpack".  This is when I piped up and she continues to go off on me about my backpack.  I bite my tongue and the guy tried his best to calm the unruly beast down.  I ended up just telling them to give me my backpack and stored it between my legs for a cramped flight home.  Doug almost got us in an altercation with a drunk Latino want a be gangster.  But I'll let him tell that story if he wants. 

This trip was 4 years in the making for me.  Took me a long time to pass that CPA exam.  Doug and I spent a year hammering out details.  The trip exceeded all the expectations.  Highly recommended it if you are able to. 


Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 07, 2020, 09:00:07 AM
Quote from: The Dude on August 07, 2020, 07:03:57 AMPretty cool, once-in-a-lifetime trip.  I'm glad y'all made it happen and documented it with photos so you can look back 30 years from now and recall in great detail what an awesome experience it was.
Did you eat many fish?

Doug brought a pan and olive oil, but no fish were consumed.  I even mentioned to Doug we should keep a fish or two, but he wasn't interested.  Mostly because at the end of a day of hiking and fishing all day, last thing you want to do is work to prepare a meal.  And them be some pretty fish.

@benben reincarnated  should be impressed I took his net he made with me all weekend.   V:;
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: itieuglyflies on August 07, 2020, 09:23:25 AM
Wow, what a great trip and equally great reports. Only lacking photo was of the airplane girl.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 07, 2020, 09:37:47 AM

2GFVA-1.jpg

2GFVA-2.jpg



I fixed yer photo...

Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 07, 2020, 09:40:42 AM
You are the man Woolly  :cheers  Thanks
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on August 07, 2020, 09:59:38 AM
Quote from: itieuglyflies on August 07, 2020, 09:23:25 AMOnly lacking photo was of the airplane girl.

Yes, I want to see a photo of this gal with the "garter tattoo".  We've all wondered for years about the physique of some of Grayson's relatives.  You were near, engaged with, one of his clan and you failed to properly document the encounter! 

I also want to see a pic of the six Filson girls – image for my next shower. 

Report just gets better!  You Virginia boys rule!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: troutrus on August 07, 2020, 10:19:11 AM
Wonderful reports. 👍🏻   What sticks in my mind besides the obvious, was the mention of no rain for the entire time. Sounds great to us that are stuck here in the land of daily deluge and high flows.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 07, 2020, 10:25:17 AM
If we had caught brookies, we would have eaten them.  d:b
All fish caught were goldens and/or hybrids.

And yes, me buying an expensive, 5 oz, breathable rain jacket guaranteed no rain.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 07, 2020, 10:50:16 AM
Quote from: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on August 07, 2020, 09:59:38 AM
Quote from: itieuglyflies on August 07, 2020, 09:23:25 AMOnly lacking photo was of the airplane girl.

Yes, I want to see a photo of this gal with the "garter tattoo".  We've all wondered for years about the physique of some of Grayson's relatives.  You were near, engaged with, one of his clan and you failed to properly document the encounter! 

I also want to see a pic of the six Filson girls – image for my next shower. 

Report just gets better!  You Virginia boys rule!

You would approve of all but one Filson Girl.  One was fly fishing. 
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 07, 2020, 11:04:12 AM
Quote from: Dougfish on August 07, 2020, 10:25:17 AMAnd yes, me buying an expensive, 5 oz, breathable rain jacket guaranteed no rain.
:o
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Onslow on August 07, 2020, 11:37:19 AM
Tis saddening the trip is over.  Thanks for the ride.

We should all make a point to live a little larger.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on August 07, 2020, 11:42:43 AM
Quote from: Onslow on August 07, 2020, 11:37:19 AMWe should all make a point to live a little larger.

Truth. I refuse to act my age.  -+;
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Stone-Man on August 07, 2020, 13:17:31 PM
Yes and Hell Yes
This has got to be one of if not the best trip reports that I have ever read.  Thanks for all the good pictures of the landscape and gorgeous fish.  This will be one of Yawl's greatest memories.
  As to LAX -- I got stuck in that SOB once for about 6 hours. Damn freak show  !!

        JT
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Yallerhammer on August 08, 2020, 16:20:03 PM
Wow. Damn. GoodGodamighty. Beautiful country, beautiful fish. Even their groundhogs out there are prettier than ours. That has always been on my bucket list too, but I'd say my bucket will spring too many leaks before I ever get there.


 'c;  :bow
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: benben reincarnated on August 20, 2020, 13:02:26 PM
Never seen so little rhodo in my life.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Dougfish on July 29, 2021, 14:23:54 PM
J messaged me this morning to remind me that one year ago today, we were fishing, and catching in this big, deep lake high up in CA.
Days in the 70's, nights in the 30's.
Earthquake in LA.
Not a care in the world.
Fuck.  :wave

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Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on July 29, 2021, 14:43:27 PM
 :'(
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Trout Maharishi on August 24, 2021, 04:33:27 AM
Quote from: Big J on August 05, 2020, 19:14:53 PM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on August 05, 2020, 18:49:30 PMWhat map(s) did you find to be most useful / accurate in planning? How was navigation? GPS or old school?

A4AEA81A-3513-4BE4-9F25-3343DAB770A9.png

Old school. We ordered 4 Tom Harrison topo maps to plan this trip. Ended up taking the Tom Harrison Mount Whitney High Country map.

And I had my GPS watch and Doug had his GPS. We only fired them up a couple times mainly to see how much further we had on a couple of the hikes.


