Hope Valley, CA, July 25, 26, 2015

I thought I'd take a quick little weekend jaunt over to Hope Valley, CA and try to get a line wet in the West Fork of the Carson River, a place where I've caught a few small trout in the past.  The plan was to leave early Saturday morning and just kind of mosey up that way.  A dead and un-chargeable battery changed my plans somewhat. So, instead of heading off to the mountains, I headed off to Costco and became on of those guys who works on his truck in the parking lot.  I managed to get the new battery in quickly and then realized that it dying when it did was a blessing.  Had it died in the boondocks, I would have really been in trouble.  

Anyway, I got out of town and made my way to Hope Valley.  I knew it'd be full of people, but it was a mad house.  Everywhere there was a wide spot in the road, there was a car parked in it.  I had expected a crowd so my plan was to first find a place to camp off of one of the many Forest Service roads and once I had done that, I could go to my little honey hole on the river and fish and then go back and set up camp for the night.

Because of my late start and the hoards of people all around, it took me longer than expected to scout out a secluded campsite.  Instead of fishing, I decided to explore the area and annihilate the river trout the following day.  

I parked at a trail head parking lot, just outside of the Woods Lake campground.  I absolutely hate to have to pay for parking when I'm out in the woods, but with the big yellow orb sinking more and more, I bit the bullet, paid the five bucks, parked and set off on a hike.

Trail head parking

The parking lot map display showed several different "out and back" hikes through the area, or you could tie them together for a very nice loop hike.  But, the sun, she was a settin, so I chose a little 2 1/2 mile hike to Round Top Lake.  The sign at the parking lot said 2 1/2 miles to the lake and after hiking for about a half an hour, I came to a sign that said, you guessed it, 2 1/2 miles to the lake...

Dexter found the creek immediately

The mileages may have been a little off, but the trails were very well
marked and in good condition and there were signs of some recent
trail maintenance--thanks trail crews.

We hiked upwards in the waning afternoon sun, up through huge crags of granite, the trail giving us some "filtered" views of the valley below.

I believe this is Red Lake Peak at 10,063 elev.

Down below is charming little Woods Lake

Foot bridge, Dexter don't need no stinking foot bridge...

You can see the many back country options this area offers

Sometimes you just gotta lay down...

Before getting to Round Top Lake, we came across what I can only assume was some sort of mining operation along the creek.  There was an old truck, well on its way to dissolving back into the earth and there were some remnants of old buildings or sheds. We explored all over the area and I can only say that if I were a rattlesnake, that's where I'd want to live.   

Rattlesnake Lodge

We were probably only a mile or so from Round Top Lake, but we had a late start and I wanted to have ample time to get to camp, set up, relax and not be rushed, so I decided to turn back.  I know I'll be back to this area and I'll make a big loop hike out of next time.

The road to Woods Lake is paved, but right before you make the final turn towards the lake, you can take a little dirt road that heads due east into the woods.  This road is a bit rough and gets rougher as it goes, but there was a lot of dispersed camping areas all over.  I found a nice little spot that was one of the only ones that still had some sunshine (the others were deep in the trees and gave meaning the the words "Black Forest").

Home for the night

Strict fire restrictions were in place, but I wouldn't
have used the fire ring anyways.

We had this little visitor arrive in camp and she was there about twenty minutes
before Dexter finally noticed her and asked her to leave.  What a keen and
observant guard dog I have...

After getting all set up, I opened a beer and Edward Abbey's "The Serpents of Paradise" and just relaxed.  I'm in the process of re-reading all of my Edward Abbey books and plan to re-read them again when I'm done.  

As soon as the sun fell below the trees, it cooled of quite a bit and very fast.  I put on a jacket and milked what little light there was before heading in for the night.

I usually always have steak and potatoes the first night of a camp trip and tonight
was no exception.  It's just such an easy and satisfying meal and Dexter knows
I'm prone to share a bit of it when it's just us guys.

