@@jasonwebb4871 cool! Welcome and thanks for watching!

@@kenyoung3585 Glad to hear it! Good luck!

Haha! Now I can usually get them at the Walmart Neighborhood Markets. 😂😅

@@joshdoddadbod to each his own as they say. Truthfully, most of the better knives that I'm familiar with come with leather over kydex. It's the same here.

@highcountrychronicles for belt carry leather is great. I live in a place where your knife has to be partially concealed but not completely (what? Lol) so I usually pocket carry with an ulticlip.

@ The FOBOS Calcula would be a better fit then. It comes with a Kydex sheath.

@@Tenkara_Retiree Thanks! Happy New Year to you as well!

@@rodoutdoors 🤣 That's a whole separate video for 2025. 🤣

@@chili1593 Right back at ya! I appreciate the intersection this past year. Thanks!

@@reallyhappenings5597 😅😅😅 Well, Joe Morton is one of my favorite actors, so thanks! No Terminators hiding anywhere in my videos though. LOL. Frankly, I'm not really qualified to provide the instructional piece. This was really my foray into tarps and my "watch me try to figure out how this thing works video.🙂" Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!

@@ulbushcrafting6592 Glad you enjoyed it!

@@DannyRiskit No. same tarp I've had for a few years. I only use it a few times late in the season so it only makes an appearance once or twice a year.

What's your preference? Knife or Axe?

@@VENAT0RIS Glad you enjoyed. I hope your experience was just bad timing. I plan to go back either this year or next.

@@sethrery Thanks! If you do, say "hi"!

@@HNSeventyFive Sure. I've fished both and there's a video on the channel at Emigrant Meadow. Emigrant Meadow has some good sized rainbow. Middle Emigrant smaller Brookies. Check the Emigrant playlist and you should find a trip to high emigrant as well.

Thanks! Is either Middle or Meadow deep? I particularly like fishing deep drop offs.🤙

@@HNSeventyFive Middle Emigrant is fairly deep, 24 feet. It's never impressed me so I haven't fished it much. Here's me fishing Emigrant Meadow for a few minutes. (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXmZlZ14q5eXgJIsi=4BeBBPrRIcXcFe4E&t=156) Emigrant Meadow has a depth of 39 feet. I usually try to fish the reedy section but there's some rocks along the shore near the trail and it's deep by the dam. I suspect it's deeper in the middle because I don't recall fishing anywhere where I felt it dropped off to nothingness but perhaps I never got out that far. I usually don't fish that kind of water in the emigrant.

Thanks, Jim, I really appreciate the informed feedback. I'm strongly considering this area in mid-July for my 50th 😬 bday trip. I remember you mentioned Sheep Camp as a promising stream fishing spot, so would likely stop there to camp (we'd be coming from Kennedy Meadows and no way we'd make it all the way to Emigrant Meadow; we're not in Jim Lowe shape!😂). I should expect copious amounts of skeeters at that time regardless of snow pack/melt, right? Will be packing the Thermacell!

@@HNSeventyFive You're welcome! Oh, yeah, the mosquitos will be bad... but... Emigrant Meadow may be pretty breezy so maybe they won't bother you so much. Make it a point to hike up to High Emigrant for the day. You won't be disappointed.

"US New Zealand"? I've never been to NZ, definitely want to go though.

😅 "IS New Zealand?" Yeah, I guess it's shaped a bit like it. LOL. It's a versatile knife for sure.

@@outsidewithmike Thanks. Yeah, I've been thinking the same about the solar panels. There's got to be a better way than all these heavy batteries.

@@jimpowell6789 Haha. I was wondering if you were going to say something. 🤣 Yeah, it's not a knife video so I wasn't going to bore people anymore than necessary with extended knife cutting. (Especially on an hour plus long video.) That video is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2emlpp_qqlko5osi=_tLs2xqJSDAjCATk My guess is it was about 5 - 6 minutes. It turned out to be a pretty tough piece of wood and took longer than expected. Not as efficient as a saw or axe to be sure but I don't carry those. I wasn't too tired. I tend to let the knife do the work and don't put a lot of strength into the chop. Especially when the wood turns out to be harder than I expect. It takes longer but I don't blow out my arm and with bad rotator cuffs, it works for me.

