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Phil, Craig, & I took a week and ran the Dusy Ershim and Swamp Lake trails in mid August. The weather, scenery, trails, fishing, etc. were all great.
Here is a slide show: http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...view=slideshow
Here’s a recap of the trip
We drove to Courtright Reservoir and spend the Saturday night in the RV.
On Sunday we started the Dusy (leaving the RV at Courtright). In the first hour or two that morning, we caught up with a group of 9 rigs from Bear Valley Four Wheelers. We spent a couple hours with them while they were welding a broken tie rod, then following them once they got going.. They were packed much heavier that we were (two were pulling trailers), so after an hour or two, we passed them and headed for Thompson Lake. Apparently they had a couple other breakdowns after we passed them and several in the group had to turn around.
We got to Thompson Lake in early afternoon, looked around and continued on to Summit Lake (we’d read there are Golden Trout in Summit Lake). Summit Lake was pretty, but we saw no signs of fish in the lake (no fish in the shallows, none jumping the entire afternoon we were there). Maybe the low snow/run off had an impact; we saw no water flowing in or out of the lake. But it was a nice place to camp. A hawk put on a great show for us, catching a squirrel, then eating it just steps away from our camp.
We headed toward Ershim Lake on Monday. We stopped at East Lake after an hour or two. It looked like a great place to camp and fish, so we stopped there for the day. Fishing was great (all rainbows). I stopped counting after a dozen. We kept a few for dinner.
The trip to Ershim Lake went quickly on Tuesday, we got there just after noon. It was even prettier than East Lake, and the camp site was very nice. Flat open spots for tents, split pine log picnic tables, and just steps away from the lake. There were lots of fish jumping. I caught 6 – 8 nice brook trout that afternoon (all released), but fishing wasn’t as easy as it had been at East Lake.
The trip out Wednesday was scenic. There were several great views along the ridge line just before the trail end. We hit pavement and were in Huntington Lake area for lunch. We then took one jeep to Courtright to get the RV and moved it closer to the Swamp Lake trail head.
The Dusy route required our constant attention (lots of narrow paths between trees), but nothing that was terribly challenging. The Swamp Lake trip as a little tougher. But the trip was well worthwhile. The camp sites were nice, but not as good at Ershim. But, the lake was beautiful; clear, deep, with bolders along one side and steep walls along the other. There were fish in the lake; we’d see occasional jumpers, but I couldn’t get any to take a fly (the Stimulators, Adams, and Wooly Buggers that worked at the other lakes didn’t work here).
The trip out of Swamp Lake on Friday had a few twists. We spotted each other on a couple spots (pulled the winch line for one), then hit our only mechanical problem.
Phil broke a brake line. Normally, not a problem as we carry spare brake lines (the flexible part). But his hard line cracked just above the connection (we didn’t have spare hard lines). After a coupe fruitless attempts to tape up the crack (should have known that wouldn’t work); Phil pulled the line out of the master cylinder. Craig then took a 22 shell he found on the ground and cut off the casing part, leaving the round cap. Phil then used the brass cap as a plug and screwed back in the mater cylinder line, pressing in our plug. It held pressure. He now had three wheel brakes, but that was better than using the emergency brake. We got back into Shaver Lake by early afternoon, bought a line from Napa, found a different shop to bend & flare it, and all was good. Phil/Craig then headed home around 3:00 pm Friday. I drove to the RV, hooked up, and was headed home a couple hours later. A great way to spend a week in the Sierras!
Here are a couple pictures from the slideshow:
Courtright Reservoir:
Start of Dusy:
Summit Lake:
Wildlife at Summit Lake:
East Lake:
Ershim Lake:
Ershim Lake Fishing:
View of Huntington Lake:
Swamp Lake:
Cliff
Here is a slide show: http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...view=slideshow
Here’s a recap of the trip
We drove to Courtright Reservoir and spend the Saturday night in the RV.
On Sunday we started the Dusy (leaving the RV at Courtright). In the first hour or two that morning, we caught up with a group of 9 rigs from Bear Valley Four Wheelers. We spent a couple hours with them while they were welding a broken tie rod, then following them once they got going.. They were packed much heavier that we were (two were pulling trailers), so after an hour or two, we passed them and headed for Thompson Lake. Apparently they had a couple other breakdowns after we passed them and several in the group had to turn around.
We got to Thompson Lake in early afternoon, looked around and continued on to Summit Lake (we’d read there are Golden Trout in Summit Lake). Summit Lake was pretty, but we saw no signs of fish in the lake (no fish in the shallows, none jumping the entire afternoon we were there). Maybe the low snow/run off had an impact; we saw no water flowing in or out of the lake. But it was a nice place to camp. A hawk put on a great show for us, catching a squirrel, then eating it just steps away from our camp.
We headed toward Ershim Lake on Monday. We stopped at East Lake after an hour or two. It looked like a great place to camp and fish, so we stopped there for the day. Fishing was great (all rainbows). I stopped counting after a dozen. We kept a few for dinner.
The trip to Ershim Lake went quickly on Tuesday, we got there just after noon. It was even prettier than East Lake, and the camp site was very nice. Flat open spots for tents, split pine log picnic tables, and just steps away from the lake. There were lots of fish jumping. I caught 6 – 8 nice brook trout that afternoon (all released), but fishing wasn’t as easy as it had been at East Lake.
The trip out Wednesday was scenic. There were several great views along the ridge line just before the trail end. We hit pavement and were in Huntington Lake area for lunch. We then took one jeep to Courtright to get the RV and moved it closer to the Swamp Lake trail head.
The Dusy route required our constant attention (lots of narrow paths between trees), but nothing that was terribly challenging. The Swamp Lake trip as a little tougher. But the trip was well worthwhile. The camp sites were nice, but not as good at Ershim. But, the lake was beautiful; clear, deep, with bolders along one side and steep walls along the other. There were fish in the lake; we’d see occasional jumpers, but I couldn’t get any to take a fly (the Stimulators, Adams, and Wooly Buggers that worked at the other lakes didn’t work here).
The trip out of Swamp Lake on Friday had a few twists. We spotted each other on a couple spots (pulled the winch line for one), then hit our only mechanical problem.
Phil broke a brake line. Normally, not a problem as we carry spare brake lines (the flexible part). But his hard line cracked just above the connection (we didn’t have spare hard lines). After a coupe fruitless attempts to tape up the crack (should have known that wouldn’t work); Phil pulled the line out of the master cylinder. Craig then took a 22 shell he found on the ground and cut off the casing part, leaving the round cap. Phil then used the brass cap as a plug and screwed back in the mater cylinder line, pressing in our plug. It held pressure. He now had three wheel brakes, but that was better than using the emergency brake. We got back into Shaver Lake by early afternoon, bought a line from Napa, found a different shop to bend & flare it, and all was good. Phil/Craig then headed home around 3:00 pm Friday. I drove to the RV, hooked up, and was headed home a couple hours later. A great way to spend a week in the Sierras!
Here are a couple pictures from the slideshow:
Courtright Reservoir:
Start of Dusy:
Summit Lake:
Wildlife at Summit Lake:
East Lake:
Ershim Lake:
Ershim Lake Fishing:
View of Huntington Lake:
Swamp Lake:
Cliff
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