I don't know if it was the heat followed by the cold, the hiking and exploring, the beer or the Abbey, the steak or the quiet, or a combination of it all, but I had the best night's sleep I can remember having in the last five years.  It was a dead sleep that Dexter was apparently enjoying too because he never asked to out until I got up.  I rolled over and looked at my watch and it was 10:10 AM!  I usually feel a bit guilty sleeping in that late, but this fine morning I was guilt free.  

I got up and leisurely made a pot-o-java, fed the dog and read in the late morning shade of the pines til the coffee was gone.  

We packed up and headed over to actually see Woods Lake from its shore.  It's a very nice little lake, but too crowded for my taste.  It's perfect for families with small children who like to kayak and canoe and enjoy a shore side picnic.

I didn't spend too much time here because they wanted to squeeze another five bucks out of me to park in their lot, so I just ducked over to the water, snapped a few pics and lit outta there before the law caught up with me...

Shore of Woods Lake

Just beautiful

A little cove with a family about to launch

There's the scofflaw who hates to pay for parking...

After leaving Woods Lake, we headed over to Burnside Lake, which down Forest Road 19, near the intersection of Highways 88/89.  Heading south on FS19, the road is rough and only gets rougher, but it's manageable for most cars, although I wouldn't take something too nice.  This road had many forks and intersections and at times, there was some confusion as to where to go.  My Benchmark gazetteer didn't have tons of detail, so I just stayed on the road that looked most traveled upon and it got me there.

Burnside Lake is another beautiful Sierra lake at over 8,000 ft. elev.  The rough ride up definitely discourages a lot of folks from crowding up the place, but there were still 10-12 people milling about, hiking and fishing.  

Burnside Lake

This looked like some kind of altar or something and it
had definitely been used a lot.  I'm not for scarring up
the rocks with fire and soot, but this was pretty cool and
I bet it would make one hell of a nice evening campfire.

A nice little secluded cove

Yes, he's a Lab

I had a deviled ham sandwich, chips, salsa and an apple for lunch and I remembered why I hadn't had deviled ham since college--YUCK.  But, virtually anything tastes good with a view like this.

We hiked around the area, visited with some unsuccessful fishermen and spoke to a nice older couple on a KTM Adventure Bike.  I hope I'm still able to ramble about on motorcycles when I'm their age.  

I still wanted to get my line in the water somewhere and since I only had my little Tenkara rod with me, lake fishing was out of the question, so we headed back down the hill.

I pulled off the highway at a little spot just west of Sorenson's, where I had caught a few trout last year.  Since it was Sunday, the crowds were thinning and people were hurrying off back home. 

When I stepped out of the truck, something on the ground immediately caught my eye.  It was a little stuffed Gund "Porky" the porcupine.  I think it was fate that we found each other.  When my daughter was young, she had a school assignment where she was to take along a big paper cutout of "Flat Stanley" and photograph him in as many different places as she could.  Flat Stanley went all over the place with us and it was a lot of fun.  So now comes Porky...  I plan to carry him with me on all of my future wanderings and show him the world!

Porky the porcupine...

I didn't take my camera fishing with me; it's just too much of a hassle.  I hopped around from boulder to boulder, plopping my little Tenkara flies into pools, eddy's and drifts, but had no joy.  At least I didn't lose any flies like last time.  I only gave it a little more than an hour and it was mid-afternoon, so I didn't expect much, but it was still fun to get out on the river.

The boulders of the west for of the Carson

I did see one five inch trout and three or four two inchers in this little pool,
but I pardoned them after making them promise to grow nice and fat by fall.

It was a short one night/two day trip, but one that I wanted and needed.  I had a BLAST and was able to recon the area for my next pass through it.  I can't say enough about my little Bobcat camper.  It compliments my getting out there quickly and further than any set up I've had before.  I'm always comfortable, warm and dry each evening, but I need to stop sleeping in until 10:10!