@@highcountrychronicles To have much of a fire, though, you'ld need several of those logs. Lodgepole is full of sap, which makes it tough as f**k and burn smokey as tar -- until it's lain on the ground for three seasons. After that you can break it up by hand, and after four or five seasons it's useless. A place like Kennedy Lake, that evidently sees many campers and big parties, isn't going to provide much fuel unless you wander well away from the campsites. We gave up on campfires, except occasionally if we were in a place with plentiful good fuel and big fish and potatoes to bake. We brought sufficient layers to be able to sit up comfortably late into the night -- but we were never up there in October. (October is for the Ventana).

@ Yeah, I just like to have a fire sometime during the season. Either early or late. No need for it other than it was soothing. Interesting. There was plenty of fallen timber around. Pretty amazing given the number of campsites in the area.

@@highcountrychronicles Old style fire-wood making: See at 12:17 of this KZbin video: Silent Hiking in Sequoia-Kings Backcountry, California | Tablelands Loop.

@@jimpowell6789 🤣🤣🤣 Why possibly injure my already bad back when I've brought a tool with me. 🤣🤣🤣 I'm willing to bet I've got 35 years on her... 🤣 I could also fish like she does at 11:20 but.... why? 🤣🤣🤣

@@alansonneman9098 Hi, have you watched the previous video? I did need it. That said, I also don't "need" a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad or a half dozen other things, yet I "choose" to carry them. I've been planning to make a 3pc rod in this configuration and haven't had the time. I'm pretty particular about my rod actions. Thanks for watching.

@@highcountrychronicles "Need" is a function of purposes. If you want to stay alive with a minimum pack weight on short trips, you don't need much. If you want to stay out for weeks at a time and not beat yourself into the ground, stay comfortable and energized, your pack weight will get heavier. I never would have carried crocks, or that huge knife. But I did bring a Vesuvio espresso pot and wool pants and a heavy polar fleece parka so I could sit out till midnight stargazing and marveling.

@ Exactly. I would never choose to bring an espresso pot. 😅 To each his own and to his own his enjoyment. 😁

Yes but you would have way more fun with the espresso pot than I ever would with the knife. Have a pot with lunch and see what it does to your afternoon..

@@jimpowell6789 😅 If I could make a nice pot of Nepali Chai then maybe.... 😅😅

@@Tenkara_Retiree 🤣 I' glad to hear that. 😁 As do I. 🤣🤣 I decided to keep my singing in regardless of how bad it it. 😅😅 Funny thing is my friend recorded 4 different versions for me. One sounds like Duran Duran mixed with Kajagoogoo. 😅

Hi Jim, as always, glad you appreciate it. I can only presume they're used given the gear that was left and the fact that it looked pretty new. No horse poop that I remember seeing. It was all cow and that campsite was pretty clean overall. Why did you never visit this area? Not remote enough or simply not in the path of other places?

@@highcountrychronicles The latter. We were going long itineraries and wanting to string destinations together. Kennedy Lake is a one-off. There's nowhere to go except back out or up to Lost Lake if that trail still works (probably), or crosscountry up toward Sonora Pass -- nowhere you particularly want to get to. And since you're pretty much committed to starting there as your first night from the trailhead, you're hauling a full load, which for us was 12-17 days. You could exit that way, but it puts you into the most distant and least handy of the major Emigrant trailheads. It was a loser from every angle. But if I was going out to Kennedy Meadow from Emigrant Lake or Emigrant Lake basin again, and not in a hurry, I'd be tempted to do it via Lost Lake and Kennedy Lake as an alternative to the Brown Bear Pass trail, which is pretty much without attractions. Kennedy is the only major lake in the Emigrant Wildernesswe didn't visit or camp -- we camped 40 named and 2 unnamed lakes in it and visited nearly all the rest. Missing Lewis Lake looks like a flub. Ouch. We checked out and decided not to camp (for various reasons) Kole, Leighton, Blackbird, Shallow, Gem and Jewelry, Iceland and adjacent lakelets, which don't count because they're uncampable anyways -- like Pinto, Olive, David Starr Jordan, Pruitt. We never checked out the Bear Lake near Camp Lake (to be distinguished from the Bear Lake over the Yosemite border near Haystack). But nearly all the lakes in the Emigrant reward a visit and a stay, with very few real clunkers, many surprises and a half dozen and more keepers worth repeated visits.

