"You don't play tennis to get in shape, you get in shape to play tennis." Old Saying
July 2008 - Hoover Wilderness/Yosemite Park, Virginia Pass 10,500 feet
Photo taken after a hard climb., a 3 mile 2500 ft. vertical up the side of a mountain with only a few switchbacks. Here I am just above the tree line. Down below about 1000 ft is camp and a stream full of brown trout. Six days without seeing a single person. Off in the distance you can see the Cathedral Range.
September 2006 - Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, Upper East Carson River
No one around for miles except for bears, mountain lions, coyotes, deer, rabbits and I believe some bobcats. And no airplanes. Mostly brown trout, small but wild, skittish and feisty. The water is gin clear. The fish can see your tippett like it's a climbing rope.
You have to do some pretty fast hiking to get to the Falls before sundown. Going in is all downhill, hiking out is all uphill. With a 40 lb. pack it's moderate to difficult hiking out.
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August 2006 - Ansel Adams Wilderness, The Minarets and Mt. Ritter - view from the southeast.
Hikers, let alone fly-fishers, don't normally enter from the west by the Indian Meadow trailhead, and for good reason. To get here you have to hike a 6000 ft. vertical in just over 4 miles to an altitude of 9200 ft. The hike was a bit on the grueling side, and the mosquito swarms didn't help.
But the fishing for holdover rainbows and camping in solitude at the North Fork of the San Joaquin made it worthwhile. Didn't see a single person for 6 days, but came within 60 feet of literally colliding with an adult bear. I was a good thing bears are blind as a bat, and I was downwind. Bears must be deaf too. It was magical watching the bear wander through the woods as relaxed as a person in a living room.
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September 2004, and 2003 - Trinity Alps Wilderness, Morris Meadows
One of my favorite wilderness spots. There's less wildlife than at other locations, fewer tracks. But the scenery is exquisite. The hike in is a 3000 ft vertical over 17 miles to a maximum altitude of about 7000 ft. We did it in less than three days; hiking the first 12 miles uphill in less than 4 hours. The fishing was fair to good. I caught a 10" rainbow out of Emerald Lake with a terrestrial. All others on Stuart Fork Creek were small planters. No airplanes.
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September 2002 - Golden Trout Wilderness, Ramshaw Meadows
Located a few miles south of Mt. Whitney. the altitude averages 8000 feet. Chuck Yeager used to fly over at low altitude during spring thaw in his F-15 to check the fishing conditions; the wildlife must have been thrilled. This wilderness is home to the most colorful species of trout, the California golden trout.
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April 2002 - Alpine Meadows, Lakeview trail overlooking Lake Tahoe.
2 feet of fresh powder and no crowds. The lift had already been closed so I and another snowboarder hiked to the top. The ride down was worth it, like surfing only on snow. So I did it again, twice.
February 2002 - Sage Hen Creek
X-Country skiing north of Truckee. Mt. Rose is in the background.
January 2002 - Ruby Mountains, Elko, NV
Shortlly after leaving Amazon I found work with Compaq/EDS consulting for the USDA. The job took me to places like Elko, in the eastern part of NV. Between Elko and Ely lie the Ruby Mountains. This photo was taken at dusk.
Greg Smith a buddy from Amazon was with me. He traveled with me all over Nevada and northern California to work at the USDA sites. As we drove past the Ruby Mtns. Greg couldn't stop thanking me. I thought he was going a bit overboard with his gratitude, especially since places like this were within easy driving distance from Reno where he lived, and I had traveled to places like this every weekend. But then I realized, yeah, when was the last time I saw a brother out in these parts. Never. I realized then a bit sadly, for him, this was something truly special.
Pyramid Lake, NV - November 2000
Pyramid Lake was a short drive from the Amazon.com Fernley facility. It touts the largest trout in the world; decades ago 45 lb. trout were average size. I drove out to the lake during a winter storm; you can see snow covering the mountains in the background.
When I arrived I got out of the car, surveyed the lake, and noticed a beam of sunlight starting to break from the left through the completely cloud covered sky. Moments later, a spectacular single beam of sunlight illuminated the pyramid rock formation on the lake, (for which it's named). I grabbed the camera from the car, and snapped this photo. Moments later, the clouds closed and the beam of light vanished.