The lakes | Alpine Lakes

Kaiser Wilderness

Long lake (no official trailhead. Best accessed from Pryor Lake)

I often speculated about this lake as it appeared to be far off of the beaten path and therefore an intriguing place to visit. One day I got to looking at the topo map while at nearby Walling Lake, and concluded that Long was just on the other side of the ridge.

It is, in fact, just on the other side of the ridge, and way, way down at the bottom of a cliff. Getting there involves either risking your neck descending a cliff, or skirting around the ridge looking for a safe descent. The latter involves a lot more traversing than it appears to on studying the map.

When I finally arrived at long lake, I made two discoveries. The first was that Long Lake is populated by starving brook trout with big heads and bodies like eels. The second was that there is fairly easy access from Pryor Lake, just below. I met a party of hikers who had done just that.

Long Lake is pretty, but not a destination for the fly angler. It doesn’t appear to have much area for camping, either.

Pryor Lake

This lake is on the West side of the Kaiser Wilderness at an elevation of about 8,500 feet. It gets few visitors, probably due to the road accessing it, and the fact that there is no official trail. Fishing here can be challenging because of brush, and the fact that it sits in a bowl, leaving little room to make a back cast. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of trout in the lake, but there are a lot of insects for them to feed on, making for some rather large and heavy fish that can be caught by the experienced angler.

Pryor is a lovely mountain lake, quite deep, with an imposing cliff in the background. There are a couple of campsites near the outlet stream, but not room to camp a lot of people. It is a good place to come for solitude and scenery. The intrepid explorer bent on visiting Long Lake might want to make this a stop along the way.

College, Campfire, and Jewel Lakes:

These are very similar, small glacial tarns really, that are a short cross country jaunt from nearby George Lake. They are populated by small trout. This is an interesting area to explore while visiting George Lake.

Avalanche Lake:

This is a small lake that can be accessed from the Sample Meadow campground. It involves cross country travel, best done by those adept at the use of topographic maps and GPS units. I’ve only visited it once, and was quickly run off by a thunderstorm. I have no idea whether there are trout in the lake or not.

Upper Twin Lake

This is one of the most interesting lakes in the area, also one of the biggest and deepest. It has a large island in the middle, which looks like the other side when seen from the shore, making the lake appear much smaller than it actually is.

This lake drains through a small natural cave in the rock. You can see where it enters the cave as well as where it exits, on two sides of the hill. During spring runoff, the cave is often not large enough to accommodate all of the meltwater entering the lake. The result is that the lake level rises a dozen feet or so, but only until the spring runoff is over.

Another thing about this lake is its self-sustaining population of rainbow trout. Most of the lakes in this area have only brooks, as brooks can spawn in the lake itself. The reason they thrive in Upper Twin is that there is a feeder stream in which the rainbows can spawn. They can be seen in the spring, swimming up the feeder stream that comes from George Lake, above.

Even though Upper Twin and nearby Lower Twin are called twins, they really don’t look much alike. Lower Twin is much smaller and shallower. I had been told that there were no fish in Lower Twin. Once, while I repeated that to a group of hikers, a fish jumped out in the middle, proving me wrong.

So, there could be some trout in Lower Twin, but I’ll fish the upper. It’s only a hundred yards or so farther.

There are two trails that access Upper Twin. The one from the Sample Meadow Road is shorter and easier. The other, the one from Kaiser Pass Road still is only about three miles. This is not such a difficult lake to access. Moreover, there is a third lake about a mile from Upper Twin. It is called George Lake, and may be worth the extra effort, at least once.

Dinkey Lakes

Note on the name of Dinkey Lakes: First, no, the name is not misspelled, and no, it doesn’t refer to the size of the area or of the lakes. It seems a little dog named Dinkey that belonged to the early explorers of the area was killed by a bear. Dinkey Lakes was named after the dog.

Disclaimer: Fishing in these lakes varies from year to year, and from early to late season. Generally, the best fishing is early and late, meaning both early and late in the season, and in the day.

So, if you get skunked where I said there were fish, don’t blame me.