@@jimpowell6789 I figured as much. A lot of those you mentioned are better as short destination trips. You could go to High Emigrant from Kennedy, I've thought of doing this in the past as I've had to spend the night on the bluff above the lake before (www.highcountryflyfisher.com/pages/chronEW5.htm) but certainly not a direct route by any means. I quite enjoyed Lewis and was thinking just yesterday that I need to go back. Maybe an extended trip below Granite Dome, visiting each lake for a couple of days. Which begs the question, did you ever run into any Golden Trout in your travels? I know you don't fish much but there are always others around...

@@highcountrychronicles Except on a solo trip one year I always had fishing company. And no, we never saw Golden Trout either in the southern west-face Ritter Range or north between Matterhorn Canyon and Sonora Pass. My triple Pisces friend Greg, comrade of a thousand trail miles, would have been avid to hear about the Golden up on Granite Dome. We dayhiked up to Iceland and also checked out Ridge and Sardella but not close enough to spot fish. We were more intent on getting over Upper Relief pass and into the area beyond -- Toe Jam, Leopold and Granite -- not much for fishing but luscious terrain for poking around. The trout in upper Matterhorn Canyon look to be a variant of some kind -- maybe of Paiute Trout? They're nearly orange. But not big enough for the pan.

😆😆😆 I'll admit, that one photo of you walking through the small meadow outside the camp site is pretty good. LOL.

Thanks. I don't eat fish usually. Just don't like the taste of trout. Maybe next year one of the other guys will eat some. 😀

@@CC-iq4ju Glad you appreciate it! Thanks for watching!

@@HNSeventyFive Who said I left the tarp? 😉 I still have to get mostly out of the sleeping bag though. 😅

What are you, a long range shooter?! 🤣🎯🔫

@ 🤣🤣 Oh so many ways I could answer this...🤣🤣😅 But honestly, I use that Nalgene bottle you see on the outside of my pack. 😅

Hahaha! I pitched a softball up there and you bunted. The good ol' Nalgene! 👍

Thank you! I'm hoping to get back there in May as well. I guess we'll see what Mother Nature has planned for us!

@@danbrent4618 Thank you for watching!

🤣😅 Welcome to the 21st century! 🤣🤣 Really not sure how it works but freezing apparently damages those little rods or whatever is beneath them, making the filter more porous and allowing larger particles through...

When the moisture freezes and expands it damages the tiny filtration "strands." Easy enough to just bring it into the tent at night. And sure beats the extra weight and work of those old ceramic hand pump filters!🤙

@@HNSeventyFive Why filter that good live wild high Sierra water in the first place? In over 300 days up there I remember filtering twice -- at Maxine Lake cuz the water tasted flat and halfway down Buckeye Canyon with 200 cattle upstream. We chose where to draw water with circumspection, always found suitable sources, never got sick.

@@chili1593 Yeah, it makes such a big difference. Tents heat up quickly. 👍🏾

I never could do wool pants but pretty much everything else I usually carry is wool- socks, shirt, hat, gloves. On this trip I think it was only the socks, shirt and gloves. I'm a big believer in wool and silk in the outdoors.

@@highcountrychronicles You only think you could never do wool pants. Whipcord is a different kind of wool fabric. Not scratchy. What are the pants? Filson used to make "Guide Pants" -- three pairs of snapped pockets -- front-thigh cargo, back, and watch-pockets above open deep side pockets. Whipcord. Survived three seven-week seasons. Barely. How does silk wear? How does it wash? How does it compare with poly-pro?

@@jimpowell6789 I couldn't tell you the pants I tried back in the day. It's was 70's Scouting stuff. 😅 I think silk probably wears as you'd expect. No issue for shirts. I haven't bought a silk shirt in over 20 years despite wearing them consistently year after year. Socks are a different matter. I'll wear holes in them in 1- 5 years depending on how well I've maintained my toe nails before a trip. I'm pretty hard on footwear and whatever is underneath. For the weight though, silk is warmer than polypro. Surprisingly so. In that one shot after washing the socks, I had one silk sock and one poly sock handing on a tree. I had a pair of wool socks I slept in and usually have an extra pair of wool socks just in case I need.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Welcome to the Dark Side!

