TR 10/21-22/2023 Fall Colors Somewhere Over The Rainbow

[giantbrookie]

It's been a bit of a rough fall for me from a health standpoint, but that won't make me lose sight of the fact that I have spent more time in my life than I probably deserve Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Part of my living Over the Rainbow is connected to a rare privilege: how many guys can say that their no.1 all time hiking, fishing, travel, and drinking buddy is their wife? And of course, a lot of that is tied into the High Sierra. As a child and teen, I looked forward to my time in the High Sierra more than anything else I did. Somewhere in my dream of adulthood was meeting a soulmate to share the High Sierra experience with. It actually happened. Of course Judy was also instrumental in helping me get to places Over the Rainbow in my geologic pursuits (my week in Pittsburgh at the geologic meeting I returned from on Thursday was in fact spent Over the Rainbow), but that is another story.

We met in 1986 and I took Judy on her first High Sierra backpack to Little Lakes Valley in September of that year. We married in '88 and our backpacking trips escalated to serious off trail adventures by 1992, which led to Judy's legendary invitation for me to think of a backpacking destination and trip that I never thought feasible; we would start a family after that. That set the stage for our 1993 Dumbbell Lakes trip, a trip so successful that (in addition to other factors such as craft beer enjoyment) it postponed having kids for nearly another decade. During those years we'd commonly open and close a Sierra season by getting a room in Quincy and doing some short north Sierra dayhikes to do some fishing. So it was, that on October 27-28, 2001, with Judy expecting our first one (Lee) the following April, we went to Quincy, did some very short hikes and caught some nice fish out of two different lakes. We called that trip the End of an Era. We did some crude scans of some photos (old prints) from that trip...

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Fast forward to 2023. Judy never left the kids for an overnight activity, but they are older now with Dawn a senior in high school and Lee now working at REI and taking courses at a community college. Things this fall have been a bit difficult with my hernia which has gotten progressively worse, and a week before our New Era Quincy trip, I received a test result that suggests that my prostate cancer has made a comeback again (after my operation at the end of 2018 and my radiation treatment in early 2022). There was also a potentially bad urine test result which is going to lead to further investigation. But these issues could not derail this trip. Why should they?

Saturday we hit the road a bit before 6 am, as both kids slept, and up the Yuba River canyon to the Lakes Basin area. In almost perfect weather, breezy with a high near about 60F, we hiked to big Long Lake to do some fishing. En route we made a poor decision to try casting into swamp-lined Mud Lake. After getting soaked getting off about ten blank casts and forgetting my ill-fated net in the reeds somewhere, we struggled on to Long Lake.

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Getting through brush and muck with the hernia is a bit difficult, but the hiking was made much easier with the hernia belt Judy had bought for me before my trip to Pittsburgh the week before; without it, it hurt just to move around the kitchen while cooking (yes doing things like that backpacking trip with Lee without such a belt no doubt contributed to it getting a lot worse). Whereas Judy has gone on a fair number of hikes with me, Dawn, and Lee, recently, these have been more or less entirely on trail, and she was a little rusty off trail, so we moved a bit slow off trail, but we belatedly reached a place to fire casts into Long Lake, which was a difficult nut to crack in our "old days"; we tried twice and skunked twice. I finally caught a fish (13" rainbow) there while tacking an extra half day onto a geologic scouting trip with two grad students in 2009.

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We planned, as per our usual habit, to go for the home run (really big fish) at Long Lake, and we had a succession of alternatives after that, with skunk insurance if we skunked or had slow fishing, and some home run alternatives if we did well. We saw no rises, although with a pretty stiff wind and good chop, rises might go undetected.

We fired a bunch of blank casts, me doing the usual deep retrieves with a Kastmaster, Judy starting out with deep retrieves but changed quickly to trying a more medium depth retrieve with a Z-Ray. With no action on my part I glanced sideways toward Judy and saw her cranking her reel feverishly; she had a good fish on. Shortly thereafter came a shout of regret as a fat fish fell off while she hoisted it from the water. She estimated it at about 14" and chunky but only saw the pale belly so she couldn't determine what species of fish (both brookies and rainbows apparently inhabit this lake according to a 2012 DFW gillnet survey). After Judy explained her fish came on a medium depth retrieve, I adjusted but still didn't get hit on retrieves fanned in all directions. At one point a saw a large cruiser far below the surface; the size could not be estimated owing to how deep the fish was, but it was clearly large. I shifted positions from a casting spot left of Judy to one to her right but continued to get blank casts, when I looked over and saw that Judy had hooked another one. This time she landed a beautiful rainbow that we originally estimated at 14" but later measured as 15"; this allowed her to calibrate her lost fish as significantly larger (mainly in girth). Rainbows are Judy's favorite fish and she was mighty pleased. This assured that the New Era trip was a huge success. Anything beyond that would be a bonus and one more of that size would suffice for one dinner for the family when we returned. Skunk off.

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A number of blank casts for both of us ensued and we paused to snack a bit, but I spotted another nice cruiser so Judy cast again and received a strike but no fish. She would get one more strike before we decided to move. I had fired about 40 blank casts without a trailer or strike. The second lake was one that I originally fished with Lee back in July and again during some spare time while leading a geology field trip in September. After a fairly short and benign off trail ascent we joined the trail, crested out, then began our descent to the next lake.

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As we neared the lake, I made another bad call to take an off trail short cut descent to my preferred casting spot. What made this a bad move was that Judy will take awhile to "recalibrate" to off trail bushwhacking and, whereas I figured the brush was relatively mild, it was a bit tough on Judy to get through, so I probably cost us fishing time again (after getting stuck in the bog at Mud Lake earlier).

Judy was still working through the brush around the lake when I took my first cast, and somewhat surprisingly received a strong hit that came off, followed by a weaker one that stuck. I soon brought in a decent 11-inch brookie. With the 15-inch rainbow already cleaned and stored in the "fish towel" this didn't quite get us to a full meal for four but we didn't need much more. The opening cast did not indicate fast fishing. I lost two lures in the next four casts (including the second cast) and probably put more than 15 blank casts out as Judy arrived, then overshot my position to take a rest. Not long after that I had a nice fish hit way out as I lifted off the bottom. It took a while to bring the strong fish in and as I saw it running it looked large enough so I wanted my net, so I called Judy to move the net within reaching range (actually her net which replaced the one I had left in the grass at Mud Lake) because I had been careless enough to place it a bit too far from the shore. As I brought the fish closer I realized it wasn't huge so I did a simpler hoist; it was a full-bodied 15-inch brookie. Now we had an ample dinner for four upon our return. A bit later I hooked a 10-incher which fell off the hook as I prepared to release it and then caught a little 9-incher which I released. Somewhere way out deep I hooked a fish much stronger than my 15-incher. I checked to make sure I wasn't snagged but I saw the rod tip bounce from the head shaking. Sadly, it came off. Judy had spent a lot of time relaxing but now she fired off a few casts as I cleaned the fish and put it in the fish towel. We still had time to fish another lake, but Quincy and Quintopia Brewing beckoned, so we hoisted our daypacks and hiked back to the car. Fishing had been slow but we considered it a success because we caught one large fish apiece and we had enough for a big Sunday dinner when we returned to the Bay Area.

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Driving toward Quincy we couldn't help but notice the fine fall colors as I eagerly drove northwestward on Highway 70. Well, a bit too eagerly. Judy was in the middle of texting Lee when I saw a CHP parked on the other side of the road suddenly turn his lights on. I knew I going a bit fast, so I pulled over soon as I passed him as he executed a quick U-turn to get behind me. As Judy was explaining to Lee by text that I had just gotten pulled over for speeding, the officer was forgiving and let me off with a warning, after which I drove with a bit more patience.

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We drove into Quincy in the waning light, but we could still see how intense the fall colors were. This contrasted with my week before in Pittsburgh where I had found fall a bit late in coming. I'd say no more than a tenth of the trees had colored up in Pittsburgh as of my visit so the northeast Sierra and Quincy had far more color as October 21-22. We found our little boutique inn quite comfortable and, after moving the fish towel to the 'fridge and dropping off our overnight stuff in our room, walked a block over to Quintopia, which we found bustling and lively. We enjoyed their eclectic fusion cuisine and their beers without the restraint imposed if we had driven there from more distant lodging. By chance, or perhaps not given that Quincy is not a large town, we met one of my best former graduate students, and his wife; I hadn't seen him since 2014, when he graduated from Fresno State. He had grown up in Quincy and, after doing his undergraduate studies at Chico State, and graduate work at Fresno State, worked in the Sacramento area before getting a job back in his home town and moving back. We had hoped to meet up when I led a geologic field trip through Quincy in May but he was out of town then.

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[giantbrookie]

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise made all the more so by the gathering storm clouds; the forecast called for a 50 percent chance of rain, and we had expected and prepared for it.

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The prospect of rain later in the day did not rush us, and we enjoyed the fall scenery as well as continuing another Quincy tradition of ours and many--breakfast at the Morning Thunder Cafe--we had in fact had breakfast there "as usual" on Oct. 28, 2001 and our most recent visit was when we were in Quincy with Dawn back in July. After returning to our room and packing up, we headed back in the direction of Lakes Basin and Sierra Buttes with the roadside and hillsides ablaze in fall color.

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The clouds offered hope that we might get in a little morning fishing before the rain began. We had considered two options: one with a higher probability of success but likely smaller fish (say top size around 14") versus one with a higher skunk potential and bigger fish (top end may exceed 17"). Judy, who shares my fishing mindset, opted for the home run shot, but we changed the plan as we neared the spur road to the trailhead. A dense gray curtain indicated heavy rain and it was already falling on my windshield.

We made a quick mutual decision to cancel fishing and hiking for Sunday and head home, but, as I drove down the Yuba River canyon in the rain, I realized we'd pass by Davis in the early afternoon (ie late enough to get a beer and some food). Judy and I both went to school there--Judy for undergraduate and graduate work and me for graduate school-- although we didn't really meet until after she finished her grad work and was living in the Bay Area. From 1986 when we met and onward until we had kids, we spent a lot of time together in Davis, which became a progressively more fun town after we graduated (ie more restaurants, pubs, etc.). So, we made our first visit together to Davis since 2001, visiting two different pubs, buying a ton (in terms of cost) of beer to take home (one place has one of the best bottle and can selections of any store in California) and then a third place for lunch.

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The only slightly off key note either of us hit during the weekend was my overcooking of the fish on the barbecue that evening back home, but that couldn't take away the fact that we'd spent a weekend Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

For many of us, Judy and I included, the High Sierra is a destination in or a means to reach a place Somewhere Over the Rainbow. We'd like to do our best to help others reach such places.

[davishere]

You two together had a nice journey so far. Hopefully many more to come in near future.

[The Other Tom]

Wonderful report, GB. Thanks for posting.

[balzaccom]

Great report, as always, GB. Like you, I do most of my backpacking with my wife, and it is a delight that I never tire of.

[Harlen]

This is a delightful trip report, except for the dismal news that your prostate cancer may have returned. You have our fervent hopes that it can be dealt with again, and that you will recover completely John. As for your hernia, is it getting worse because you might still be straining away on the pull-up bars?! Serves you right then-- more glamping trips for you guys.

It is great to see the vintage photos of you and Judy, and to hear the stories of your times together in and around Davis. And now to hear of your trip, and the time enjoying Quincy. You guys are sharing that place, as now Lizzie and I want to go there to fish and drink beer. We are on more of a budget than you guys, so we'll forgo the guest house, and sleep in our van. Don't reckon we'll fork out all that bread for the fine beer either. The fact that you can offset the beer buying with the home-brewing must make it less painful-- you are still brewing beer we hope?

Thanks for all the detail on the fishing up there, and for continuing advice on technique. When you mention "deep" and "medium" retrieves, we wonder how exactly you maintain those depths. Is it a matter of sinking, and re-sinking the lure. or is there some arcane method of timing the retrieval speed to keep the lure at various depth levels?

Fianlly, I have to ask what exactly Judy shouts when she experiences the keen regret of a lost fish? You wrote:

...I glanced sideways toward Judy and saw her cranking her reel feverishly; she had a good fish on. Shortly thereafter came a shout of regret as a fat fish fell off while she hoisted it from the water.

I am a firm believer in profanity, and use it with seeming success when trying to get some recalcitrant thing to work. However, I cannot convince Lizzie to try it-- she might say "Gosh darn it," which is pretty plainly a tricky way of using the lord's name in vain, but she won't go beyond, into land of real, but less damning profanity. Where does Judy fall on this point?

Thanks for yet another great trip report, full of great advice and inspiration, Ian and Lizzie.

[giantbrookie]

You guys are sharing that place, as now Lizzie and I want to go there to fish and drink beer. We are on more of a budget than you guys, so we'll forgo the guest house, and sleep in our van. Don't reckon we'll fork out all that bread for the fine beer either. The fact that you can offset the beer buying with the home-brewing must make it less painful-- you are still brewing beer we hope?

Thanks for all the detail on the fishing up there, and for continuing advice on technique. When you mention "deep" and "medium" retrieves, we wonder how exactly you maintain those depths. Is it a matter of sinking, and re-sinking the lure. or is there some arcane method of timing the retrieval speed to keep the lure at various depth levels?

