High Sierra Camping - with a twist! part 3

publication date: Jun 19, 2007

We're back in the Sequoia National Park again for the final part of this trilogy where another hiking and fishing adventure is just about to begin.....

There’s no smoke…….
After a second excellent night in camp we made our farewells and headed back down to the trailhead to pick up our car. Working our way back along Big Meadows Horse Corral road we kept an eye open for the turnoff to the Fox Meadow trailhead which was the gateway to Weaver Lake our second destination of the trip. Weaver and Jennie Lakes are the largest two bodies of water in the Jennie Lakes wilderness area, and as such are popular hiking destinations. Happily the trailhead car-park was empty when we arrived and we only saw 2 or 3 small groups all day on the trail so largely had the area to ourselves. The trail itself was again about a couple of miles in length but was elevation gain all the way which made for frequent rest stops to catch our breath. As these increased in frequency I was getting harsher and harsher stares to my insistency of “it’s got to be just around the next corner” or “just over the next rise”. Luckily we were able to continue on and soon enough we came out of the deeply wooded hillside into a more open forest of rocks and scattered pines with the faint smell of wood smoke in the air. We had seen smoke on the drive in earlier several ridges away and assumed a forest fire was underway somewhere but it was far enough away not to be a worry. We were later to find out it was a small blaze up above the Wuksachi Lodge that was being allowed to burn to rejuvenate the forest in that location.

Weaver Lake
As we finally came to some level ground around a thousand feet higher than when we had set out, tantalizing glimpses of water sparkling in the sunshine could be seen through the trees. As we moved towards it, Weaver Lake spread out before us in a tree-lined amphitheatre backed by a screen and rock slope. With stands of reeds and soft grasses around its edges and a few boulders and downed logs for access, this was a perfect little mountain jewel and some scattered rings breaking the surface showed that we were not alone. It was also obvious that this lake does receive some angling pressure as evidenced by the brightly colored patches of pinks and greens daubed onto some of best fishing rocks. I wondered if these wild little mountain trout even know what to do with a lump of powerbait – we moved on hoping they did not.
The lake water is extremely clear and by standing still for a while you can soon get to see the location of feeding trout and often the culprits themselves. The depth of the lake seemed to vary with the end closest the trail being shallow, and the far end plunging away to quite a depth it seemed beyond a small ledge just off the shore. Typical of these clear lakes that receive some angling pressure, the majority of the rises were out in the middle beyond casting range, but there was still enough activity close in to give us hope.

 
No such thing as a free meal!
Tying on the same small yellow hopper pattern I had used successfully the previous day, my daughter and I proceeded to stalk quietly along the edge of the lake looking for fish. We passed up a couple of tiny brookies until we found a better sized individual that was working to and fro along the shaded face of a boulder. Very occasionally it would make a detour to the surface to check something out and so while it swam slowly away from me I cast the hopper to the near end of its patrol route, thinking it would be happy to find a free meal waiting for it upon its return. Well that’s sort of what happened, except that I guess these fish are hungry as that trout turned on a dime as the fly was about to reach the surface and raced back, leaping clear out of the water with my fly in its mouth in its haste to snatch an easy snack. A few acrobatics later and I was cradling our first Weaver Lake brook trout for its photo call. Even though it did not have the red and blue spots of the creek fish, I am still always taken aback at the crispness of the white edges to the lower fins which themselves have that wonderful crimson color.
The 4 weight outfit was perfectly at home here, as with all the trees around, long back casts were neither practical or necessary as there were enough fish around the edge to keep us occupied. As we worked around towards the back of the lake a couple more lively individuals came our way, as well as quite a few short strikes from very small, yet very ambitious brookies. It seems there are plenty of young fish in place to keep the population going which is always good to see, especially as a few fish get taken for the frying pan without doubt. If I came back I would be very tempted to camp out and so be able to fish in the early morning and late evening light when perhaps a few more of those distant fish we had seen rising all day may be persuaded the cruise the shoreline. In fact there were a handful of fire rings dotted around the lake and I could not imagine a nicer place to spend a night or two.

Information
For information on the Sequoia High Sierra Camp, you can check out all the details on their website. I was told the summer months for 2007 are already getting booked up fast now the word is out.
If you need to acclimatize before heading up to the camp, or spend a night as we did on our way to the rest of the parks attractions, then the Wuksachi Lodge is highly recommended.
For more general information on the area check out the following web pages; -

Visit Sequoia 
Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

While you are in the park, if you do nothing else then at least go visit the General Sherman Tree, the largest living thing on the planet. Walking underneath the giant Sequoias is awe inspiring and is even more amazing when you consider they have been alive for a couple of thousand years or more.

Related Articles - High Sierra part 1 : High Sierra Part 2