Coyote Flats 5-25-2013
OK, first real “Trip Report” on the new forum..here we go:
Well, like pretty much all of my Sierra Trips, after not sleeping well, I woke at about 4am and decided to head out to the sierras. I had a good 5-6 hour drive to figure out where I wanted to go. A few weeks ago, I hit Whitney for some hiking/mountaineering. This weekend I decided I wanted to go further up to Bishop are and do some good old fashion relaxing. I through pretty much ALL my gear in my truck, mt biking gear, fly fishing gear, backcountry backpacking gear, etc so that I would not be limited by anything when I got wherever I was going. Having decided I wanted to relax and fish in the Bishop area, Coyote Flats was an obvious choice, so as I drove past the wind turbines beyond Rosemond, the decision was made….
COYOTE FLAT, here I come.
When I first got to Bishop, I was greeted by MASSSSIVE crowds, then I realized, shoot memorial day weekend, its Mule Days (if you have never attended this festival in Bishop, I HIGHLY suggest you do, it’s a lot of fun, however, I had a plan, so had to pass on it this year). But of course, had to snap a quick pic as I drive through the backroads of Bishop to pick up fire permit (they actually close 395 down during mule days, so you have to take “detours”)
Onward to the dirt, though I couldn’t pass this and not take a pic (for those that don’t know, my last name is Barlow)
Here we are at the flats, now, where to go..
I decided to make basecamp at funnel lake, even though PRIMO camp sites are over at Coyote Lake. I wanted to fish, and Coyote is a dry lake. So off we go (and of course I took a few side trails I had wanted to take last time I was up here:
Quick side note, for those that are wondering what happens when you hit a steep snow bank that is hard packed snow…you SLIDE, in this case, off the side of the road. Luckily a very kind boulder decided to stop my truck from rolling completely off the road, but that nice rock left me a reminder to be a bit more careful on hard packed snow. haha
And this my friends, is why I will never own a PRIUS
(Yes this was staged, I am solo..DEAL WITH IT)
And here we are, Night 1 Camp (or as I later deemed it, Basecamp) at Funnel Lake.
Later that Evening
Time to get some fishing in, I decided to hike up to Rocky Bottom Lake, as it’s a bit more remote (you have to hike a little), so I figured less fished. Even though Funnel Lake is pretty remote, for those that don’t know where it is, it’s about 1.5-2 hour drive BACK through some 4wd Low type of terrain, you won’t see many ppl there. And here we go.
The Hunter:
The Prey:
Rocky Bottom Lake
I know the first question everyone will ask is (did you catch anything)…well thanks for not letting me forget my screwup! As a matter of fact, NO I DID NOT CATCH ANYTHING! Haha, turns out I grabbed the wrong fly box when I packed, so all my trout flies were resting nicely at home, while my BRAND NEW and VERY EMPTY fly box decided to accompany me on this trip. Luckily I still had a single mosquito that was already on my pole so I did get a bit of fishing in, however, a VERY nice sized rainbow got hold of it and I didn’t tire him out enough….my lone mosquito is not hanging out with a fish that is STILL in Rocky Bottom Lake…..”until next time fish, I will get my fly back!”
Next day, I decided to do some backcountry mountain biking since fishing was now out. I loaded up my backcourty camping gear and hit the road on my bike. Now for those that bike, when you are at 10-11K, it’s a bit harder than back home at sea level. Anyway, after huffing and puffing for a few hours, I arrived at a PRIMO camp site next to Coyote Lake. Set up my hammock and had camp ready to go.
With tarp because weather in the Sierras chances in a matter of seconds
And yes, that is my camp chair in the middle of nowhere, nothing like reading the new Dan Brown while basking in the Eastern Sierra Sun (trust me, it IS a different sun than anywhere else)
I then decided to do a few hours of hiking around and just general picture taking
Gotta have a flower shot
While I was up there, I did see one other soul, and whatta ya know, he was an expeditionportal member (I’m sorry I cannot remember his screen name though). Anyway he let me know about a super secret squirrel trail with EPIC views, so, of course, I had to check it out…and let me tell you, he was right…the following views was the perfect end to a great trip.