First Dinkey Lake (Willow Meadow Trailhead)

This is a fairly large circular lake that is surrounded by meadow on most of its perimeter. It is deep and blue, with a view of Three Sisters Peak from the near side. When you first arrive from the Willow Meadow Trailhead, there is a grove of small trees providing shade and a place to have lunch and enjoy the view. This area is making a comeback from campers who at one time would ignore wilderness etiquette and camp near the lake. Sometimes, there is a fire ring here. If you find one, the best action is to scatter the rocks and cover it over so as not to encourage people to camp here in the future. It is a wonderful picnic area, but the camping is farther around the lake.

The fishing at First Dinkey approaches being a sure thing. The trout here are mostly brooks, all fat and well fed. Once in a while, you may catch a rainbow, but not often. Fishing is good all around the lake. There is plenty of room for back casts over the meadow. The water becomes deep enough for trout quite close to shore, making this a good place for beginning fly anglers to cast without hanging up on a tree, and still have a better than even chance of success without having to make a long cast. First Dinkey is a great lake for fly anglers, both experienced and inexperienced.

Campsites at First Dinkey are quite popular and well used. If you continue around the lake toward South Lake, however, there is a huge area between the two lakes where there are nice flat campsites with plenty of fire wood. Whether you are camping at South or first Dinkey is a moot point as the two are so close together.

It is about three miles to First Dinkey.

South Lake (Willow Meadow Trail)

South Lake is no more than a half mile or so from First Dinkey as the crow flies, and is similar to it in a lot of ways. It, too, is populated by fat trout, but has a lot more rainbows. It is more challenging to fish than First Dinkey, not because of the trout, but because of the topography. Much of the lakeshore is shallow, requiring the angler to either wade, or make longer casts. There is some deeper water on the steeper side of the lake. Moreover, there are a lot more trees around South Lake. South Lake is another great fly fishing lake, but has more challenges for the beginner.

Camping here is between this lake and First Dinkey, as described above.

Swede lake (Willow Meadow Trailhed)

This lake is surrounded mostly by trees and cliffs. It has a good population of trout, most of them fat and healthy. It is a great destination, or just a place to stop fish awhile before continuing on to somewhere else. The best campsites here are on the ridge on the west side of the lake. It is about another mile past South Lake, or roughly 4 1/2 altogether.

Mystery Lake (Willow Meadow Trailhead)

This lake is about 1/12 miles from the trailhead via a side trail and up a steep hill, or 5 ½ around the loop from First Dinkey and Swede. It is close to the trailhead, and therefore well used. While there are rainbows in Mystery, I’ve never found them to be terribly numerous or easy to catch. The best camping is on the west side of the lake, away from the trail.

Rainbow Lake (Cross country from Swede)

Rainbow has no trail to it, and is therefore less visited than the others. As its name implies, it does have rainbow trout in it, but not overly many. It makes a good side trip from Swede Lake.

Second Dinkey Lake (Willow Meadow Trailhead)

This is a small alpine lake situated above South Lake. I don’t think it has trout, but I could be wrong. It is a pretty little lake. It is above South Lake on the way to Island Lake.

Island Lake (Cliff Lake or Willow Meadow Trailhead)

This is the highest of the Dinkey Lakes. It is surrounded mostly by granite, with a grassy area near the inlet. It has a close up view of Three Sisters Peak, and is, in fact, a good jumping off point for climbing that peak. If you do, you will find a log book on top, where you can record your ascent and read the accounts of those who came before.

There is good camping at Island Lake, but not much wood. It is, in fact, above the elevation at which wood fires are encouraged, which is no doubt why only a few dozen fire rings are found there. You can help preserve this area by dismantling as many of them as you can.

The last time I camped at Island Lake, I encountered a huge fire ring right on the shore of the lake and festooned with empty packages and other trash. I cleaned it up, filled it in, and packed out the trash. If I thought you were that kind of camper, I would not give you accurate directions to these special places, so don’t disappoint me.

Fishing is quite good in Island Lake. Access to the water is good, there is plenty of room to cast, and the trout are usually cooperative. Island Lake has rainbow golden hybrids. I’ve never caught a brookie there, but have caught hybrids to 12”, which is a good size for these high lakes.

It is about 6 or 7 miles to Island Lake via Cliff Lake or Willow Meadow Trailhead.

Rock Lake (Willow Meadow or Courtwright Trailhead)

This is another small, pretty alpine lake, of which there are many in the Sierra. It is pretty close to being in the center of the Dinkey lakes wilderness, and so it can be accessed from Willow Meadow, or from Courtwright. There are good campsites here, and fish in the lakes, however I don’t remember fishing there to be particularly memorable. It is about six miles to Rock Lake via either trailhead.

