Lake Kaweath - Tulare County, California

Visited on 11/17/2017 driving along the Central Valley foothills after proctoring Drinking Water operator examinations at Mountain Home Conservation Camp near Porterville, CA.  This 1,945 acre lake was created by the construction of the Terminus Dam in 1962 at an elevation of 255 feet above sea level.  This lake is located along Highway 198 east of Visalia near the town of Three Rivers, CA just 15 miles west of the entrance to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.  The Terminus River flows out of Sequoia National Park into and out of the lake.  Water level shown in my picture is low due to the time of year being late fall (November) and the winter rains had not started.

Lake Santa Margarita - San Luis Obispo County, California

Visited on 10/15/2017 with Jeff and our dogs on a weekend camping trip at Avila Beach, south of San Luis Obispo, CA.  We took a nice Sunday afternoon drive up to Lake Santa Margarita which is a 793 acre lake in the Central Coast hills just southeast of the town of Santa Margarita.  This lake is located at 1,306 feet above sea level.  Created by the construction of the Salinas Dam in 1941, Santa Margarita Lake was originally designed to furnish water to Camp San Luis Obispo. Today, swimming in the lake is not permitted as it is the drinking water reservoir for the City of San Luis Obispo.

Beyond the developed area of the park, Santa Margarita Lake Natural Area represents several thousand acres of designated open space. This section of the park is managed for its natural resource values, passive recreational use, and environmental education opportunities. The area is accessible to hikers, bicyclists and equestrians. Motor vehicles are not permitted in the Natural Area. Santa Margarita Lake is a nature lover’s retreat. With thousands of acres of unspoiled open space, the park is home to countless species of plants and wildlife making it the perfect location for nature study, boating, and fishing. 

We had a great time driving around the lake and the dogs chased a couple of ducks near the boat launch area when we stopped for Jeff to take a swing in the kiddy park on the shoreline.  But, since this lake is a drinking water source for the City of San Luis Obispo, no dogs are allowed to swim in the lake.  It was still a nice drive and it was a great getaway and is very peaceful.

Whale Rock Reservoir - San Luis Obispo County, California

Visited on 10/12/2017 traveling to the Central Coast of California to join Jeff and our dogs on a camping trip at Avila Beach, south of San Luis Obispo, CA.  Whale Rock Reservoir is a 594 acre lake with the only ocean view I know of on the pacific ocean!  This lake is located at 150 feet above sea level just a couple of miles northeast of the ocean side city of Cayucos, California just north of Morro Bay, California.  Whale Rock Reservoir has a great trail alongside the lake which is primarily used as a fishing access, but is also a beautiful area for hiking and picnicking. The Whale Rock Dam was built in 1961, creating this 1350-acre reservoir. It is a domestic water supply used as a source of drinking water. The lake is fed from Old Creek and Cottontail Creek at the two northern points. The lake is surrounded by grassy rolling hills.

Castle Lake - Siskiyou County, California

Jeff and I visited Castle Lake on our way up to Oregon to view the Solar Eclipse in totality on a week long camping trip in our camper/truck with our dogs, Summer and Skye.  Castle Lake has very crystal clear water, however very small at only 47 acres and located at an elevation of 6,050.  This is a very beautiful lake located just southwest of the town of Lake Shasta City in northern California at the southwest base of Mount Shasta off of Interstate 5.  Castle Lake is a alpine lake and lots of historical data has been studied by the University of Davis.  This Lake has a lot of history and I have listed some of the information on this special lake below.

The lake is usually reached by driving along an approximately 7 mile road from Lake Siskiyou. About 3 miles from the lake, along this road, are Ney Springs and Faery Falls. Ney Springs is the site of the historic Ney Springs Resort, a late 19th-century resort based on the mineral springs there; this resort was one of a number of such popular resorts in Siskiyou County, including Upper Soda Springs, and Shasta Springs.  A short hiking trail leads to nearby Faery Falls, where Ney Springs Creek falls nearly 60 feet down a granite cliff face, forming a clear pool at the bottom.

