leredgib
08-04-2011, 01:02 PM
In the late 90’s my buddy Ryan and I backpacked to an area of the Kern River that was just amazing…complete solitude and amazing trout fishing to boot. In the early/mid 2000’s we planned a return trip only to find out that some dumb fucking cunt decided to burn her (presumably) white trash husband’s camp and property…that’ll learn him good…and lit the whole goddamn wilderness on fire. It was an amazing fire and we had to reschedule and do a high country trip in Mammoth instead while our beloved zone burned to the ground. :redi-dream:
Well time keeps on marching and wives and jobs and whatnot start affecting the schedule and next thing you know it’s been over a decade since you’ve been there. Ryan called me up and made the call to go. Our buddy Al has been doing a ton of walking for health reasons and he was all about it too. Drove up Friday night and left the trailhead at Blackrock Mtn. at gray light. We were pretty jacked up to be setting out on another adventure, it had been a while.
Casa Vieja Meadows is only a short distance from the trailhead, and is a great scene. A small stream meanders through it chock full of tiny Golden Trout and the surrounding banks are chock full of snakes. Fortunately most of them don’t rattle.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010012.jpg
We just kept on trucking through the valleys towards Jordan Hot Springs which is the popular hiking destination for most in the area.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010071.jpg
After that the trail gets a little less distinct. Since the fire not many people have used it due to the ridiculous amount of fallen trees you have to climb over/under/around to pass through the area. At times it was nearly impossible to figure out where the trail was and we just had to figure our way around. The scene was a bummer, I have pictures taken from the same area before the fire and it is a totally different world now. It was uplifting to see that despite the decimation of the forest life is still good for some things. The oak and various bushes are flourishing with the lack of cover and it’s a lot easier to spot the deer, etc. The problem was grinding your legs and stomping your feet through bushes was really just rolling the rattlesnake bite dice.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010063-1.jpg
Eventually our blue skies turned to cumulus clouds and then thunder in the distance, then a slight drizzle and then a crazy downpour. We were only a couple miles from our destination but we had to head for lower ground and wait it out through the night…oh and at this juncture I realized the rain fly was not packed in with my tent. Good times. :idiot::cowboy: The next morning we got to the Kern and realized we had picked up the wrong trail a while back. We were well downriver from our intended destination. For camping it didn’t matter but for fishing it sucked! Instead of wide fish choked riffles and pools we were in class 4 rapids. With the rain and thunder firing back up I wasn’t convincing my non-fishing buddies that we needed to double back up the trail and head in the other direction. It rained all day but let up in the afternoon. Fishing was still good, several fish in every little backswirl along the bank or occasional giant rock in the river. I played guide mostly but managed about 25 rainbows and two browns.
The next morning I found a much better camp area while trout scouting and we moved. It took us a few minutes since it had changed a bit but we realized we had camped at this spot before. The fishing was good twenty feet from our tents as the river split and arced around an island. No browns around but tons of ‘bows ready to bite. Didn’t take many fish porn shots and as you can see my buddies are not all that good at it :Ganjaman:…(me) “hey Al, I don’t care about me, I want a good pic of this fish”…”you get a good one?” (yeah) alright….result:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010044.jpg
This little guy was rad, he had a pool separated from the main river all to himself, gorging on the tiny falls that fed it. It was all sand and he looked like brown without red spots from living in there. Ryan faired better with this pic:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010047.jpg
All good thing must come to an end and we had to cut out. We had originally planned on an extra day but a schedule conflict only left us four days not five in the dirt…bummer. Fastest four days ever. The hike back was tough (15+ miles with almost 5,500 feet of elevation gain) but manageable. On the way up I stopped at Casa Vieja Meadows to hook a couple Goldens to complete the trifecta (gold/brown/bow). Tiny little guys.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010103.jpg
Waiting for the guys to catch up
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010096.jpg
Under this tree
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010075.jpg
Were these in some cow shit
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010080-1.jpg
So can I get a ruling from Drifter or someone? :shroooom::shroooom:
Because it might have made all this
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010023.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010058.jpg
a litlle more vivid
And then we were done and headed down the mountains to Pizza Barn in Kernville…
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010107.jpg
fin:sun-smile:
Well time keeps on marching and wives and jobs and whatnot start affecting the schedule and next thing you know it’s been over a decade since you’ve been there. Ryan called me up and made the call to go. Our buddy Al has been doing a ton of walking for health reasons and he was all about it too. Drove up Friday night and left the trailhead at Blackrock Mtn. at gray light. We were pretty jacked up to be setting out on another adventure, it had been a while.
