At 10,000 Ft. Elevation

Last weekend my son-in-law, Cody, and I took a back-pack trip in the Twenty Lakes Wilderness area, way over on the other side of the Sierras, just twenty minutes West of Highway 395.  We drove over on Friday, moteled it in Lee Vining, and then drove back up to Saddlebag Lake Saturday morning.  We took the water taxi to the far end of the lake and then began our hike into the Inyo Wilderness Area.  (They should have called it the Mosquito Wilderness Area.) 

We had no destination in mind…we were simply looking for trout.  We had our fly-rods with us, along with plenty of food, some clothing, and our sleeping bags and tents.  What we found up there at 10,000 feet is what I mentioned to Cody as being what the Garden of Eden must have looked like.  I took lots of pictures, and I’ve shown a couple here, but a one-dimensional photo barely gives a glimpse of the awesome beauty of God’s creation in this mountainous lake-filled terrain.

We found lots of fish, and we could tell that they weren’t pressured by lots of fishermen.  (That’s what you get when you are willing to hike for the fish.)  They were actually pretty easy to catch, and the breath-taking color of these brook trout is only found in wild fish…along with their fight.  Hatchery fish are dull in color by comparison, and they lack the fight.  There were times that I was sure I had a twelve-inch brookie on, and I pulled in a 3-incher!  We caught and released over 50 fish on Saturday.

But the highlight of the trip was really the stars.  Have you ever seen the stars on a moonless night, from 10,000 feet elevation?  The word “breathless” is simply too trite to use for the magnificence of the glory of the heavenlies that were shown above.  It seemed that I could simply reach up to touch them; they were so close….and so many!  If only my little camera could have taken a worthwhile picture!