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We have close friends who have been "camper folks" for most their married life. Since the Lady and I have joined the fold with our FWC/ATC hybrid camper, they have wanted to do a joint trip with us. The long Labor Day weekend was that opportunity. Based on information gleaned from Bill Sunderland's book FlyFishing the Sierra Nevada, we choose the Highway 108 area east of Sonora Pass. Taking off on Friday afternoon we were concerned if any camping spots would be available on a holiday weekend. Leavitt Meadows Campground was our choice as it is right at the trailhead for the Hoover Wilderness. Arriving around 6:30 in the evening we found 4 empty campsites (out of 16) and snagged the one we liked.
Saturday's
plan was to hike a couple of miles to the south to some small lakes. As we were
starting out we were pleasantly surprised to meet another Wander the West member, pvstoy. They were
beginning a three day backpack trip. Very nice surprise!
We took the
high trail south that puts us on the ridge top east of Leavitt Meadows and the
West Walker River. This gave nice vistas to the east of Pickel Meadows and the
Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.
and
beautiful Leavitt Meadows to the southwest.
The day
turned warm and we turned lazy. deciding to wander and explore around Secret
Lake, swim, read and nap.
Actually
there is hardly anything more fun than swimming in a cold alpine lake and I
must work hard to keep up with the Lady.
We returned
to camp late afternoon via the West Walker Trail along the eastern edge of
Leavitt Meadows.
Sunday we
hiked south into the Hoover Wilderness………………..
…………………..so
I could do some fly fishing at Roosevelt Lake
……………….and
Lane Lake
In a short
time I had caught and released several plump Brook Trout all around a foot
long. The Lady and our friends wandered and explored and came back with stories
about crawdads. Both lakes have big populations of crawdads and backpackers were catching
and boiling them up along with a line of day hikers all equipped with white
buckets for taking crawdads back for an evening feast.
Although
these close in destinations were busy, it was real nice to see all the family
groups with young children backpacking. It gives us hope for the future.
Along the
trail in the aspens we found this remarkable piece of penmanship from 1939.
Monday
morning we were enjoying our first cup of coffee when the Marines came through
on an early morning run. If you visit this area east of Sonora Pass, be aware
that Marines can be training throughout this area.
After
packing up, we decided to do some sightseeing up Sonora Pass.
On the way
back down we stopped at the overlook of Leavitt Falls.
We did see
that in the higher areas along 108 east of Sonora Pass there are several areas
available for dispersed camping. We will remember these spots for future trips.
Although it was a holiday weekend, each night there were 2 or 3 available
campsites in the campground.
On the drive
home to the north we stopped to see how the West Walker Canyon along Highway
395 is recovering from the New Years 1997 flood event. Huge scars are still
evident but it is nice to see the return of some riparian vegetation.
All in all,
it was a nice relaxing trip with good friends and fairly close to home - a nice holiday weekend getaway.