About one-quarter mile north of Castle Lake is a campground with 6 first-come, first-served campsites. At the lake itself, fishing and picnicking, as well as viewing the local plant life, wildlife and scenery, are common activities. The lake waters can be cool, so swimming is generally limited to summer months. Kayaking, rowboating and rafting are available on the lake. In the winter, in addition to cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing along the trails in the area, the lake will ice over and ice fishing is a common activity.
From the parking area at the lake, a half-mile (1 km) trail winds along the northern and western shore of the lake, ending at the granite face of the headwall, which forms the southern shore. Along the way, hikers will pass the Castle Lake Limnological Research Station.

Following the eastern shore, the Little Castle Lake Trail leaves the parking area, and then climbs the adjoining ridge; about 1 mile along this trail is Little Castle Lake, a small glacial tarn reached by passing through meadows of wild flowers in the early summer. Little Castle Lake is within the Castle Crags Wilderness Area. Heart Lake, another small tarn, located above the headwall of Castle Lake, may also be reached via an informal cut-off from the Little Castle Lake Trail.
At this point, the well-known Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail is one-half mile away, just over the Trinity Divide. The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail stretches from Mexico to Canada, following the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada, Klamath Mountains, and Cascade Range and paralleling the Pacific Ocean by 100 to 150 miles.
The Little Castle Lake Trail continues on to Mt. Bradley, a locally prominent mountain with views of Mount Shasta, overlooking Dunsmuir, California and the canyon of the Upper Sacramento River. Along the way, the trail joins with a network of connections leading into Castle Crags State Park.
 
The lake's origins date to the Pleistocene Era (more than 10,000 years ago) when a glacier carved a basin in the location of the current lake. During that era, much of North America was glaciated.  Castle Lake is a typical glacier cirque lake (or tarn), reaching depths of up to 110 feet near the southern, granitic part of the lakeshore (the cirque face). There is a terminal moraine of boulders and gravel forming a natural dam opposite the cirque face along the northeastern shore of the lake, where there is an outlet, and the lake is 10 to 15 feet deep.

The cirque where Castle Lake is found is a classic Northern Hemisphere cirque. The cirque headwall (the highest part of the mountain where the glacier began to form) was in the south or southwest, and the part of the mountain that sloped downward to the northeast was away from the prevailing winds. The resulting shaded area was sheltered from direct sun, and from the evaporating effects of wind. These conditions encouraged snow which had fallen in the winter to remain throughout the summer and fall, creating a year-round snow pack which grew deeper each year.

During initial glacial formation, snow changed into glacial ice as this year-round snow pack increased and deepened. The process of nivation followed (where a hollow in a slope was enlarged by freeze-thaw weathering and glacial erosion). As the hollow enlarged and filled with snow and ice, rock debris (or till) contained within the glacial ice also began to abrade the bedrock surface – as the glacial ice moved down the slope, it had a "sandpaper effect" on the bedrock which it scraped.

Formation of cirque and resulting tarn.

Eventually the hollow took the shape of a large bowl in the side of the mountain, with the headwall being weathered by constant freezing and thawing, and eroded by plucking. The basin became deeper (especially at the base of the headwall) as it continued to be eroded by abrasion.  When the current warming period began, the glacier retreated and finally melted completely. It left behind a bowl shape, deepest at the base of the headwall where the glacial ice had been the deepest and most abrasive. The bowl shape extended to its northeast edge, where there was a terminal moraine of smaller rocks and debris which had been deposited by the glacier. When the bowl-shaped crater filled with water, this terminal moraine acted as a natural dam, helping to contain the water in the newly formed cirque lake.
 
Castle Lake was within the range of the Okwanuchu tribe, one of a number of small Shastan-speaking tribes of Native Americans who were closely related to the adjacent larger Shasta tribe.  The Okwanuchu occupied territory near Mount Shasta, including the nearby present-day cities of Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir, California, and the upper Sacramento River canyon (among other areas). The Okwanuchu were speakers of the older Hokan-speaking family of languages, with archaeological sites associated with their range dating back more than 5000 years. However, members of a tribe of the Penutian-speaking family of languages, the Wintu, who arrived in central Northern California about 1200 years ago, were out-competing their Hokan-language family neighbors, and were expanding Wintu territory.  It is unclear at the time of first contact with non-Native Americans in the 1820s which tribe was living nearest to Castle Lake. Little or no information is available about Native American use or beliefs regarding Castle Lake; for example, Castle Lake is not mentioned in a published collection of Wintu tales and legends.