Cliff Lake (Cliff Lake Trailhead)

This is a fairly large and deep lake. Since it is the first lake encountered on the Cliff Lake trailhead, it is quite popular, however there is ample room for quite a lot of campers, so it doesn’t seem to be crowded,.

The trout in Cliff Lake are brookies. They are smaller than the ones in First Dinkey, averaging perhaps 8”, but there are a lot of them. Fishing here can be a lot of fun, and easy enough for beginners, just don’t expect to land a trophy.

Nelson Lakes (Cliff Lake Trailhead)

This one is off the beaten path, and therefore not as popular as some of the other lakes. It is a wonderful destination both for day hikes and campers once the mosquito season is over. There are a lot of boggy meadows in the area, and therefore a lot of mosquitoes. There are many comfortable campsites along the northwest shore of the lower lake, and plenty of wood.

Nelson is surrounded partly by grassy meadow, and partly by trees. For the fly angler, the part surrounded by meadow is the best section to fish, unless, of course, you enjoy the challenge of getting your fly down from the top of a tree.

Fishing in Nelson is good. The trout are brookies, and average from 10-12”, There are plenty of them, so even a beginner has a good chance of landing some. There appears to be plenty of food for them, as they are fat and healthy looking, but they aren’t hard to fool with a fly that looks vaguely like a bug of some kind. They aren’t picky.

Upper Nelson Lake is only about a quarter of a mile from the main lake described above. There is no trail, but following the drainage from the upper to lower lake will lead you there. The stream flowing into lower Nelson Lake is on the opposite end of the lake from where the trail ends. If angling is your objective, it is better to stay at the lower lake. If it is solitude, you are virtually certain to find it at the upper lake.

Look for Nelson Mountain and Brown Peak, both visible from the lake and both easy ascents for non mountain climbers like me. Views of surrounding lakes and the Sierra are the reward for a boulder scramble.

Bullfrog lake (Cliff Lake Trailhead)

This one is on the way to Cliff Lake. I once spent a couple of nights at this lake with my brother in law, his son, and son in law. The destination was chosen by one of the youngsters, who had heard that the fishing there was excellent.

We did catch a couple of six inch brookies there.

It is a pretty little lake with a good camp site with plenty of wood. I don’t recommend it as a fishing destination, however.

Our Bullfrog Lake trip was an interesting hike weather wise. I had warned the other campers about mosquitoes, as this was the first part of July. We had no mosquitoes for one reason: It was too cold for the bloodthirsty little buggers. Every morning around 11:00 or so, the clouds moved in. By noon or so, it started to rain. By mid afternoon, the rain turned to hail. Temperatures never made it out of the 40s.

The lesson there is that you never can count on the weather.

Little Lake (Cliff Lake or Willow Meadow Trailhead)

Once while on an overnight trip, our group decided to go to Little Lake. Since I had never been there, it seemed like a good idea.

Little lake is not very pretty, nor does it have a lot of fish in it. The only reason I can see to visit it is to say you’ve been there.

Red Lake (Red Mountain Trailhead)

This lake is smaller than nearby Coyote, its waters are not as clear, and the fishing is not as good. I don’t recommend spending a lot of time there, but, if you do go, there is the option of a boulder scramble to the top of Red Mountain. Red mountain has memorable views from the top.

Coyote Lake (Red Mountain Trailhead or Willow Meadow via First Dinkey Lake)

This is one of the largest and prettiest lakes in the High Sierra, and one that is not heavily used despite having fairly easy access. Backpackers seem to avoid it, possibly because it has a jeep trail leading to it and is therefore not totally a wilderness lake. Four wheelers do go there, but there aren’t many people who have vehicles that can negotiate the road. The result is a spectacular mountain lake that can be reached on a day trip from Fresno, yet is not generally crowded.

There is an established campground on the north side of the lake, maintained by the four wheel drive clubs.

You might think that having vehicle access to a high lake would bring an impact in the form of back country yahoos who leave their trash behind and don’t subscribe to the wilderness ethic. That isn’t the case, however, as the four wheel drive enthusiasts have no more impact on the area than backpackers and horse packers seem to have in other areas.