Casa Vieja Meadows is only a short distance from the trailhead, and is a great scene. A small stream meanders through it chock full of tiny Golden Trout and the surrounding banks are chock full of snakes. Fortunately most of them don’t rattle.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010012.jpg
We just kept on trucking through the valleys towards Jordan Hot Springs which is the popular hiking destination for most in the area.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010071.jpg
After that the trail gets a little less distinct. Since the fire not many people have used it due to the ridiculous amount of fallen trees you have to climb over/under/around to pass through the area. At times it was nearly impossible to figure out where the trail was and we just had to figure our way around. The scene was a bummer, I have pictures taken from the same area before the fire and it is a totally different world now. It was uplifting to see that despite the decimation of the forest life is still good for some things. The oak and various bushes are flourishing with the lack of cover and it’s a lot easier to spot the deer, etc. The problem was grinding your legs and stomping your feet through bushes was really just rolling the rattlesnake bite dice.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010063-1.jpg
Eventually our blue skies turned to cumulus clouds and then thunder in the distance, then a slight drizzle and then a crazy downpour. We were only a couple miles from our destination but we had to head for lower ground and wait it out through the night…oh and at this juncture I realized the rain fly was not packed in with my tent. Good times. :idiot::cowboy: The next morning we got to the Kern and realized we had picked up the wrong trail a while back. We were well downriver from our intended destination. For camping it didn’t matter but for fishing it sucked! Instead of wide fish choked riffles and pools we were in class 4 rapids. With the rain and thunder firing back up I wasn’t convincing my non-fishing buddies that we needed to double back up the trail and head in the other direction. It rained all day but let up in the afternoon. Fishing was still good, several fish in every little backswirl along the bank or occasional giant rock in the river. I played guide mostly but managed about 25 rainbows and two browns.
The next morning I found a much better camp area while trout scouting and we moved. It took us a few minutes since it had changed a bit but we realized we had camped at this spot before. The fishing was good twenty feet from our tents as the river split and arced around an island. No browns around but tons of ‘bows ready to bite. Didn’t take many fish porn shots and as you can see my buddies are not all that good at it :Ganjaman:…(me) “hey Al, I don’t care about me, I want a good pic of this fish”…”you get a good one?” (yeah) alright….result:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010044.jpg
This little guy was rad, he had a pool separated from the main river all to himself, gorging on the tiny falls that fed it. It was all sand and he looked like brown without red spots from living in there. Ryan faired better with this pic:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010047.jpg
All good thing must come to an end and we had to cut out. We had originally planned on an extra day but a schedule conflict only left us four days not five in the dirt…bummer. Fastest four days ever. The hike back was tough (15+ miles with almost 5,500 feet of elevation gain) but manageable. On the way up I stopped at Casa Vieja Meadows to hook a couple Goldens to complete the trifecta (gold/brown/bow). Tiny little guys.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010103.jpg
Waiting for the guys to catch up
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010096.jpg
Under this tree
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010075.jpg
Were these in some cow shit
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010080-1.jpg
So can I get a ruling from Drifter or someone? :shroooom::shroooom:
Because it might have made all this
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010023.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010058.jpg
a litlle more vivid
And then we were done and headed down the mountains to Pizza Barn in Kernville…
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/bigderel/P1010107.jpg
fin:sun-smile: