by fshflys » January 23rd, 2014, 8:30 am
Used to go up there when my kids were young. We'd put panniers on the bikes & the dads would haul the burley bike trailer with the cooler, cook stove & other essentials & camp out for an extended weekend, usually Easter. The daytrippers would look at us with a look of "How'd they get all that crap up here 6 miles form the parking lot"
One year, after the parents hid the easter eggs we went to sleep with a light pitter/patter of rain on the tents, we awoke to my friends son yelling WOW! we unzipped the tent and there was 6 inches of snow.While eating breakfast the guy that clears the road up to the dam stopped and asked if we were ok & would we like a ride out. We accepted his offer, the kids played while the parents packed up the gear. The decidous trees already had their leaves plus the snow was really wet & heavy. We'd hear the CRACK of a limb making us all jump since the area is known for Cracks of gun fire. The road clearing guy showed up & we loaded all the bikes, burleys, dogs & wet adults onto the flatbed while the 3 boys climbed into the cab with the heater blasting.
Those trips were fun, the daytrippers would leave the canyon usually an hour before it started getting dark & we'd have the canyon to ourselves (and the bears & mountain lions, never saw any but saw scat). Nightime in the canyon always reminded me of Japanese paintings with the sheer walls of the canyon & the pine trees atop them, the little side canyons with the salamanders. Just wish the you didn't have to worry if your vehicle had been broken into.
# of fishing days 2014, 12