creeker
Well-known member
I’ve been pouring over google earth for a while now, looking at a beautiful canyon meadow that sits behind a gated USFS road. It’s about 5 miles into the area I wanted to explore. Because it’s a day use area only, an overnight hike to fish the waters isn’t an option. Enter the mountain bike.
I grabbed a co-worker, a younger guy who’s a ski/trout/bike bum and off we went. A 1.5 mile climb was followed by a 3.5 mile cruise into a canyon. Bikes were stashed and a short cliff scramble in, and we found ourselves in 3wt paradise.
The effort paid off. First drifts for both of us resulted in spunky trout and it continued unabated, even under bluebird skies. While we caught a few of “next season’s fish,” a majority were in the 8-12” range, with a select couple going bigger.
The real winner, though, was the scenery. Soaring red rock cliffs, white domes, meadows, and ribbons of water came together that made one forget its a desert that had 14% snowpack this year.
The epilogue is we had an amazing day. The granny gear ride out was a grinder, and the IPA at the end was made all the better for the effort.
I grabbed a co-worker, a younger guy who’s a ski/trout/bike bum and off we went. A 1.5 mile climb was followed by a 3.5 mile cruise into a canyon. Bikes were stashed and a short cliff scramble in, and we found ourselves in 3wt paradise.
The effort paid off. First drifts for both of us resulted in spunky trout and it continued unabated, even under bluebird skies. While we caught a few of “next season’s fish,” a majority were in the 8-12” range, with a select couple going bigger.
The real winner, though, was the scenery. Soaring red rock cliffs, white domes, meadows, and ribbons of water came together that made one forget its a desert that had 14% snowpack this year.
The epilogue is we had an amazing day. The granny gear ride out was a grinder, and the IPA at the end was made all the better for the effort.