Trip Report by Nick Feller
Editor’s Note: The following article is a journal entry of Nick’s recollecting an additional memorable day during his 100-day hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2022.
Day 49, Pacific Crest Trail Mile Marker: 767
Our first on-trail zero. Not exactly as it may seem though…
Today was the first day that Maddie and I had drastically different itineraries. She had her eyes on Mount Whitney. Mine were on Timberline Lake. You cannot access Timberline Lake without a permit for Mount Whitney, so it looked like my once in a lifetime shot perhaps. Nearby Guitar Lake is arguably the better of the two, but it’s also much larger and I felt Timberline Lake would fare better for a tenkara rod.
First things first, I made myself some cocoa and had a small breakfast. I didn’t want to go too hard at a high elevation and overdo it. The fish will still be there in another hour. I lingered around and left camp around 9am, about 3 hours after Maddie began her ascent.
Before reaching the lake, I stopped at a creek crossing before a short climb. With the Beartooth rod in hand, I proceeded to catch a half dozen or so golden trout. As the trail mostly followed the creek to the lake from here, I just opt to keep my rod in my hand at the ready.
Stepping up to Timberline Lake, I saw a perfect little pool where the outlet began. A bow and arrow cast put my killer bug right on target. The resulting fish was probably the nicest golden trout I’ve caught yet! 10″ or so, I’d say. And what a fun fight on the Beartooth rod!!
I caught a few more in the mouth of the outlet before deciding to switch to the Yari rod for a little bit extra range on the lake. I decided to try to walk to the inlet to try there, but it was very marshy and wet so access was limited. I did find a nice standing rock along the shore that provided weed-free access. Game on!
This rock I stood on was like my own personal throne to the golden kingdom. I stood there fishing for about 2 hours, and I figure that I caught close to 100 trout. Beautiful, beautiful golden trout. Spectacular views and EPIC fishing. I know I’ve said it before, but this was heaven on earth!
Feeling satisfied with my morning, I decided to head back down to camp at Crabtree Meadow. I didn’t stop again to fish anywhere on the way back down. I knew an epic section of Whitney Creek was waiting just next to camp.
When I got there, I saw another tenkara fisherman! Well, I thought so anyway… He was using his trekking pole as a rod, but hey, it was working! Ha! I saw him catch one! Turns out he’s from Japan and has a tenkara rod, but just didn’t bring it. We chatted for a bit about fishing, and I headed up to the tent for a quick lunch.
After eating, the other fisherman, who I now knew was Chef B, came over with his buddy Kyle (and Faith/Fry Guy too but only for a second) and asked if they could just watch me fish for a bit. I offered them my spare rod, but they just wanted to watch.
I proceeded to put on a sort of stream-side tenkara clinic. I talked tactics like how I read the water, and where I like to place my kebari (fly). They watched me catch about five fish in a few minutes jumping between different holes. I let them try, and they missed a couple bites but were WAY into it!
Kyle was very intrigued, and seemed like he was taking it in the most. He REALLY enjoyed the bow and arrow casting technique and told me he planned to order a rod in town. He also showed me his makeshift tenkara rod, a telescoping pen rod with line just tied to the tip. I tried his rod for fun also, and actually caught a fish on like my second cast. We were both dying laughing!
I went back to camp to drink some water and have a snack. Afterward I lingered around the meadow, catching a few more fish. When I wrapped things up and went back to the tent again, Maddie returned! She had incredible stories and photos from Mount Whitney to share! I’m a bit bummed I missed out; Maddie claimed it wasn’t as bad as everyone said. Oh well, just an excuse to do the JMT someday too. I still had a fantastic day!
Nick Feller found tenkara while going down the rabbit hole of ultralight backpacking and fell in love. Follow Nick’s tenkara adventures on Instagram @norcaltenkara.
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