Re: Lakes in Yosemite

I just reserved a Merced/Sunrise pass through wilderness permit for mid June. Im planning on hicking from Yosemite Valley to Merced Lake then makeing my way around the lakes in the area for the next few days. Lakes including Emeric,Bernice,WashBurn and Evelyn. I was wanting to know what the camping and fishing are like and if i should shy away from any of them. THANKS

They're all good. Have a ball.

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Old Dude

I would recommend staying at the E end Fletcher (the Vogelsang HSC is not scheduled to open until early July so the region should be fairly unpopulated; most backpackers also camp at the W end of the meadow, a stone's throw from the HSC) or the unnamed lake a mile E of Evelyn rather than Evelyn. Both areas are much prettier than Evelyn which is basically located in a depression of a barren plain (although there are trees on the E side of Evelyn). Early in the season, I've also encountered dense black clouds of insects (think biblical plague proportions) around Evelyn - much worse than any of the other lakes or meadows in the area (although Boothe can be rather horrendous also).

At any rate, you will want to avoid camping too close to lakes and meadows so as to minimize insect attacks. In this respect, my experience has been that camping around tree-shaded streams is a far preferable alternative.

If you stay at Fletcher, you are not allowed to camp between the trail and the lake. There is an excellent camping spot on a small, tree-covered rise about 0.2 mi. N of the trail when you reach the E end of the lake; the shaded, cooler area of the rise tends to discourage the bugs from bothering you there. A nice added touch is that there is also a small waterfall feeding into the lake at that end.

X2 regarding east end of Fletcher lake. Beautiful spot.

Mid June this year. Enjoy da snow.

I like Townsley better than Fletcher. Hanging Basket and Fletcher gots fishy. Good fish-on there.
Cutthroats in Hanging. (catchy release please)

Evelyn... uh... We completely skip that lake by xcountry Fletch to Ireland.

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While preparing for my hike around the Vogelsang area last summer, I came across this photostream of good size rainbows from Evelyn Lake.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colorchemist/3735816724/in/set-72157621672491084/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colorchemist/3735020107/in/set-72157621672491084/

I too wish that people would do catch and release instead of fishing out a good spot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2010 10:46PM by KenS.

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KenS
While preparing for my hike around the Vogelsang area last summer, I came across this photostream of good size rainbows from Evelyn Lake.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colorchemist/3735816724/in/set-72157621672491084/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colorchemist/3735020107/in/set-72157621672491084/

I too wish that people would do catch and release instead of fishing out a good spot.

Yes. Although Rainbows are an introduced species in the High Sierra and in that respect are subject to removal when the goal is to return lakes to an untrammeled state.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Interesting. I wouldn't think that Evelyn would have fish. Guess you learn something every day.
Only been by Evelyn once with the xcountry bypass usually taken.
Not sure how that photostream was "Clark Backpacking" but such is life.
With people taking that many fish I guess they won't have to remove them from lakes like
Virginia and Middle McCabe.