Three Fun Weeks

[LOAH]

Hi folks. Time for an update.

On the first weekend of May, I didn't have a lot of time for an all day adventure, so I stayed somewhat close and on paved roads for an afternoon float at Yuba. I put a couple of miles on my tube in the wind and tested out some new waders while satisfying a request for some tender white meat.



The fishing wasn't exactly on fire, but I caught two wipers and missed a third, just before being able to reach it with the net. A couple other bites were missed as well before beaching the tube and getting prepped to leave.

My setup was pretty basic: One active rod that I was jigging with and one passive rod with a circle hook threaded with a nightcrawler and a couple of split shot about 18" up the line. The worm rod got all the action, ly.

While messing with my gear, I left both rods soaking a worm. Both got takes and I reeled in a mirror carp on one, with a small walleye on the other. The walleye escaped as I was about to whack it, so the two wipers were the only ones that made it home to Mama. She was happy though and they were delicious.

The next week was a planned family desert campout with my cousin from AZ and his wife. The Needles District of Canyonlands was our chosen destination and the plan was to stay Friday and Saturday nights, hiking the Chesler Park trail on Saturday for a nice tour of what the Needles are all about.

Aaron and Melinda were there a day early and got a campsite on Thursday, awaiting our arrival on Friday night. I took a half day off work but the kids had important things happening at school, so we had to wait for them before hitting the highway.

We made great time and didn't even need to stop until we'd reached Moab. Such efficiency allowed us to capture some beautiful sunset views as we travelled along Hwy 211 toward our site at the Needles Outpost Campground.

Talk about a classic western scene!



We rolled into camp with hardly any light left to setup the tent, but it all worked out and we enjoyed the rest of the evening with excellent company.

First awake, like usual, I found myself exploring the area surrounding the campground, appreciating the morning sunlight as it shone upon the red rock.









I even found a nice undisturbed sand dune to inspect.

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The trail:

Our hike was more ambitious than I had originally thought. I knew it would be around 6 miles, round trip, but didn't realize how much up and down we were getting into. Overall we did fine, but my daughter was quite unhappy with the hike.

From the Elephant Hill TH, it was immediately a climb uphill, which then led to some downhill and a sunny exposed meadow. Rinse, repeat a few times.

The kids had sunscreen on so they didn't get cooked, but it was certainly warm and everyone was glad that I brought over 2 gallons of water in my pack.

The hike was full of amazing views. I took zillions of photos, but I'll only share some here.









Shady spots were scarce, but were greatly appreciated when found. We made sure to take plenty of rests and drink plenty of water. It gave us a chance to look around and see some interesting things we may have otherwise overlooked.





Having never visited Canyonlands, and still without a proper 4x4, I knew the Needles would be a worthwhile destination to get out and see such spectacular formations.

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We made it to Chesler Park and enjoyed the view. Aaron and I had hoped to go a bit farther and scramble around some of the gnarbly stuff there, or even go across the valley and see the "Joint", but we were all hot and my daughter was beyond done with anymore sight seeing.

We'd seen enough and it was good. The Needles are amazing. Another trip in the fall may be necessary, as Druid Arch looks like a really cool place to visit. We shall see.

It was great to see my cousin again. Last year it was Lake Powell. This year it was Canyonlands. What'll it be next time? We'll find out.

Back to fishing.

This past weekend, Brookieguy picked me up nice and early and we drove to some newly accessible areas in the high country. We were surprised to see some improvements of the road from last year, although some of the new features made it a bit awkward to get pst in a half ton pickup. Kind of weird.

We pulled up to our first stop and were happy to see open water and got busy on our tubes. The fishing was slow and locating any fish was difficult. Eventually I found a few and Dave ended up with a pretty nice male brookie. My best was a decent female.





We held out for a couple of hours and chose to check on other nearby waters. 





We both did well from shore at the next lake, often catching fish on consecutive casts. It was nice to get consistent action from shore. The first spot was mighty cold. The fish weren't too bad either.





Healthy, at least.

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After having our fun there, we made our way back down the hill to check a spot we'd passed on the way up. Knowing it was kicking out better fish over the past couple of years than it was known for, we couldn't pass it up. I can't say we were disappointed.





We toyed with the idea of floating, but the shore fishing was good enough to keep at it from there.







The real fun came when we decided to leave. I noticed that I had cell service and was replying to a text while Dave got turned around to leave. I didn't notice how close we got to the water until it was too late and the right side of Dave's truck was sunken down into the soft shoreline.



No bueno.

The other side wasn't as bad, but we were 100% stuck in the muck.



Luckily, that cell service came in handy and we were rescued by the Quietflyfisher, who runs his outfit from Loa. Mike is a super good guy and came up to pull us out. That help won't be forgotten. Be sure to pay him a visit if you're in the area. He's very knowledgeable about all the surrounding water and he's just a good guy anyway. Thanks Mike!

We got home a couple of hours later than we intended, but we arrived safely and another great day of fishing was in the books.

Happy Fishing, Humans.

[SkunkedAgain]

Beautiful pix and fun read again, thanks for sharing.... Later J

[joshomaru]

Great pics, Lumpy.
Glad you had service and a friend to help out of a pickle! I was with a buddy and we got in the same kind of situation. Not much that can be done without another truck.
The hands on the rock had to be an awesome treat to see!