Hello VFBers, I wanted to give a brief trip report from this past weekend. Friday night Sarah and I went on a backpacking excursion with a friend and his daughter to the Eastern Sierras (Onion Valley). We spent the weekend camped by Matlock lake at about 10,500', mostly hanging around and fishing this lake and 4 others. For those who have never seen this area (I had not been there before this trip), these small lakes occupy "shelves" on the steep slopes of the mountains. The cliffs rise high above and are quite rocky and rugged with a few types of pine trees and some willows scattered about. The areas immediately surrounding the lakes are quite green with a wide variety of plants, wildflowers, trees, etc. Most of the lakes are interconnected by very steep "streams" (read - somewhat-less-than-vertical waterfalls....i.e...there IS no drag-free drift!). Thus, water from a high-level lake flows down to the next lower, and so on. It's a very beautiful sight. As for the fishing...brookies, brookies, and a few more brookies here and there. This was also my first experience with a brookie - and I definitely made up for lost time! This is by no means a bragadocious claim pertaining to my angling skills but, rather, a statement as to the generosity of the fish. One of the lakes also had some nice rainbows. All of the fish were "small" by river standards (my largest was perhaps 10")...but all were fun and very beautiful, even without spawning colors.
If anyone wants any more information on the lakes please contact me. The hike in isn't very far but it does start at about 9000 feet (the highest lake we fished was around 11,000'). Also - if any of you West Coasters are interested in organizing a trip...well....let's talk about it. Chris
