Welcome to another episode of, “Name that Secret Spot”
This past weekend, I embarked on a backpacking trip that was three years in the planning. I’d wanted to attempt this area at around this time of year for quite a while, but could never find anyone who was willing to give it a try. Finally my buddy Bernard Yin from the Fisherman’s Spot in Southern California said he was game. It took several months of phone and e-mail conversations to sort out all the logistics, but last weekend, we finally did it. Our group was Bernard and his buddy Joe from So Cal, Dave Lass of TU, and myself.
The Journey started with dropping off some bikes at a gate that is closed for the season off of a remote mountain pass. From there, we rode bikes for 3 or 4 miles to the start of a trial head. After a wrong turn that took us a mile or so out of our way, we managed to make it to the right trail. We hiked 15 miles down into a canyon. It’s about a 4,500-foot elevation change from the drop off point to our final destination at the bottom of the canyon.
The hike, on the way down, always goes quicker because you’re so excited to get to your destination.
When we reached the bottom of the canyon, the trail continues on up river. We decided to bush whack our way down river to where it flows into a reservoir, hoping to intercept some fall browns trying to make their way up river. The thing that makes this place so special is that there is no way to get a boat onto the lake, so the only way to ever see the inlet is by means of this 15-mile hike. Because there is no trial for the last few miles down the river, it sees very few people. Another discouraging factor for the average fisherman is that this area just happens to have one of the highest concentrations of black bears in the state. We saw 6 bears just on the way in. The smallest being around 350 –400 pounds. It’s freaky when you’re out in the middle of nowhere and you start running into multiple bear dens and bed sites. We decided to cut off down a trail we spotted leading down a wash towards the main river. Right as we decided to cut off, we spotted a huge, huge big brown black bear. He must have been 600 pounds. We decided to take the trail anyway. There were a couple times I felt like I was invading some bears home. It’s a bit personal when you have to step through their bed to pass a trail. To top it off the trail funneled down into steep cliffs. We ended up sliding and grabbing onto trees down a super steep shoot into the creek bed below.
We didn't’t quite make it to the back of the lake the first day, so we had to camp out on a rock along side the river. I hardly slept, knowing a bear was probably going to enter our camp at any moment. I always keep a pile of rocks next to my head when I sleep in bear country. That way I can at least have a chance of scaring him off before he makes off with my food.
The next morning, we made it to the lake inlet. Turns out that when the lake is low, one of the first big pools has a waterfall leading into it. That creates an impassable fish barrier. From there up, all the fish are a self-sustaining river population. There were lots of lake run fish stacked in the big pool below the waterfall. The Lake itself was stacked with fish too. There was a trout occupying every possible niche. They have never seen people or fishing pressure and ran from yards away to grab a fly. The fishing was epic. Every fish we caught averaged 17-22 inches. Sometime they would bite a streamer 5 or 6 times before getting hooked. It was truly a fisherman fantasy.
Bernard and Joe left a day early to make sure they made it out in time to meet a friend they had picking them up. Dave and I decided to say one extra day to take advantage of the killer fishing and get some footage for FISH EYE. The hike out was brutal. We did the whole thing in one day. 18 miles uphill with a 4500 feet elevation gain. We took a wrong turn to where our bikes were stashed, and ended up adding an additional 1000 feet or so to our hike. Then we still had to ride our bikes another 12 miles after we reached the road to where my truck was parked. It was a true test of all my strength. I don’t recommend doing it again in one day, but the memories will last a lifetime.
Mikey Wier
