Cor Blimey, A Brit in the Sierra's!
Wow. Wow. And WOW!.
Where to start? From the beginning, methinks.
Set off from the Chevron gas station by the 405 on Harbor Blvd at 7.09pm. Stop 1, Via Princessa at the beginning of the 14 (I needed to wee, ok!). Ate a cheeseburger for the first time while actually driving, 'twas very good :D
Eventually, around 11pm, we hit Lone Pine which is roughly an hour south of Bishop. Needed to pee. Again. Got bit by a mosquito :(
After stopping at Vons in Bishop for some supplies, finally got to the cabin around 1am (thank F our friends had left the door open!). As we were unpacking, my friend realised my pole was broken :( :( It was the first pole I ever had which my friend bought me for Xmas.
Woke up around 6am Wednesday morning a bit disoriented and out of breath. Turns out that 9,000 + feet elevation makes breathing a bit harder :cry:
So, that morning, we head over to South Lake and after a few minutes my first cast goes bendo :D Yay!!!!!
Spent the next 2 hours catching fish and releasing fish - I limited out by 9.30am :D :D My other remaining pole, an Ugly Stik hubby bought me for my birthday last month, then got snagged........ 6;.as I'm telling my pal to cut the line, he grabbed it from me. The pole broke as he was trying to unsnag me.........aft er I'd told him to cut the f'ing line 3 times! Boy was I not happy!!!!
Went to pick up my friends from the boat dock, I ran over to the store and bouth two new poles. We fished some more and I caught another one which I released (I was over the limit).
Then my buddy hooked up on a 4.1lb Alper - he was stoked :D
Later that evening, we hit Bishop Creek Lodge for alcohol in the bar. Remeber my friend who passed away? Well, her best friend also came up and put a silkscreen of the tattoo she had done 4 days before her passing up on the bar in the lodge. Tears started flowing that night. We had steaks, they were fantastic!
One of my friends then took me down to what we call "The hole 2" and I caught a fish there which I gave to him (I'd already limited out).
Thursday, we woke up, and after eating steak and eggs for breakfast we drive around a bit and find what my friends call "The Grassy Knoll 2". My buddy already hooked up with 2, and I got a hit first cast - yay! But it wasn't to be :( Mr. Trout got stuck behind a rock and I ended up snagging my line, this time, I cut it! LOL! :D
A couple hours later, we hit "Grassy knoll 1", 1st cast my pole goes bendo - huzzah!
3rd cast, pole goes bendo again! (Yes, I got both)
5 minutes later, the rain comes in, so we buggered off back up to the lodge.
Thursday was chilli night, man, it was good, but try sharing a cabin with 2 blokes........EEEW WWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! :smash:
I got teary as my mum would love it up in the area, but even if she was well enough, her lungs wouldn't stand the elevation :cry:
Friday, we hit Crowley lake - almost drowned but that's a story for another day (i.e. it's too long and I can't be arsed to go into it!).
I hooked up a nice 1.41lb crappie - only fish in the boat that day!
Once we get back, I head over to the Lodge to have it weighed, and someone says "Team 57?" (Yes, I was wearing my Team 57 shirt). Yeah, says I, and ask if he knows who Team 57 is.
Turns out it was SierraSmitty!! :D
We talked a little, he informed my my crappie was a Sacramento Perch. A few minutes later, we presented my friend (who's wife passed away) with a wreath and rose petals........it was beautiful and teary and just.......a moment......him, his son and his son's girlfriend went to South Lake and threw the wreath and petals on the lake.
Saturday morning, I woke up with a screaming hangover - turns out I'd had a few vodkas, a shot of Jaeger and several beers! Had to delete a couple of pictures from the camera!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
Got home around 5pm Saturday, but brought back a million memories, some bittersweet but mostly brilliant.
I took 114 pictures, you can find them all here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/workboresme/942983526/
Just too many to post :D
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Originally Posted by Captainklinger
