Gardisky Lake is a short, steep hike just outside of Yosemite National Park. The lake is filled with usually not-too-picky brookies. Trail follows a cascading creek, and at the right time of the summer, beautiful fields of wildflowers.
With many of our usual hikes still snowed in after a monster winter, we had to get creative and opted for a short hike up to Gardisky Lake, just outside the east entrance to Yosemite. We’ve had success catching hungry Brookies at this lake in the past, and we thought they’d be extra eager just after the thaw.
The short, steep trail switch-backs up the east side of the valley gaining 750 ft in 0.8 miles. It got our hearts pounding and lungs burning. And this early in the summer, we were treated to spectacularly snowy views of the Kuna Crest to the south and White Mountain and Mount Conness to the west.
For the most part, the trail follows a seasonal creek up the hill. The interesting thing about this creek is that it is not the outlet of Gardisky Lake; it’s strictly fed by snow melt. Ultimately, this water will meet the outlet of Gardisky, but first it must pass through upper reaches of Lee Vining Creek and Ellery Lake. The proper outlet creek of Gardisky actually heads east and meets the Warren Fork before going under Highway 120 and finally joining Lee Vining Creek at much lower elevation.
In any event, there were still quite a few snow banks covering the stream, but lucky for us, not the trail.
After just under a mile, the trail abruptly flattens out at the bench that holds Gardisky Lake. At that point, there’s still another 1/4 mile to go to the lake, but it was a much easier walk.
Our favorite part of the hike is through an alpine meadow at the top usually filled with wildflowers and stunted firs. This year, however, it was filled with snow and water. There were sections where the trail acted as its own little creek – waterproof boots were nice to have.
As we approached the lake, it became apparent why the creek we climbed up is not the outlet creek. There were some small mounds that separate the drainage of the bench – on one side two small tarns and on the other Gardisky.
Most lakes that have Brook Trout tend to overpopulate and have small stunted fish, at least in the Sierra. Gardisky is an exception because it has produced some quality 8-12″ fish for us in the past. We hadn’t been back in over 5 years and wondered if the fishing would be the same.
We dipped our fingers into the lake to check the water temperature and it was ice cold even in the late afternoon.
There were three of us fishing, two with a fly rod and one with a spinning rod. After 20 minutes of messing around with a dry fly and watching our friend Jeff do well on lures, we switched over to a leech. This was the ticket: we all caught fish at a steady clip for the next few hours.
We focused mostly on the near shore where there is a cliff and steep drop off into the lake. The fish tended to be just out of sight in the middle third of the water column. They would frequently follow the leech or lure in close before finally deciding to strike.
We remember the fish being slightly larger and beefier in years past, but it was a fun afternoon of fishing for solid 8″-10″ Brookies.
On our walk out, we noticed the juxtaposition of two very different seasons. Bright purple Penstemon and yellow Sulphur Flower Buckwheat were framed by the background of snow capped peaks. Sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and appreciate the little things.