In short, if you don’t go to Coyote Lake, you’re missing out.

Fishing in Coyote is quite good. The biggest rainbows in the area swim its crystalline depths. I have landed rainbows there as long as 16”, considerably bigger than the trout just over the ridge in First Dinkey, and that’s without adding the usual 2” for exaggeration. There are blue damsels there, sometimes motivating trout to jump clear out of the water chasing them.

Coyote Lake is the only one I know of that has its own website. This is the URL: http://www.totalescape.com/destin/lakes/coyoteW.html

It is roughly four miles to Coyote Lake via First Dinkey, maybe three via Red Mountain.

Coyote Lake

Nelson Lake

Brewer Lake (Brewer Lake Trailhead)

This is a small and heavily used lake that is quite easily accessed. There is a jeep trail that can actually be negotiated by an unmodified 4wd if the driver is careful and is brave enough to try it. You can mountain bike it as well. It is about 3 miles from the trailhead. Nevertheless, it has a good population of rainbows, mostly around 10” or so.

Beryl lake (Brewer Lake Trailhead)

Beryl is a small mountain lake surrounded by trees. It is seldom visited, and quite a nice place to linger a while. There are good campsites here that aren’t often used. The last time I visited this lake, I saw a campsite with a fire ring with pine needles still in the middle of it, indicating that no fires had been built there that year. You won’t see pine needles in the fire rings at many of the other lakes.

Beryl Lake has some surprisingly large rainbows, as long as 14”. There aren’t a lot of them, but there are enough to make it worth while to wet a line and linger here for a while. It is only about a mile from Brewer Lake.

Rainbow from George Lake

Tocher lake (Brewer Lake Trailhead)

This is close to being a twin of nearby Beryl Lake. What I wrote about Beryl applies also here.

I’m not sure whether the “ch” in the middle of its name should be pronounced like the “ch” in choose, or like a K. I’ve assumed the latter, as that gives me the chance to say that it was named after a hippie dude in the ‘60s.

If someone tells you that, don’t believe them.

It is another mile or so from Beryl Lake.

There you have the lakes of the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness. Red, Brewer, Beryl, and Tocher are actually outside of the wilderness boundary, but they are in the same area and are similar to the lakes that were included in it.

Tocher Lake

Jennie Lakes Wilderness

There are only two lakes here, nearby Weaver and a little farther away Jennie.

Weaver Lake (Big Meadow Trailhead)

Weaver Lake is a beautiful little lake in the shadow of Shell Mountain. It is easy to access, and therefore very popular. July and August generally finds it full of day hikers, back packers, horse riders, swimmers, and dogs. For anglers and seekers of solitude, it’s best to visit either very early or very late in the season. Early generally means as soon as the road is open for the summer, and can be as early as May or as late as July, depending on how much snow fell during the winter and how warm the spring has been. Late starts about October and goes until the snow starts to fly and the Forest Service closes the Big Meadow road, which is not plowed in winter.

There are good campsites at Weaver, but you have to get there before someone else does. Lots of people camp at Weaver.

Fishing in Weaver is generally pretty good, despite the use it gets. There is a good population of fat brooks. There are fewer rainbows, but enough to keep things interesting. Most of the trout are in the 10 to 12 inch range, though there are some smaller brooks, indicating successful reproduction. I doubt that the rainbows reproduce naturally, as there is no feeder stream in which to spawn.

This lake is very clear, and quite shallow around the edges. Trout, therefore, can be easily spooked, particularly on calm days, sometimes requiring long light leaders and small flies. It also has quite a lot of insects, which allows trout to be picky. Fishing can be a challenge at times, but the trout are definitely there. The patient angler can do quite well. It is just over 2 miles via Fox Meadow, 3 via Big Meadow.

Jennie Lake

Jennie Lake is farther from the trailhead, and therefore more difficult to reach. Fewer people visit it than visit Weaver, so it is less crowded. There are good campsites there, with plenty of wood.

This Lake is quit deep, very clear, and has a good population of brook and rainbow trout. The first time I fished this lake, I hooked a trout on the very first cast. A couple of other trout followed it in, making me think the lake must be a sure thing. It really isn’t always that good, but it does come close sometimes. It is about 5 miles from Fox Meadow, 6 from Big Meadow.

Weaver Lake is best visited in the early or late season. Seen here: Just after ice out in May.