The first non-Native Americans to pass through the area of Castle Lake were hunters and trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company, who began to come down the Siskiyou Trail from present-day Washington into Mexican-controlled California, in the late 1820s and early 1830s, in search of beaver and other pelt-bearing animals. At about this same time, Ewing Young led the first group of Americans up the Siskiyou Trail, passing near Castle Lake.  In 1841, an overland party of the United States Exploring Expedition, the first cartographers and scientists came through the area.   Following the annexation of California by the United States in 1848 as a result of the Mexican-American War, Castle Lake came under the control of the U.S. Federal Government as public land.
In 1855, an area near Castle Lake, now known as Battle Rock, was the site of a battle between Native Americans and California Gold Rush-era settlers. The poet Joaquin Miller wrote a first-hand account of this battle, The Battle of Castle Crags, in which Miller took part in the fight, and received an arrow wound through the cheek and jaw. This battle was reportedly the last battle between Native Americans and settlers in which the Native Americans fought exclusively with bow and arrow.

With the development, first, of the U.S. "Forest Reserve" system in the late 19th century, and then the organization of the U.S. National Forests in the early 20th century, Castle Lake came under the stewardship of the U.S. Forest Service. The association between U.C. Davis and Castle Lake began in 1957, with the first extensive study done of the lake, followed by the construction of the "Castle Lake Limnological Research Station".

Scotts Flat Reservoir - Nevada County, California

Visited on 12/8/2017 while traveling north of Nevada City, CA to proctor drinking water examinations at Washington Ridge Conservation Camp.  Scotts Flat Reservoir is located in the Tahoe National Forest off of Highway 20 just a 6.5 miles northeast of Nevada City in the foothills at an elevation of 3,069 feet above sea level.  The beautiful scenic lake is 725 acres in size and was formed back in 1948 with the construction of the Scotts Flat Dam across Deer Creek.  Jeff and I went horseback camping at the nearby Spillman Horse Camp with our good friend Merlin Jackson a couple years ago, which is located just about five miles up Highway 20 from this lake. 

 

Lake Nacimiento - San Luis Obispo County, California

 

Visited on 10/12/2017 while traveling to Avila Beach to join Jeff and the dogs on a weekend camping trip on the beach.  Lake Nacimiento is an 18-mile long lake on the Nacimiento River in northern San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake contains many arms including Snake Creek and Dip Creek, nearer the dam, and the central Las Tablas and Franklin Creeks. Because of the dragon-like shape created by the positions of these arms, it is sometimes referred to as Dragon Lake. The lake can fill quickly in the winter from river surges resulting from downpours upstream in the Santa Lucia Range so the level is not usually allowed to capacity until May 1 of each year.  

Lake Nacimiento has a low fish population due to the high levels of mercury present in the lake, due to runoff from the closed Klau and Buena Vista Mercury Mines, south of the lake. Only a few fisherman manage to catch fish. Consumption of bass, crappies, carps, and catfish from the lake is dangerous, but blue gill and sucker fish may be eaten only once per week safely. The lake is unique among California reservoirs in that it contains, among other species, introduced white bass, which thrive in the lake and spawn in the river and inflowing creeks in spring. In fact, the world fly fishing record for a white bass was broken in 1981 at Lake Nacimiento. The fish was caught by Cory Wells, a member of the world famous musical group, Three Dog Night. The record stood for over 27 years. Lake Nacimiento can also produce power from a turbine at the base of the dam.

Lake Nacimiento is also a haven for watersport enthusiasts. The lake provides ample room for waterskiing, wakeboarding, jetskiing, wakesurfing, and other water-related activities.

The lake was originally designed for irrigation water and flood control as well as recreation. Nacimiento Dam, a 210-foot earthfilled dam, forms the lake. The dam was built by the Monterey County Water Authority under Monterey County District Engineer Loran Bunte Jr, which completed construction in 1956.  The water authority uses the lake to recharge its groundwater. Even though the lake is entirely inside San Luis Obispo County, the waters are patrolled by the Monterey County Parks Department under a joint powers agreement with San Luis Obispo County. The Monterey County Parks Department’s primary jurisdiction is the lake waters, up to the high water mark and the resort area. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office does have a boat at the lake for access to the back country around the lake. Also, they have been known to write tickets on the water. Lake Nacimiento has a capacity of 377,000 acre feet. The lake is near the city of Paso Robles. The lake is also the home of two residential housing developments, which lie on the lake's shore; Heritage Ranch and Oak Shores. There are several smaller (10-40 house) private subdivisions on the south west side of the lake. These houses were affected by the Chimney Fire in August 2016. Except for the resort area near the dam, most of the property around the lake is private. Overnight camping on the lake, outside of the resort, is not allowed. Also, you are considered trespassing if you set up or venture on land above the high water mark.

