It was ten hour drive to southern California. I rolled out of the air conditioned car to meet 103 degree heat. This was not going to be a fun day lol.
Thanks to Phil and Andan, the leaders of the Davis Flyfishers HTC trip, I was given information on where to find the three southern California HTC species without having to backpack many miles at high altitude. I didn't need another opportunity for someone to rescue me from altitude sickness.
After resting in a hotel (did I say it was 103 degrees?), I decided to scout out the water I would be fishing the next day. It is amazing how a road can look easy on a map and really hard to drive. I thought I was in Hawaii on the Road to Hana (a crazy, winding, one lane road on Maui). I found the trailhead and walked down, down, and down, dreading the hike back up. But, there was gold at the end of the trail.
The creek was small, about 4 feet wide, and about 6 inches deep. I found a pool, well, the trail went through the creek, and could not imagine that a fish could live there. However, I saw a trout rise near the edge of the pool by the trail!! I tossed in my bug, waited a couple of seconds, and bam, caught the beautiful fish in the picture above. I fished a little while longer to several rises, but missed them and my attempts at setting the hook sent my bug into the trees above. When I finally broke my fly off in a tree I figured these beautiful fish needed to be left alone.
The hike back to the trail was a reminder of my altitude sickness. I had to stop several times, but couldn't catch my breath because of having to swat the cloud of mosquitoes around me. No pain, No gain. However, it was worth it to view such beautiful fish in their headwaters.
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