trout crushage! my backpack trip!

[vash]

just got back, and my knee swelling is down. we were 20 miles in the backcountry, and took a 30 mile trail out. we hit trout hot spot after hot spot. my brother and i ate about 50 trout. we parked at a buds horse pack station. guess what? he asked if we could show his new young wranglers the route..he offered to pack us in!!! it was a blessing and a curse. we opted to go further and over a pass..which we had to hike back over. 11,000 feet and like a stairmaster. if we knew we had horses, we would have eaten real food our first few meals. like steak, eggs..bread. we just paid for time. cheap.

our group hit five species of california native trout. brook, rainbow, some rainbow hybrid, brown, and we caught a single golden trout. (i think the brown was the most tasty). biggest trout of the group was a salmon looking 24" brown. the most stunning was the 20" rainbow. rainbows fight so hard, and are jump masters. fighting them on ultralight, with 3lb line was a pucker exercise.

my pack weighed in at 31 lbs for a 9 day...so i packed my Wetterling hatchet. making firewood was so fun..til i cut my thumb. hehe.

never did figure out how to cook a trout on a stick without it falling into the fire. we packed foil, a pan..and yes, one guy brought BUTTER!

i was the worst fisherman, and i didnt get skunked. my first cast got snagged into a tree behind me, to the right..DUH!..my second cast barely hit water, but i got a 13" brook. the fishing was that good. thank goodness my casting improved when we hit then big river.

oh, i lost maybe 10 lbs. i had to use a leathermen to add two holes to my belt. my pants and short folded over themselves to wrap me. (my bro lost 14lbs)

we met 3 thru hikers on the pacific coast trail. they started in MEX and expect to be in canada sept 11. they said they eat 5000 cal min per day. how? they looked like elves.

we also met one fool that had a 170lb pack. we heard about him, and found him 8 miles from the start..just sleeping. he had canned peaches out and a painters tarp. heavy stuff. he had a framed pack and carried a rolling duffel on the top and a regular duffel on the bottom. we figured him less backpacker and more HOMELESS..he was smoking the worst smelling weed.

pics. well some pics. the last pic was beaver damage. it was like a cartoon beaver log.

[vash]

next year's trip is booked

[gassy]

Awesome. Got any more pics?

[GH85Carrera]

That is why there were no fat American Indians before the white man. No horses, and you walk and carry everything you own. They were likely dreaming of a day when they could stay in one place and not have to walk 30 miles to find some fish.

It sounds like you had fun. That is the important thing.

[vash]

gassy..i hesitate to post more fish pics.

i'll organize and post up some nice scenery shots.

we saw so many rattlesnakes. i was so hungry into the trip we were gonna eat the next bigger one we found

i ate IN/and/OUT burger on the drive out. it tasted like angel food!

[KaptKaos]

Awesome! Where did you go?

[Burnin' oil]

Emigrant?

Post more pics.

[rsNINESOOPER]

Badass!!!

I'm jonseing for a back country trip- been three years since the last trip

good work and beautiful choice.

[dtw]

Whoa...the Panamericana hike sounds awesome. How do you pack and consume 5000 calories/day on a trek like that? Insane!

More pics, Cliff!

[RWebb]

sure looks like Sierra Nevada granite in that pic

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by dtw

Whoa...the Panamericana hike sounds awesome. How do you pack and consume 5000 calories/day on a trek like that? Insane!

More pics, Cliff!

You eat people you meet on the trail

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by GWN7

You eat people you meet on the trail

I think that's been done on the Appalachian trail. Joking, but there were some unsolved murders.

[Jim Richards]

Nice trip, vash!

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by RWebb

sure looks like Sierra Nevada granite in that pic

First thing I thought of. I swear I could smell that wonderful air, too.

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Yes, more pics, please...and say more - I'm reminiscing, here. Days of old.

[bell]

I want to do that someday....like for 6 months or so......
Thanks for sharing :-)

[vash]

yes. i was in the Sequoia National wilderness. amazing place. we saw only 6 other humans back there. the 3 crazy ass elfin thru hikers, a husband and wife team. the husband looked like he was gonna die. she was kicking butt! some solo hiker, he looked Scandanavian, had an accent. we named him Bjork. he was fast! and then Mr 170lbs. 6 total. opps..i think that is Seven total!

you know what? we were fast too. i had a great time this outing because i prepped for this trip. my lungs and legs were healthy. my knee swelled up on the drive out of the park. maybe the hard labor, followed by a fast extended sitting down session was the cause. i limped for a day! we were doing better than 2mph for the most part.

out at the furthest reaches, there were ZERO other humans. no human footprints, no used fire-rings. no recent sign. we were the first team in.

surprisingly very little animal sightings as well. no deer, no bear. lots of bear poop and prints. we saw that beaver, my first bald eagle. we caught lots of trout with eagle claw holes in the back. one fist was very injured but still bit my brothers lure. it was bleeding from the wounds and died shortly afterwards. a huge trout.

backpack food is gross. it is much better coupling it with some real processed food like instant mash potatoes. or instant couscous. wild trout is very good, for the first 10 times. after that, you wish for can of tuna!

our Mora knives were amazing. cheap $15 knives that were our only knives. (i did take a leatherman to bend down fishhook barbs). the knives are sharp and easy to resharpen. cleaning fish was easy.

ticks! yup. small reddish ticks. deer ticks i think. we kept vigilant on self inspection. (seque) wool underwear!! on my to-buy list. a must have. all my wool i could wash and dry very quickly. we kept relatively clean. jumping in near freezing water is easy when you can smell yourself. and you itch in places that shouldnt itch!

more pics.

[Don Ro]

" jumping in near freezing water is easy when you can smell yourself."
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Too funny. Hard to imagine how cold water can get and not be ice, eh?
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What ambient temps were you seeing? Any bad weather?...
Anyone packing heat?

[recycled sixtie]

Vash what do you use for the rattlesnakes? Presume you carry some kind of firearm?
Even so do you have a snake antidote? Other than bourbon that is?

Sounds like you had a good trip. It is good to see somebody using the wild as it is intended to be.

[Baz]

Ah Cliff......I'm living vicariously through you tonight my friend. Thank you for the report and pics. Nice work, sir!

[vash]

we just pushed the snakes off the trail. once. the rest of them slithered away at the first chance.

these were very loud and warned us early. no heat that i know of...i didnt ask.