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Tbone79
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Tbone79
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 10:04 am 
I love that area tons of mines and history to explore another lake i want to go to up there is lake simms but ive only looked down on it from top of mt Townsend saw alot of fish rising in that lake too.id be interested in seeing some howard lake photos.Also im new to the group cant figure out how to share my sunset lake photos

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Tbone79
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 11:33 am 
Sunset lake photos hopefully i did this right

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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 2:22 pm 
Hey those are nice Tbone. Thanks. Looks like you really need a raft to get around Sunset. If we go in there together you can use one of mine. Rafting high lakes is the best.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Tbone79
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 2:25 pm 
You can actually get around the lake on the left side I just don't have any pictures also you could fish on the right side too off the boulders on the talus slope of it but yeah rafts would be awesome

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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 7:48 pm 
Ok I just noticed, that's a man made dam????? There MUST have been regular trail access to that lake for there to be a man constructed dam there???

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Tbone79
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 8:03 pm 
Also when they built that Dam it raised the lake 60 Acres and where you camp at the lake you're camping in the old miners camp which is pretty cool

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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 8:26 pm 
Ok, so how did they get up to the mine? There must have been a trail network that started somewhere?

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Tbone79
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PostTue Apr 02, 2019 9:55 pm 
sunset lake waterpipe this runs from the mine to the lake but is very over grown and full of blow downs

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Backpacker Joe
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PostWed Apr 03, 2019 4:15 am 
Wow. So they made a damn to raise the lake level to feed the water pipe to the dam? Damn.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Bedivere
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Bedivere
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PostWed Apr 03, 2019 12:03 pm 
Back in the mid '90s the logging roads extended pretty close to the lake as shown on the map below. I drew in where the road went to and actually ended. These old roads aren't shown on any maps any more and I suspect they're totally overgrown now anyway. We drove to the end of the road and walked the ridgeline from there to Sunset lake, making one mistake in that we traversed the North side of Burley Mtn which involved some veggie belays and very slow going to avoid falling off cliffs. We camped at the outlet of Sunset and saw lots of big fish swimming around that wouldn't pay any attention to anything we threw in. From Sunset we traversed West and then South to the obvious bench at 4200' then dropped down to Lake Simms and spent another night there. No one had camped at Simms in a looonnnggg time at that point. There is a bronze plaque on a boulder commemorating some guy there. The fishing was just okay, the lake had recently thawed and the trout were still in spawning mode and pretty skinny/flabby. From Simms we exited back to our vehicle via Fourth of July Lake and then a rising traverse to the saddle on the East side of Burley and back along the ridgeline.

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MtnGoat
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PostWed Apr 03, 2019 2:03 pm 
In '91 we tried that back way in. The road was tolerable until it hit somewhere around the section 24 line then there was a huge washout. Ditched the Mtn Wagon there, hoofed it to the end of the road and camped for the night. Then in the AM we made just past pt 5040 when the weather, which hadn't looked great, turned super foul with whiteout and rain. The snowpack turned to miserable slush, we looked over at Burley during a gap in the crud... and said screw this. Made it a few years later, for about an hour, via Eagle/Simms. My partner was not in the best shape and the last leg around the corner put him in bad shape, so I figured we'd better head out early considering the reclimb over the ridge of Townsend. Nice lake, a fish I never saw bent my rod in half ....before taking the lure off. And then of course, time to go. Crap.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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timberghost
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PostThu Apr 04, 2019 5:45 am 
The county only does stuff on the North Fork via Jacks Pass, you probably saw the USFS contractors decommissioning 4th of July road. What's wrong with going in on a day hike? That's all I have ever done to Sunset and Howard.

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Backpacker Joe
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PostThu Apr 04, 2019 5:54 am 
timberghost wrote:
The county only does stuff on the North Fork via Jacks Pass, you probably saw the USFS contractors decommissioning 4th of July road. What's wrong with going in on a day hike? That's all I have ever done to Sunset and Howard.
Well thats something. What's your access to Howard?

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Tbone79
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PostThu Apr 04, 2019 6:07 am 
Yeah ive done day hikes to them i just prefer camping

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timberghost
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PostThu Apr 04, 2019 9:24 am 
Up the old logging road hike to the top of the ridge and drop down to the lake.

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