The Eastern Sierras are a tapestry of backcountry lakes. Starting at either Bishop and heading up to South Lake/North Lake/Lake Sabrina, or a bit further up the road at Rock Creek, one can find dozens of lakes just like this. My favorites happen to be out of the hikes at South Lake. A mile or two up from South Lake, you’ll hit Long Lake which itself is stunning. At that point, you can pick a dozen jumping off points that can take you all the way to 11k feet. These lakes are teeming with small native trout and throwing a fly off a spinning reel can keep you busy for hours. The drought over the past few years has not been kind to the Sierras, but I’m hoping that El Nino can bring some epic Spring snow and rain to this amazing area.