Getting There

To reach the Lost Lakes, park at the North Lake Trailhead. North Lake is located outside of Bishop in the Lake Sabrina area. The trail leads to Piute Pass and the Humphries Basin Backcountry.

The Hike

The trail to the Lost Lakes starts in a forested area and works it's way westward and uphill for the first 1.4 miles. When you reach the first switchbacks you will be exposed to the sun for much of the rest of the way. After passing Loch Leven Lake on the left, the trail climbs gradually to Piute Lake. This is a good place to rest before you hike over Piute Pass. From Piute Lake, continue hiking over Piute Pass and veer left from Summit Lake. Hiking southward, cross country, will take you to Lake Muriel. Follow the east shore of Lake Muriel southward and climb up into the Lost Lakes basin via the outlet stream area which is a steep boulder field. Be prepared to do some boulder hopping. There is a very light trail that leads to the Lost Lakes but it is difficult to follow and lacks continuity.

The Fishing

REPORT - June 30, 2014

Fishing at the Lost Lakes was slow this year with only small Goldens sighted and landed. We only fished the lowest lake (Lost Lake #1) in the drainage and avoided the upper lakes on this outing. I had luck with a Yellow Humpy and a Black Ant while fishing the southern and western shores. I saw the most fish near the inlet on the south side. They were holding a few feet from the shelf. Again, we only saw smaller fish on this trip to Lost Lakes.

After fishing the entire perimeter of the Lost Lake #1, we concluded that the east and north sides of the lake fished poorly for us.



REPORT - July 2000

We hiked to the Lost Lakes in the morning and fished our way from Lost Lake number 1 all the way up to Lost Lake number 4. The wind is a factor at the higher lakes in this drainage. We did not see much action fishing these lakes during the day using hoppers, leeches and Wooly Buggers so we decided to come back in the evening and try our luck then.

At sundown we headed back over to the Lost Lakes from our basecamp at Piute Lake. We found the fish to be much more active at this time and we found luck using Birds Nests and other dry flies. I used a Hares Ear suspended under the surface for a while and saw some action. The Lost Lakes are rumoured to hold a population of large Golden Trout that are self-sustaining. I would like to go back soon and see if I can get one of the bigger ones.