PIONEER SPIRIT; PRISTINE HIGH SIERRA BASIN OFFERS RANGE OF `TRIP-MAKERS'.

Byline: BRETT PAULY

It took me a quarter-century of backpacking in the High Sierra to finally see what John Muir was talking about when he described its signature granite pinnacles as the ``range of light.''

A mid-September sunset made the old man of the backcountry's famous words sing - from the brilliant orange plumes of clouds over Mount Gabb to the crimson dancing above Mount Crocker to the cardinal bouncing, appropriately, off Mount Stanford.

``It's a `range of light' light show, brought to you by Mother Nature,'' said Mill Valley backpacker Brian Muir (no relation) as the campfire crackled in the heart of the John Muir Wilderness and Sierra National Forest.

Welcome to Pioneer Basin and the Mono Divide high country, where sundown's reflections are just one of a plethora of ``trip-makers'' visitors can expect upon completing the 9-mile trek to this 10,800-foot perch at timberline.

It could be a single beautiful butterfly that a hiker might remember most. Or a patch of wildflowers where no others exist. Or the sight a lone falcon making a meal of a gopher. Or the maniacal midnight yips of coyotes. All can leave indelible impressions for years after journeying to this unspoiled outpost.

For my hiking partner and me, it was the tiny body of water on the southeastern edge of the basin we dubbed Ego Pond. It didn't matter how close you stood, how pretty the cast or how battered the dry fly, but more times than not the insect imitation would find its way into the maw of a vibrant brook trout.

They weren't large - most were 6 to 9 inches. But the dark-brown and olive-green fish with the distinctive red spots and blue halos were finning through the shallows in big numbers. And we must have caught all of them, twice.

As Orinda angler and backpacker Gary Hallam put it, ``There's a lot of little ones, but at least they're biting.''

Indeed, most of the catches you'd like to keep on the hook to entice more worthy specimens, but the fish just don't get that big up here, unless, perhaps, you throw some smelly processed bait to the bottom of a larger, deeper lake. This was fly-fishing and the drama was taking place on the water's surface as brooks sucked up Sierra green dots, California mosquitoes, float n' fools and other dry flies with zeal.

The appeal was magnified many fold by the stellar view. Due south lies Third Recess and Fourth Recess - deep chasms in the Mono Divide that carve their way toward Mount Gabb, Mount Dade, Mount Abbot and the glaciated north face of Mount Mills. Eastern access to the region is via 11,920-foot Mono Pass and originates along Rock Creek; the western portal is Lake Thomas Edison, and hikers enter up Mono Creek Trail.

The autumn weather in the High Sierra is fickle. Brisk winds skitter afternoon thunderstorms across 13,000-foot peaks until dissipating into the starry night; daylight brings cloudless and breeze-free skies. All the fine happenings at Ego Pond were etched into our minds under boundless blankets of azure. It was a perfect morning.

Our party of two had initial illusions of grandeur - day-tripping each morning to a new destination. Maybe to Fourth Recess Lake once and on to Third Recess in the afternoon. Perhaps up Hopkins Creek, one basin to the west, another day. Or up to Golden Lake for a gander.

But once we discovered the qualities of Pioneer Basin and the successes of fly-fishing its streams and pond, we needed look no farther.

As for the day trips, we scoured the basin for untested waters and scaled its northern ridge - the boundary between Fresno and Mono counties, and Sierra and Inyo national forests - to get a better lay of the land from an 11,600-foot vantage. A party surveying the area from 1907-09 named the basin for the 19th century pioneer railroad builders. It is framed by four peaks that take their names from the ``Big Four'' who financed and built the Central Pacific Railroad - 12,838-foot Stanford to the northeast, Huntington (12,394 feet) to the southeast, Hopkins (12,304 feet) to the southwest and Crocker (12,458 feet) to the northwest.

But the conifer-lined waters below beckoned. We landed 100 trout in two days, most prevalently brooks, followed in much lower numbers by goldens, then rainbows. An 11-inch 'bow fooled on a size No. 16 female Adams was tops for the trip.

I experimented with nymph patterns for 30 minutes - a half an hour longer than I should have - catching zip on a small beadhead red brassie but picking up a nice golden on a beadhead zugbug. Topwater flies were much more productive.

The key to fishing dry patterns at elevation is not so much keeping an eye on the fly in waiting for the strike as it is looking for the brilliant orange, crimson and cardinal that mimic John Muir's sunsets in the bellies and sides of the game. Every time a fish hits, its telltale hues are revealed in the crystalline waters. Every time. And that's what you wait for to set the hook.

That flash is what memories are made of.

Likewise, the fishing was the trip-maker for Hallam's son, Zack, who hooked an 11-inch golden on a red-spooned spinning lure in the largest of the seven primary Pioneer Basin Lakes.

``It was the biggest golden I've ever caught,'' he said upon exiting the basin on the third day or a four-day outing. ``Now if I can just make it over that pass (Mono) without passing out.''

His father was more impressed with the blooms. ``The wildflowers are spectacular up here - lupine, Indian paint brush, aster,'' he said.

Apart from the flowers, fall is also marked by fewer crowds. Many hikers are willing to accept chillier weather for more solitude.

``Let's put it this way, I don't want to go back to L.A.,'' said Ann Patterson of Venice, visiting Pioneer Basin by horse from her camp in Third Recess. ``I thought it was great to go right after Labor Day, when there are a lot fewer people and yet the weather is not bad yet but definitely cooler.''

You'll appreciate - or regret - that when the chill from an understuffed sleeping bag keeps you up at night and makes you less likely to chase off chipmunks and other food bandits stalking your food in the moon shadow of 12,404-foot Robber's Roost.

But a few restless nights are made a heck of a lot easier to endure when the last thing you spy before zipping the tent is a ``range of light'' light show.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Map

PHOTO (1--Color) From his perch on the northern lip of Pioneer Basin, Mill Valley backpacker Brian Muir matches a map to the basin's layout below. The peaks beyond the basin include, from left, Mounts Starr, Dade, Abbot, Mills and Gabb. Mount Hopkins rises to the right.

(2--Color) An angler pulls a brook trout from a pond in the southern stretches of Pioneer Basin. The Mono Divide's Fourth Recess, from right, Mono Rock and Third Recess highlight the background.

(3--Color) A sole hiker crests out at 11,920 foot Mono Pass, the high spot along the trail leading to Pioneer Basin situated 3 1/2 miles from its outset.

Brett Pauly/Daily News

MAP: (Color) BACKPACKING INTO THE HIGH SIERRA`S PIONEER BASIN

Dionisio Munoz/Daily News