Trip Report - Lake Vernon

[John Doe]

First report!!! A little backstory. My wife & I work seasonally from about April 1 to December 1, and have for a decade. Doing so we haven't had an opportunity for a Sierra trip in over 10 years. I was beyond stoked to get to go!!!!

Did the Lake Vernon out & back trip over 4 days & three nights last week. It was great. First day we went straight to Lake Laurel as we were pretty spent from the climb in. In my estimation, from the reservoir to Laurel was about 7.5 miles climbing 2500 feet. It took us almost 8 hours with the breaks we took-needed & a stream crossing close to Laurel. We saw no one at Laurel, it was midweek & it was very beautiful & peaceful. We tried to leave early for Laurel, as recommended, and our day wasn't particularly hot. We are in pretty good shape (I run 20 miles a week) and it was definitely an arse-kicker!

Next day we packed up & went to Vernon. Only 4.5 miles & 1000 feet climb. Wow! Well worth going. Vernon is a spectacular lake with a beautiful creek running out on the west end. Bear scat was everywhere & we eventually saw him on the way out. We closely followed the regs as a couple before us had the bear walk into their camp while cooking. Yelling scared him off. We stayed at Vernon 2 nights & it wasn't buggy. The weather was beautiful. Fishing was great & it wasn't crowded. I guess that 11 mile, 3500’ climb in keeps people out:). Day 4 we decided to go all the way back out via Laurel as the loop would have taken a few more days & we heard Tiltill was pretty buggy. Weather was awesome & we only passed 4 others in 11 miles. We left Vernon at 9:00 a.m. & made it to the car by 3:30. Much easier than coming in. Wildflowers were EVERYWHERE. We were amazed by the variety & abundance. Definitely a great trip but certainly a physical challenge. I would certainly go back & complete the loop with more time!

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[balzaccom]

Nice! That areas usually opens up a bit earlier than the high country, and I'm glad to hear that the buggy days had already passes.

My guess is that the Beehive was a live with flowers and bees?

[SSSdave]

One of my favorite Lakes I first visited in the 1970s. Yeah, would expect you hit it perfect after dragonflies and damselflies have eaten away most mosquitoes.

Did you check the stream above the lake? It is an amazing sight early season full of rainbow trout, one of the best spawning inflows for any lake in the range, with deep pools, lots of cover like big log piles and undercut banks. The wonderfully blue lake, like Laural and Kibbie were planted in the 1880's so those rainbows have had a long time to evolve into those environments and in so doing, have stronger coloration, firmer bodies, with more robust scales than hatchery fish. Also worth exploring is further above where it runs across slabs in cascades from Jack Main Canyon. For those staying longer, a day trip up to Brannigan is also worthwhile though Falls Creek early season may be impossible to cross sans a convenient log while the east shore is a bushwhacking pain.

[John Doe]

Beehive area had a lot of flowers. It was really awesome. Didn't see any bees strangely. When we went up, we passed thru about 3:00 & it was very buggy, we're talking something like 15 mosquito bites each. When we went out, we passed thru at 11:00 & it wasn't buggy at all. Weird that a few hours makes a difference.

We didn't go past Vernon. It did look insane up there beyond from where we were. We were so stoked to be at Vernon we just decided to stay put. To say the fishing was good is a bit of an understatement. There were areas where you could see fish of all kinds just hanging out. Not sure if it was time of year or what but needless to say I caught a lot of fish. There was actually a spot where they were stuck below a waterfall & spillway. It was just moving too fast for them to get up it. I caught about 10, carefully unhooked them, sprinted up & tossed them into the next pool up. They seemed happy when they raced off. Sure they were like, "WTF was that all about? ".

[windknot]

Thanks for the report! Glad you had a good trip, especially after work constraints conflicting with the summer backpacking season for so long.

[kpeter]

Nice to hear about one of my favorite places, in a different season. The fishing sounded spectacular!

[balzaccom]

We've hiked cross-country down Falls Creek from above Lake Vernon over some very steep granite. Once we were down, my wife said:

"I'm OK with us having done that, but if you ever take either of our two daughters on something like that I will kill you."

So far, I'm still alive.

[SSSdave]

Nice to hear about one of my favorite places, in a different season. The fishing sounded spectacular!

Due to its low 6.5k elevation, Vernon waters warm quickly in summer creating one of those lakes where after early season, for much of a day there is relatively little surface activity or visuals on shore cruisers. Then after sunset at dusk if one is lucky enough to be there when a major sunset insect hatch rises, something amazing happens as not only can looking west one see rippling lake surface waters but as it is a lake with a most acrobatic fish species, the coastal rainbow trout, the sound of myriad fish plopping.

[SSSdave]

We've hiked cross-country down Falls Creek from above Lake Vernon over some very steep granite. Once we were down, my wife said: "I'm OK with us having done that, but if you ever take either of our two daughters on something like that I will kill you."
So far, I'm still alive.

Once backpacked up that way close to the west side of the creek. Huge mistake near the top as I monkeyed through dense willow thickets. Another time went down maybe 2000 feet further west where the topo lines eased a bit choosing going through the maze of huckleberry oak brush mixed with steep slab sections that was a major effort.