Time to pay it back a little

[Ed Wahl]

Saturday the 17th is the Great Sierra Nevada River Clean-Up Day.

http://www.sierranevada.ca.gov/rivercleanup

It helps to be with an organized group but anyone can pick a stream and make a difference.

I'll be at my favorite water for a bit of clean up work then some fishing.

If anyone wants in shoot me a pm.

Ed

[Ed Wahl]

Well we got it done. 4 out of 4 sites cleaned up to what are some pretty high standards.
The first site wasn't bad at all. Vehicles were locked out a few years ago and that's really helped with what used to be a horrific garbage problem.

We had the help of the Forest Service in hauling away what we gathered up. That bit of carpet someone left was the only large item found there.



This years wrecking crew.
From our board, Flydabbler, Phil Synhhorst, and myself, loaded and ready for bear.(crap)



From there it was off to a small creek, one with drive in access. We had a bit more to haul off this time. Took maybe an hour to do it, not too shabby.

Then on to the next slightly longer creek, first at a famous crossing and then on up to a dispersed rec site.

That's where our efforts were needed most. On the way in there were many "TP" blossoms in plain sight almost everywhere. Two fire rings were totally full of trash and assorted litter all over the site.

So we rolled up the sleeves and waded in. It took a little longer here, thanks in part to easy public access. We got it up to our standards though. We walked the whole thing got it all.

The fire rings.





An ash pile.


Some petty vandalism.


This spot had something extra too, check this out.



Thats some rather fresh bear shit. A few seconds after I took this Phil spotted the perpetrator sneaking by. I was too slow to get a pic, but it was one of the largest and prettiest bears I've seen yet. Coal black and looking very healthy.


Right after that the crap started acting aggresive towards Phil so he took some quick defensive action.





With the crap subdued and the site all cleaned up it was time for lunch and a rest.

Some indian grinding rocks at the site.



Flydabbler showed he's no rookie by producing a bottle of Knob Creek. What a stroke of genius.
Thanks Bro.

I grilled up some hot dogs and we had beer to wash it down.

Then came reward time.





It was great to be on the water right before dark. The fish are looking very healthy and strong after this great water year.

You guys see how I told that without any mention of getting lost?
It's a gift I have.

And to Bill Templin a special thanks, not just for the litter getters but for sucking me into this clean up movement years ago.

Ed

[JasonB]

Way to go guys!!! That's just great, I'd be most interested in joining in sometime (Saturdays are solid work days for me in the summer otherwise I wish I could have been there). I have a feeling I've fished in that area (and if not I likely will), in which case I'd say I owe you all a beer!
Thanks,
JB

[DFrink]

Nice work Ed! I wish I could have made it up, spent all day packing the house up. Those pictures look familiar, that was the family summer vacation spot for camping for 15 years when I was a kid. Thanks to the rest of the crew for their work, I hate a-holes that leave trash in such great places.

Dan

[Phil Synhorst]

It was a good day in the mountains. Lite easy clean up projects, except for the last spot. Perhaps the Forest Service will consider reinstating the road closures, it sure seems to help with the ferrel pig problems up there.

The fishing........lets just say I wish we had the whole day for it. All the fish were full of piss and vinegar, fighting with everything they had.

Dean, good fishing with ya, hope it wasn't the last time.
Ed, we will figure how to spot that trail head one of these days. Thanks for the invite, it was another kick ass day on the home water.