@@wildersville 🤣🤣🤣 Thanks! Actually day 2 was great! I got done everything I needed and it was warm enough to make up for not having waders. 😅 I won't be needing that super butter for a while. Someday though. Thanks for watching.

😅 That's crazy. Yeah, it's always something for me at this lake. 😅😅 Once I hiked up here, caught one fish and left it was so cold. LOL.Thanks for watching!

@@outsidewithmike Yeah, definitely my favorite day of the trip. My new camera is annoying me to no end. 😅

🤣🤣🤣 I hope it was summer or someplace in Florida... 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks for watching! Yeah, it's a great adventure!

Thank you! Yes it is! Glad you enjoyed it. I've got more Emigrant Wilderness videos on the channel. For more, I would recommend my 2020 play list where I visited some of the most beautiful parts of the wilderness: kzbin.info/aero/PL0aZA5oQbTV-LvQcLhYyj4FPyZy_dG_qr

@@7Wolf2k Thank you! Glad you are enjoying the series and the channel!

I'm using a 4wt. Too early to say about the weather. June typically is fine if you can deal with the mosquitos. I've been able to get in as early as April (kzbin.info/www/bejne/gITbpX2Omqxpmc0) and had snow to deal with mid May (kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGTSm62whqmppM0)

Folks still go to Lost lake, though I haven't been myself yet. The lot above the upper meadow is filled with folks in road toasters with horses and their carriers.

@@highcountrychronicles Yah, I noticed that horse parking lot the last time I was through Kennedy Meadow. Basically I think that trailhead is the least attractive or useful in the Emigrant, but I know you manage to make it work for you. Ben Schifrin said Lost Lake had "a good population of eastern brook trout" (1990). We didn't see any when we were there ten years later but the place was so windy and so uninviting we didn't hang out long -- but the approach meadow leading up to it from Emigrant Basin is gorgeous.

@ Yes it is and I've often thought of spending the night there (Lost) rather than Emigrant Meadow or High Emigrant.

@@highcountrychronicles We found three choice campsites in the Emigrant Basin, one on the headwall, a couple hundred feet up -- there's a row of pines on a shelf -- another tucked into the north face of the small side canyon that drains more or less east-west into the lake south of the knob (9500) just northeast of the lake, and a third tucked into a corner of the granite formation on the west shore north of the outlet, with granite faces on two sides of it-- very well wind-sheltered. All of these have been used but none very much. They take finding and that takes time. We never explored the whole open meadowy area northwest of the lake or the higher ground on its perimeter. We didn't think Lost Lake was campable -- the wind is incessant, there is NO shelter, but the nearly boxcar size rectilinear erratic boulder a half mile down the canyon toward the basin offers fine shelter on its uphill lee side.

Thanks and thanks for watching!

Thank you! You should go. Here's a brief summary of what's like: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGTSm62whqmppM0si=sn9j7notaxK29tXJ&t=30

Yeah, I've had pads go soft as well. Fortunately, you can usually blow them back up for a few hours at time. 😅😅 Thanks for watching. Day 2 was fun. It's rendering now. 😃 I'm not sure if I'm going to go back to the Friday schedule or stick with the Tuesday schedule I had before Thanksgiving though...

@highcountrychronicles that one time, it was my first trip of the season, and of course I didn't check my equipment ahead of time. It had two leaks and was deflating in an hour or less.

@ Ouch. That's bad. First trips of the year can be rough though. Lots of rust. Do your carry duct tape or anything?

@highcountrychronicles I carry a repair kit for the pad, but I really should get a new one before next year. I'm pretty sure the glue in my 4 year old kit is no longer liquid. 😄

@@michaelb1761 Sounds like me and my first aid kit. 😅

🤣🤣 LOL. Not at all. First priority of fishing when fishing with a partner is to make sure they get into fish first. LOL. It's funny, the callibeatis nymph is my go to fly for the Emigrant, so I wasn't surprised it was working, once I got the right retrieve. Besides, I got my revenge the next day. LOL. Definitely want to go back with a small stream rod and focus on the creek for a day. Fish lower down, maybe start at the cabin and work up. We saw lots of nice fish in the creek, in the faster water. I'll let you know when I plan to tackle the central coast.