Fishing the JMT 2018
Day 2 – August 1, 2018
Johnston Meadow to Rosalie Lake
After camping at Minaret Creek just south of Johnston Meadow, I headed out to Rosalie Lake on an easy half-day hike through a section of the John Muir Trail that was new to me. After a couple miles of climbing, I pass by Vivian Lake, Trinity Lakes, and reach Gladys Lake for an early lunch. A short climb and descent brings me to Rosalie Lake where I set up camp on the eastern edge and begin fishing all throughout the afternoon and into sunset. I catch 6 trout in total – 4 rainbows and 2 brookies on a combination of spinning gear and the Tenkara rod. The wildfire smoke started rolling in that afternoon, and concerns of heading north in the morning were looming as I ate dinner and laid down for the night. Tough decisions to make in the morning if the smoke gets any worse.
After hiking on the John Muir Trail over a 3 year span since 2015, I decided to go back to a favorite area of the trail to fish in some of the trout-rich alpine lakes and streams. I also was back to close an 11.5 mile gap that I bypassed in 2015, completing the section between Shadow Lake and Red’s Meadow. The plan was to hike for 6 days from Mammoth Lakes to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, but the wildfire smoke greatly increased on day 2 and I made the decision to exit the trail on day 3 at Shadow Lake. I took advantage of the next 3 days by hiking into local lakes just above Mammoth and still getting a chance to fish for the rest of my time off.
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