TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18 - Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

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watsonwd
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TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18 - Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

Post by watsonwd »

TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18
Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

On this boys/fishing trip there were four of us and a dog. 2 out of the 4 have solid backpacking experience and for 1 it was their second trip and 1 their first. I have plenty of experience so it was fun to be able to share my love of backpacking with these close childhood friends.

Given the varying levels of experience I wanted to get to somewhere remote and set up a base camp. Fishing is very important to my backcountry experience and with the help of HST Fishing Hole and close friend (lauralai627) decided to get into the lakes below Granite Dome in Emigrant Wilderness.

Day 1: Kennedy Meadows – Relief Reservoir (4.3miles)
Easy Day 1 to get up to the Reservoir. We had a late start from the bay area and I correctly did not want to push everyone hard day. We got into camp which was very set up with a fire ring and space for two tents easy. It was surprisingly more beautiful then I personally expected. There were other folks camped not to far from us but not close enough to be a bother or an issue. Fished that night but did not catch anything worth putting in the frying pan.

Day 2: Relief Reservoir – Ridge Lake (4.65miles)
This was our “toughest” day on the trip. I put it in quotes as it was very challenging for some of our group who a) did not have experience and b) most of the climbing being off trail.
It was a beautiful day and the climb up the granite slabs were easy to navigate with some previous knowledge of the route (stay to the right of the creek) on the way up. Lots of cairns but we stuck to using our GPS. Oh modern tec getting in the way.
The “trail” into Ridge Lake is for sure an ankle breaker with lots of big boulders to navigate. There was one clear camping spot near the lake however a pack was there so we found a less ideal spot but it worked just fine for night one.
Fishing was good but not great. Challenging on the fly and lure but we were able to pull out some beautiful Golden’s and Rainbows. Picture attached is my friend catching and releasing his first backcountry fish! Which was a golden. Not a bad way to start :)

Day 3: Ridge Lake – Upper Lewis Lake
This being a pack free day we explored up to Upper Lewis lake which was stunning. Prior we climbed up for a view from an unnamed peak. There were more Golden’s!

Day 4: Ridge Lake – Iceland Lake
Another pack free day we had a mellow fishing morning where my friend made a fish trap! We went to Iceland Lake and had a mellow swim and verified that the lake seems dry of all fish. Upon return to Ridge the fish trap had worked! Amazing as we had two rainbows from the trap. They were carefully released.

Day 5: Ridge Lake – Kennnedy Meadows (8.24miles)
We got up early and started our decent at 6am. This was as tough day for 2 out of the 4 on our group. One had rolled his ankle the day prior and we took a lot of his weight. It was slow going but much easier to navigate down to the trail.
A hot day finished with the soft serve at Kennedy Meadows which has to be one of the best ways to end a trip.

Overall the fishing was fun and challenging at Ridge Lake and Upper Lewis and 100% worth the climb up off trail into this beautiful area.
Happy Trails,
Daniel
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maverick
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Re: TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18 - Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

Post by maverick »

Yes, that is a beautiful areas, thank you for your TR and pictures! Good to see some blue skies and not a lot of smoke. Did you experience any smoke while out on your trip?
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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watsonwd
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Re: TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18 - Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

Post by watsonwd »

Maverick,
We really did not have any smoke issues as the big fires in the area were not burning like they were a couple of weeks ago. I drove past Kennedy Meadows 2 weeks later and the smoke was really bad. We got in just before.
Such beauty up there and so remote feeling without having to hike 20 miles in!
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Re: TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18 - Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

Post by Carne_DelMuerto »

Love that area, so easy to navigate off trail. Thanks for the report.
Wonder is rock and water and the life that lives in-between.
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Re: TR: 7/6/18-7/10/18 - Emigrant Wilderness into Granite Dome

Post by balzaccom »

Lovely stuff. Good to know there are still some Golden's up there.

And you do know it is completely illegal to trap them, right?
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
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