And back down into Bishop:
OK, first real “Trip Report” on the new forum..here we go:
Well, like pretty much all of my Sierra Trips, after not sleeping well, I woke at about 4am and decided to head out to the sierras. I had a good 5-6 hour drive to figure out where I wanted to go. A few weeks ago, I hit Whitney for some hiking/mountaineering. This weekend I decided I wanted to go further up to Bishop are and do some good old fashion relaxing. I through pretty much ALL my gear in my truck, mt biking gear, fly fishing gear, backcountry backpacking gear, etc so that I would not be limited by anything when I got wherever I was going. Having decided I wanted to relax and fish in the Bishop area, Coyote Flats was an obvious choice, so as I drove past the wind turbines beyond Rosemond, the decision was made….
COYOTE FLAT, here I come.
When I first got to Bishop, I was greeted by MASSSSIVE crowds, then I realized, shoot memorial day weekend, its Mule Days (if you have never attended this festival in Bishop, I HIGHLY suggest you do, it’s a lot of fun, however, I had a plan, so had to pass on it this year). But of course, had to snap a quick pic as I drive through the backroads of Bishop to pick up fire permit (they actually close 395 down during mule days, so you have to take “detours”)
Onward to the dirt, though I couldn’t pass this and not take a pic (for those that don’t know, my last name is Barlow)
Here we are at the flats, now, where to go..
I decided to make basecamp at funnel lake, even though PRIMO camp sites are over at Coyote Lake. I wanted to fish, and Coyote is a dry lake. So off we go (and of course I took a few side trails I had wanted to take last time I was up here:
Quick side note, for those that are wondering what happens when you hit a steep snow bank that is hard packed snow…you SLIDE, in this case, off the side of the road. Luckily a very kind boulder decided to stop my truck from rolling completely off the road, but that nice rock left me a reminder to be a bit more careful on hard packed snow. haha
And this my friends, is why I will never own a PRIUS
(Yes this was staged, I am solo..DEAL WITH IT)
And here we are, Night 1 Camp (or as I later deemed it, Basecamp) at Funnel Lake.
Later that Evening
Time to get some fishing in, I decided to hike up to Rocky Bottom Lake, as it’s a bit more remote (you have to hike a little), so I figured less fished. Even though Funnel Lake is pretty remote, for those that don’t know where it is, it’s about 1.5-2 hour drive BACK through some 4wd Low type of terrain, you won’t see many ppl there. And here we go.
The Hunter:
The Prey:
Rocky Bottom Lake
I know the first question everyone will ask is (did you catch anything)…well thanks for not letting me forget my screwup! As a matter of fact, NO I DID NOT CATCH ANYTHING! Haha, turns out I grabbed the wrong fly box when I packed, so all my trout flies were resting nicely at home, while my BRAND NEW and VERY EMPTY fly box decided to accompany me on this trip. Luckily I still had a single mosquito that was already on my pole so I did get a bit of fishing in, however, a VERY nice sized rainbow got hold of it and I didn’t tire him out enough….my lone mosquito is not hanging out with a fish that is STILL in Rocky Bottom Lake…..”until next time fish, I will get my fly back!”
Next day, I decided to do some backcountry mountain biking since fishing was now out. I loaded up my backcourty camping gear and hit the road on my bike. Now for those that bike, when you are at 10-11K, it’s a bit harder than back home at sea level. Anyway, after huffing and puffing for a few hours, I arrived at a PRIMO camp site next to Coyote Lake. Set up my hammock and had camp ready to go.
With tarp because weather in the Sierras chances in a matter of seconds
And yes, that is my camp chair in the middle of nowhere, nothing like reading the new Dan Brown while basking in the Eastern Sierra Sun (trust me, it IS a different sun than anywhere else)
I then decided to do a few hours of hiking around and just general picture taking
Gotta have a flower shot
While I was up there, I did see one other soul, and whatta ya know, he was an expeditionportal member (I’m sorry I cannot remember his screen name though). Anyway he let me know about a super secret squirrel trail with EPIC views, so, of course, I had to check it out…and let me tell you, he was right…the following views was the perfect end to a great trip.
And back down into Bishop:
