Hikes in the national forest

I do most of my fishing on backpacking trips in the high country. That is my first love, and I picked up surf fishing and warmwater fishing afterwards. But with the elevated fire danger, these places are off-limits in some cases, or severely curtailed in others -- no ignition sources outside of "developed recreation sites", aka no stoves in the backcountry.

So I headed up to a trailhead I usually go to in the autumn for a weekend of dayhiking. First day headed up to fish a small stream, and then a lake about a thousand feet above.

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As often happens in the cooler months, I let time slip away faster than I intended, returning via headlamp, hiking the last 40 minutes or so in the dark.

Second day I headed up to a larger lake which is a PG & E impoundment, one of several on the river which drains the area. I brought a packraft and planned to paddle the reservoir and fish hoppers and streamers.

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Usually early October is a fine time to be tossing hoppers on this lake still, but today the fish were not having it. Instead I had better luck with some pine squirrel streamer jigs. I always prefer the excitement of a fish exploding underneath a surface fly, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I managed my time a little more wisely, and got back well before dark. A good thing, because dodging deer on the drive home can be a little nerve-wracking.

Odonata, is SJC = San Juan Capistrano ?

5 Star post.................thanks.

Looks like a great trip. Brook, brown and rainbow. You have to like that.

The stove ban is killing me. I would also like to do a backpack trip but five days of cold food and no campfire would be tough. Maybe when I was 20 years old but not at 57.

Nice post. Thanks for putting it up.

I hear you about that John, though I have never been a fan of campfires; that is what I have down jackets and sleeping bags for :). As it gets colder in the high country the lack of a stove becomes more of a problem though .. Hoping for rain soon.

Thanks Bill, I had to look up San Juan Capistrano. Funny, I worked behind the Orange Curtain for a bit some years ago, could not wait to get out of there :). Think airport codes instead.