The lake was developed and paid for by Monterey County. However San Luis Obispo County retained the rights to 17,500 acre feet of water per year. This was not requested by San Luis Obispo County until the mid-2000s. In October 2007, construction started on a pipeline to bring water from the lake to Paso Robles, Templeton, Atascadero, and San Luis Obispo. During construction, three people were killed—one run over by a dump truck, and two drowned when an excavator hit an unrelated water pipeline which flooded a section of water project pipe under construction. The project went online in January 2011.

The Lake's dam was shut down during 2014 due to damage that occurred to one of the turbines, and as a result the neighboring Lake San Antonio was emptied to critical levels to supply the Salinas Valley with groundwater. The Lakes levels have dropped significantly due to the recent drought conditions in California.

 

 

Lake San Antonio - Monterey & San Luis Obispo Counties, California

  

Visited on 10/12/17 while traveling to the Central Coast of California to join Jeff and our dogs for a camping trip at Avila Beach, south of San Luis Obispo, CA.  Lake San Antonio is a lake located primarily in southern Monterey County, California, and partially in northern San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake is formed by San Antonio Dam on the San Antonio River. The dam is 202 feet tall and was completed in 1965.  The lake and dam are owned by the Monterey County Water Authority. The lake is 5,720 acres at an elevation of 781 feet above sea level and has a capacity of 350,000 acre feet.   

Lake San Antonio's primary purpose is to provide groundwater. Without the lake, the San Antonio River would be nearly dry in the summer months. With water in the river year-round, more of it can seep into the ground.  

Most of the lake has dried in recent years. The 2014 Wildflower Triathlon had to accommodate the extremely low water level by moving the swim portion two miles from where it is traditionally held. Participants that year had to run along the former lake bed to get to their bike transition area.

As I drove along the lake shoreline there were several deer and they stopped to watch me and we had a "stare-off"!

 

 

I was surprised to see this sign at the Lake shoreline beach and picnic area to watch out for Wild Hogs, but I guess they have had some sightings of wild hogs that savage for food and trash left behind by campers and picnickers!

 

 

San Luis Reservoir - Merced County, California

Visited on 10/12/2017 traveling to the Central Coast of California to join Jeff and our dogs on a camping trip at Avila Beach, south of San Luis Obispo, CA.  The San Luis Reservoir is an artificial lake on San Luis Creek in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately 12 miles west of Los Banos on State Route 152, which crosses Pacheco Pass and runs along its north shore. It is the fifth largest reservoir in California. This reservoir is 12,700 acres and is located at 544 feet above sea level.  The reservoir stores water taken from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. Water is pumped uphill into the reservoir from the O'Neill Forebay which is fed by the California Aqueduct and is released back into the forebay to continue downstream along the aqueduct as needed for farm irrigation and other uses. Depending on water levels, the reservoir is approximately nine miles long from north to south at its longest point, and five miles  wide. At the eastern end of the reservoir is the San Luis Dam, or the B.F. Sisk Dam, the fourth largest embankment dam in the United States, which allows for a total capacity of 2,041,000 acre feet in volume.

Completed in 1967 on land formerly part of Rancho San Luis Gonzaga, the 12,700 acres  reservoir is a joint use facility, being a part of both the California State Water Project and Central Valley Project, which together form a network of reservoirs, dams, pumping stations, and 550 miles  of canals and major conduits to move water across California. The San Luis Reservoir is located in Merced County, and has a visitor center located at the Romero Outlook where visitors can learn more about the dam and reservoir. The surface of the reservoir lies at an elevation of approximately 544 ft , with the O'Neill Forebay below the dam at 225 feet above sea level. This elevation difference allows for a hydroelectric plant to be constructed - the Gianelli Hydroelectric Plant. Power from this plant is sent to a Path 15 substation, Los Banos via a short power line. Those 500 kV wires, carrying both the power generated here and elsewhere, leave the area and cross the O'Neill Forebay on several man-made islands.