What a great trip. Man did it bring back some memories, I talked to Doug and Keith on a zoom call just a few weeks before you guys went out and I knew where you were basically going. I remember Keith and I both laughing and trying to advise Doug altitude ain't no joke and you needed at least one night of acclimatization before starting out. We always tried to spend the night somewhere  between 7500-8000'. We also use Diamox, although I hear now days any ANSED taken the day before and continuing the first few days helps. I lived on the Western side of the Sierras in Hanford and Visallia for 5-6 years and did many trips in the Sierras. I lived about 30minutes from the entrance of Sequoia. I was flying search and rescue for the Navy (NAS Lemoore) the first couple of years and most of the recuses took place in the Sierras. Many were in Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite. We did some suff on he eastern side, but that was more often covered by the NAS at Fallon,There is no place more beautiful in the world. After that gig I worked on trail crews and fire fighting crews in the Sierra National Forest (Jackass Lakes Station). I wasn't a hard core fisherman then I was more interest in backpacking and peak bagging. About the only time we went to the Eastern side was go do some of the 14,000 footers (Whitney, Williamson, Tyndel, and Muir) were a few I remember. Mostly out of the Whitney Portal area. We would use that and the Lone Pine creek and Meysan Basin to access those areas. I do remember ever little creek and lake under about 115000 would have trout in it and they were easy to catch. I carried a 7' Eagleclaw Trailmaster, it was a 7 foot 4wt fly rod and you could switch the hadle around and make it a spinning rod. I'd use small spinner baits and salmon eggs. We always supplemented our diet with fish. I would love to see more of you photos. I dug my slide projector out and was looking at slides all night. I remember going up through Crabtree many times on the way to the Palisades and Minarets. We fished Hitchcock Lk, Tumberline LK, Guitar LK, and Wallace just to name a few. We also fished Lone Pine Ck, The Kern from Crabtree and Cottonwood all the way up to it's tributaries and then across the Chucpa Plateau back to the Western Divide . You guys made a good call on fishing the lakes. I never caught Goldens that size. Most of the Kern and creeks we full of 6-8 Rainbow-Golden hybrids. Seeing the glacial erratics, the foxtail pines, the juniper, and lodgepoes, the bright blue sky, and the fish made me wish for one more trip. Next time don' take a tent, take a trap or rainfly. It almost never rains and when it does it's only a couple of hours. We would rig the trap up as a place to get out of the sun when we were above timberline. The altitude, low humidity, make the sun restless. When you go next time do a little research and see if you can find someone to make a food drop for you. Most of those outfitters will do it for next to nothing because they always have room for something that small and light. Sure would like to see some more photos. The trips from the West side to the East of the range were always my favorites. The Incense Ceders, Sugar Pines, Ponderosas, Sequoias and wild flowers are more prevelant on the West slope. It also was more of gentle  assent which  gives you more time to acclimatize. It takes a couple days to reach the Western divide and most of the passes are between 9-11000 feet. I miss the sunsets and the alpenglow, not to mention the night sky which was like being in a planetarium. I sure made a mistake by not going to Sky Blue lake, I think we went to lake South America instead. Was your GPS's of any use? We always did it old school with a top and a compass. Navigation was always fairly easy but me and my friends were all navigation qualified air crew. We still took wrong turns a time or two, but it was ususally easy to correct. A lot of the hiking we did was off trail cross county. The best summer I ever spent in the Sierra was on a Sequoia Project. There were 3 or us counting ,marking, measuring trunks 4 feet off the ground, and estimating the height every Sequoia Tree on a 15min quad for the forest service. The Forest Service carried our camping equipment in and moved it every couple of weeks when they brought the resupply. We were resupplied by horse every 2 or 3 weeks. I've been in love with them  area ever since,
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Big J on August 24, 2021, 07:09:07 AM
It was gorgeous country. I'll definitely get back there a couple more times in my life Lord willing. Sky Blue really was the highlight of the trip. It's amazing trout that size are thriving in an environment that is so lifeless and unforgiving.

Trails are all marked really well and we only turned on the GPS a couple times to get an idea of how much further we wanted to hike. Mainly referred to maps for that though.

Anyone who gets to spend a lot of time in that back country is lucky!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 24, 2021, 09:27:24 AM
Quote from: Big J on August 24, 2021, 07:09:07 AMAnyone who gets to spend a lot of time in that back country is lucky!

My son just finished up 50+ days in/on the boundary waters working with outward bound this summer, he's now back in Utah teaching HS science near park city. 
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Trout Maharishi on August 24, 2021, 15:36:17 PM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on August 24, 2021, 09:27:24 AM
Quote from: Big J on August 24, 2021, 07:09:07 AMAnyone who gets to spend a lot of time in that back country is lucky!

My son just finished up 50+ days in/on the boundary waters working with outward bound this summer, he's now back in Utah teaching HS science near park city. 

That's a long time to spend out. I hope OB pay has increased. I always wanted to go to the boundary waters.
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 24, 2021, 15:51:30 PM
Quote from: Trout Maharishi on August 24, 2021, 15:36:17 PM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on August 24, 2021, 09:27:24 AM
Quote from: Big J on August 24, 2021, 07:09:07 AMAnyone who gets to spend a lot of time in that back country is lucky!

My son just finished up 50+ days in/on the boundary waters working with outward bound this summer, he's now back in Utah teaching HS science near park city. 

That's a long time to spend out. I hope OB pay has increased. I always wanted to go to the boundary waters.

Two weeks of training then Two 22 day trips and one 10 day with only a couple of days between then!
Title: Re: Inyo National Forest
Post by: greg on October 19, 2021, 06:20:00 AM
Damn I just went through this again and think I must go soon. Beautiful.