Fianlly, I have to ask what exactly Judy shouts when she experiences the keen regret of a lost fish? You wrote:

...I glanced sideways toward Judy and saw her cranking her reel feverishly; she had a good fish on. Shortly thereafter came a shout of regret as a fat fish fell off while she hoisted it from the water.

I am a firm believer in profanity, and use it with seeming success when trying to get some recalcitrant thing to work. However, I cannot convince Lizzie to try it-- she might say "Gosh darn it," which is pretty plainly a tricky way of using the lord's name in vain, but she won't go beyond, into land of real, but less damning profanity. Where does Judy fall on this point?

Hi Ian, Thanks for your reply, and here are a few replies to your questions. First on the beer budget and homebrew. I think we may in fact purchase more craft beer than we did before we brewed because we appreciate it even more. One of the reasons we buy a lot of craft beer is that I don't produce enough for my own brews to be our everyday beer. We have to "stretch" the homebrew supply which is the top tier (for us) of what we have available. The Belgian beer thing illustrates the extreme end of our excess in beer budget as exemplified by the first time I went to the storied Ledgers Liquors in Berkeley and blew north of $150 (the bill at the Davis Beer Shoppe was also north of 150). I sheepishly returned to Hayward, where we lived then and told Judy "let's make this last awhile". Realizing I felt uncomfortable with what I had spent, Judy asked "Was it more than $500?" To which I replied "no". "Well then that's fine."

Regarding retrieves of lures, "deep" means sinking the lure all the way to the bottom before retrieving it. One casts, then lets the lure sink without flipping the bail. When the line stops going out, the lure has hit the bottom. We retrieve slowly to keep the lure hugging the bottom until we get closer to the shore where most of the lure-eating logs and rocks lie, then we try to sufficiently accelerate to clear such obstacles. Sometimes I'll be "extra deep" by "bottom bumping" which is to allow my lure to sink back to the bottom (by stopping my retrieve and waiting mild slackening) and retrieving again. The deep retrieves, of course , come with substantially higher snag risk and my reliance on them contributes to the super high lure loss rate; I lost two lures on that day of fishing. Medium depth would be somewhere off the bottom but still significantly below the top water. Depths can be adjusted two ways: one by sinking before flipping the bail over and also by the speed of the retrieve, with the slower the retrieve the deeper the trajectory. When we adjust depth solely with retrieve speed, flipping the bail as soon as the lure hits the water, this results in a spoon-shaped retrieve, we call the "Patterson retrieve" based on an experience I had at Patterson Lake in the Warner Mountains in 1988 where this seemed to be the only type of retrieve that scored. This sort of retrieve can be advantage when fish hit as the lure is sinking. If a fish hits a sinking lure with the bail open, there is so much slack line there is little chance the fish will be hooked, whereas if the sink is with bail closed in a Patterson-style retrieve there is more chance of hooking a fish that "hits on the drop". Judy's retrieves at Long Lake were what she described as "medium Patterson" and my successful retrieves at the other lake were entirely the traditional deep variety (bail open and sink lure all the way to the bottom).

As for losing a fish and our reaction, let's just say, whether it's me or Judy, the woods echo with profanity.

[Harlen]

giantbrookie writes:

As for losing a fish and our reaction, let's just say, whether it's me or Judy, the woods echo with profanity.

Good. That's what I thought you were supposed to do. I'll have to show this to Lizzie, and get her to mend her ways.

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Thank gosh I didn't lose this giant!

[Sam R]

I, too, am dismayed that cancer could be in the picture. May you be well!

I enjoyed seeing pictures from such a wide range of time. They tell a story all on their own, and a good one.

[robertseeburger]

Good TR to read.. I am jealous that you are able to spend quality outdoor time with your wife. (And kids too!)
I have a one and done backpacking experience with my wife.. stove didnt work, rained, turned ankle, and mosquito bite that swelled the size of a baseball.. that is all she remembers despite catching a decent fish on her first cast. That was perhaps 1982 or so.

On casting deep, I have become a cautious convert of letting the lures sink to the bottom. But I am dismayed at the loss of lures, especially on long backpacking trips where you cant afford to lose all your lures on day one. So.. I let it sink but make a judgement call if rocky or stumpy in terms of letting it hit the bottom. But varying depths is quite important..

I too echo others and hope both medical items get better..yielding a solid 2024.
On to trip planning for 2024!.