It didn't rain on friday here in riverside, it poured... but we were going anyway.
I headed up towards Stone Creek campground north of Idyllwild, with 2 other couples and a Tango 257BH. About 1/2 way up the mountain, I come around the bend, and I guess I clipped the side of a fallen rock in the road, and ended up with a flat tire. No problem as a spare comes Standard. but i have to wait for one of the others in our group, as he has a lug wrench that will fit, and I don't. An hour wait was made much better by a dry trailer, warm furnace, good company, and a deck of cards,
Trailer "jacked up" by pulling onto a piece of firewood to lift flat tire off the ground:
The turnout was a little muddy from the continuing rains. used 4wd to get the whole package rolling again.
We arrived at camp later than expected, and drove all the way around the loop, only to find that our site was the last one, right near the exit. It was dark, wet cold, and snow on the ground, but camp sure sets up quick with a 12V operated awning, we were camping in no time:
In the morning my buddy and I decided we would go try and nab some trout - Still snow on the ground, everyone sleeping, fog:
We head off for the San Jacinto river (small creek really). Turns out its closed. Mountain Yellow Legged Frog(endangered) protection and $10,000 fine for disobeying the sign. Darn. ok, next creek, same sign. ok... well, lets try this small lake here, see what we see:
After a short while, a wooly bugger brings this monster to hand:
We continue to fish for about 90 mins, my buddy gets skunked, but I end up with 4. 2 like the first, and then these 2 guys. the 1 clearly had a taste for Crawdads... but alas, i didn't have that fly in the box (i came to fish stream trout remember), so wooly buggers do the trick.
Eventually I hook a bigger fish, but he almost instantly breaks my 5x tippet when he turns into the reeds... that's what I get for not being prepared. Even so, the 2 10-12" bass were a lot of fun on a 7'6" 3 wt fly rod.
After fishing that morning, I promised to be social, not abandon everyone at camp, and spend the remainder of saturday and all day sunday doing the more traditional campfire activities. Cooking over a real fire, and drinking. Oh... did I mention I lost all my wooly buggers in trees and reeds the first day?....
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.
Tight lines.
PS - it was so overcast, foggy, and wet, you can't tell from looking at the pictures if it was 6 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon... You couldn't feel a difference either, basically 37 degrees all day every day... and WET!
Nice summary of your trip, I like your format, simple and to the point. I've been wanting to explore the San Jacinto's and your picture of the small lake makes me want to visit. Some day soon, I hope. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
Thanks. Its an awesome area for camping, and close to lots of things. For bigger lake fishing, Lake Hemet is nearby, the Nice little town of Idyllwild is very close and has neat shops, coffee shops, etc..., there is also a great number of hiking and Mountain Biking trails around.
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