San Luis Reservoir also supplies water to 63,500 acres of land in the Santa Clara Valley west of the Coast Ranges.  San Justo Dam stores water diverted from San Luis Reservoir through the Pacheco Tunnel and Hollister Conduit, which travel through the Diablo Range.  A separate canal, the Santa Clara Tunnel and Conduit, carries water to the Coyote Pumping Station in the Santa Clara Valley.

Don Pedro Lake - Tuolumne County, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving from giving an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  Don Pedro Lake is actually a reservoir that was formed by the construction of the Don Pedro Dam across the Tuolumne River coming out of Yosemite National Park.  The Lake rests at an elevation of 800 feet in the Sierra foothills of the Southern Mother Lode.  This huge Lake has a surface area of 12,960 acres with a pine and oak dotted shoreline of 160 miles.  The vast size and irregular shoreline provides a multitude of boating opportunities from boat-in camping to waterskiing.  When boating emerging rocks and islands due to the fluctuating Lake levels can be a problem late in the season.  This lake is located in the Sierra mountain foothills where Highway 49 meets highway 120.  Located just north of the town of Coulterville, CA, south of the town of Sonora and east of Yosemite National Park.  I want to come back and go camping and boating at this Lake with Jeff and our dogs next summer.

Tenaya Lake - Mariposa County, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving to give an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  Tenaya Lake is a 100 acre glacial formed lake and is located just inside the eastern entrance to the Yosemite National Park and is located at an elevation of 8,150 feet.  Three lovely Lakes are located in this spectacular Eastern Sierra mountain area along Highway 120 west of Tioga Pass.  Ellery and Tioga Lakes are 2 miles outside the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, and Tenaya is 15 miles inside the Park.  Tenaya Lake is in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park.  Lots of granite rounded rocks form the area.

Tioga Lake - Mono County, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving to give an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  Tioga Lake is 73 acre glacial formed lake and is located just outside the eastern entrance to the Yosemite National Park and is located at an elevation of 9,700 feet.  Three lovely Lakes are located in this spectacular Eastern Sierra mountain area along Highway 120 west of Tioga Pass.  Ellery and Tioga Lakes are 2 miles outside the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, and Tenaya is 15 miles inside the Park.

Ellery Lake - Mono Lake, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving to give an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  Ellery Lake is only 50 acres in size and is located just outside the eastern entrance to the Yosemite National Park and is located at an elevation of 9,638 feet.  Three lovely Lakes are located in this spectacular Eastern Sierra mountain area along Highway 120 west of Tioga Pass.  Ellery and Tioga Lakes are 2 miles outside the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, and Tenaya is 15 miles inside the Park.

Lake Crowley - Mono County, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving to give an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  At an elevation of 6,720 feet, Crowley is one of the top Eastern High Sierra Lakes.  This 650 acre Lake is famous for its good fishing. Lake Crowley is located off California State Route 395, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 34 miles northwest of Bishop, CA. The fall leaves are beautiful this time of year on the hillside overlooking the lake.

Twin Lakes - Mono County, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving to give an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  Twin Lakes are 40 acres in size and are located in the Mammoth Lakes Basin which rests at the doorway to magnificent High Sierra scenery.  These small glacial-formed Lakes range from an elevation of 8,540 feet to 9,250 feet  This is an ideal area for the hiker, backpacker and many trailheads lead into the John Muir Wilderness, a beautiful area of high mountain streams, lakes, pine and hemlock forests.  This lake borders the John Muir Wilderness and Yosemite National Park.  Twin Lakes and the Mammoth Lake Basin is located off California State Route 395, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 42 miles northwest of Bishop, CA. The Twin Lakes are two lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin. The two lakes are connected by Twin Falls, which plummets into the second of the pair – Upper Twin Lake. Hikes in the region lead to Panorama Dome, Twin Falls, Hole in the Wall, and Valley View.  The Twin Lakes are two lakes connected by the beautiful Twin Falls. The area around Twin Lakes is full of stunning scenery and amazing hiking trails that lead to various interesting spots in the Mammoth Lakes Basin, including Panorama Dome, Twin Falls, Hole in the Wall, and Valley View. The Tamarack Lodge is another popular destination in the vicinity of Twin Lakes.

The Twin Lakes are unique in this part of California – from above they almost look like they are joined at the hip – hence the name. The two lakes are connected by more than just a waterfall – a small bridge also unites the two together for visitors wanting to see the lakes from a different vantage point.
 

Convict Lake - Mono County, California

Visited on 10/3/2017 while driving to give an operator examination at Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa, CA.  Crystal clear water surrounded by rugged peaks make Convict Lake one of the most beautiful places in the Eastern Sierra.  At an elevation of 7,583 feet, the Lake is 1 mile long and 1/2 mile wide providing 3 miles of pine-covered shoreline.  This lake borders the John Muir Wilderness and Yosemite National Park.  On this crisp morning I saw lots of hikers and backpackers getting ready to hike the trails around the lake through a rock-walled canyon.  Convict Lake is absolutely beautiful this time of year and is located in the 7 miles from the Mammoth Lakes area.  Convict lake is located off California State Route 395, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 35 miles northwest of Bishop, CA.  Some great history about this lake and how it got it's name:  Convict Lake might be one of the more picturesque and accessible lakes in the Sierra Nevada, but it has a violent past. It used to called Monte Diablo Lake until a series of killings in the late 1800s.

On Sept. 17, 1871, 29 prisoners escaped from the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. The prisoners split into two groups, one of which was led by convicted murderer Charlie Jones.  Jones previously had lived in Mono and Inyo counties and led his group south toward the Mammoth area. The group robbed several people along the way, and Jones had hoped to cross the Sierra Nevada and end up on the range’s western slope, where they would be safe from pursuit.

He was worried a Carson City posse was trailing them, which was true, but it had given up within two days and turned back. Near Bridgeport, a solitary man on a horse was catching up to them. Thinking he was part of the posse that had planned an ambush, Jones captured the man and killed him with the help of Leandor Morton.

The slain man, Billy Poor, actually was a Pony Express rider who was delivering mail for the first time. Killing a Mono County resident didn’t go over well with the local community, so the convicts then were being pursued by local vigilante groups.

By Sept. 22, a new posse of 10 men, led by Sheriff George Hightower, Indian deputy Mono Jim and local merchant Robert Morrison, had caught up to the convicts near Monte Diablo Creek. 

Jones got up early and headed to Bishop on the morning of Sept. 23. Two other convicts had told the others that they were looking for food, but they really were trying to break off from the group. The four remaining convicts were approached by the new posse, resulting in Mono Jim and Robert Morrison getting gunned down.

By Nov. 1, 18 of the 29 original prisoners had been captured. Jones and the two others who went searching for food avoided the shootout but eventually met their fates.

Based on this historical event, Monte Diablo Creek was renamed Convict Creek, and Monte Diablo Lake was renamed Convict Lake. The highest peak in the area was named Mount Morrison for the slain Robert Morrison, and its smaller satellite peak was named for Mono Jim.

These days, Convict Lake is a fishing hotbed, stocked with rainbow and brown trout. The 2008 fishing season ends Nov. 15. The Convict Lake Resort has 27 cabins for rent, a fish cleaning station and manages an 88-site campground nearby.

 

 

June Lake - Mono County, California

Visited on 10/2/2017 while driving to give an examination at Owens Valley Conservation Camp.  June Lake is the central lake on the scenic June Lake Loop.  This 160 acre lake is at an elevation of 7,654 feet above sea level and lies in the shadow of Mt. Ritter in a picturesque alpine basin on the June Lakes Loop. This picture was taken on the west side of the lake in the late afternoon from an area called "Oh Ridge".  The lake boasts abundant fishing, camping, waterskiing and wake boarding.    June lake is located off California State Route 158, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Gull Lake - Mono County, California

Visited on 10/2/2017 while driving to give an examination at Owens Valley Conservation Camp.  Silver Lake is one of the beautiful lakes on the scenic June Lake Loop.  This smaller subalpine lake is at an elevation of 7,354 feet above sea level and is located just west of the larger and more popular June Lake.  Gull Lake, one of the four lakes located on the June Lake Loop on the Eastern slope of California’s Sierra Nevada, has a great little marina and park on the northern side.  Gull Lake is picture perfect with the fall leaves and like the other lakes on the June Lake Loop, Silver Lake is known for its Trout fishing. Gull lake is located off California State Route 158, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.