FISHING THE GOLDEN TROUT WILDERNESS IN CALIFORNIA DON DEAN

Don Dean, a fisherman from Columbus, showed slides of his trip to the Golden Trout Wilderness in California. This was a five-day, backpack hiking trip that he took in late July, 2007, with his two teen-aged sons. The area is located in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains between Mount Whitney and Death Valley. The golden trout, a subspecies of the rainbow trout, is native only to the Sierras in an area southeast of Sequoia National Park. Within this area, certain strains of golden trout are confined to specific watersheds. This beautiful fish has a yellow belly and it’s anal and pelvic fins are tipped with white. A unique feature is that the adult fish retains the vertical parr marks on its flanks that are characteristic of juvenile fish. Body spots of pure golden trout are located mostly on the tail and lower back, in contrast to rainbow trout where they are scattered across the body.

The town of Lone Pine, California, is the staging area for trips into the Golden Trout Wilderness. From there, Don’s group hiked about 25 miles along well-established trails that formed a large loop, returning them to where they started. The trailhead, where they began their adventure, was at an elevation of 9,800ft and they hiked up and down from there to points as high as 11,000ft. They packed all their food, clothes, tents and gear in backpacks that weighed well over 50lbs each. Days were mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid-70s, but night temper (See the Full Article...)