trip pics

Well just a few more pics of the trip.... One is of Cody and I as i am showing him how to clean a fish.... another is of Twin Lakes with the water fall feeding the lake and me with some of the days catch and the final is a scenery shot of the mountains as we were fishing the river in the valley... boy do i miss it.... but hey Dove season opens up in just 10 days and we will be there.... more pics then.. if i remember to bring the camera...

wild, wild life

Well no trip is complete with out being visited by the local animals... i have already talked about the bear... and as we were driving into camp mid week we came upon this nice 3 point buck, still in velvet... he just wandered around the camp not a care in the world... but just wait another week when deer season opens up, bow season, then its another story.. and on the Friday as we were ready to leave lake Mary i hear a screech and wings flapping and Cody yells " Dad look up" and there perched on a branch not more than 10ft. up is a small hawk or falcon that had just caught a blackbird.. it was really awesome to watch it, the bird flew off befor starting to eat its meal...like usual the camp critters were in full gear.. the squirrels, chipmunks and blue jays.. always wanting food. at night the stars were bright and plentiful.. something we in LA don't get to see a lot of. there was a meteor shower on Sunday nite but we left 2 days earlier so we only saw the occasional one at nite. We did see some satellites, they are always fun to watch scream by...

vacations 3 highlights

Well there are three highlights to this vacation.... and it goes like this... the tree... the bear.... and the out of fuel light.... well we pulled into the camp ground sunday evening around 5 passed by Joe 's camp # 26 looking for ours # 25..... spot it and proceeded to hit the turn around loop at the end of the camp.... well as i made the turn i see that i am very close to this tree.... well actually a whole lot closer than i found out... yes i missed the tree with the wheels but i failed to see the branch sticking out from the tree about 7 feet up and it proceeds to rip a hole into the door and smash the window out next to it.... i never heard a thing......nor felt it either... so needless to say the old role of duct tape, 200 mile an hour tape, came into use... your typical redneck repair... only with out using any wire...... so far.... i still continue to hear about it from the little woman.... and i am sure it will continue for at least the next 5 to 10 years... if i am lucky...
Well now later on that week it was late morning and i was stand at the camp site next to us talking with Kevan Woods, whom i had also grown up with. When all of the sudden i hear Joe say Hey why don't you go over to the Hale's camp Tammy hates bears.... well now i hear it but it just does not click then i hear the ear shattering sound of Tammy's air horn.. I next see this bear running away from our camp, I pick up some rocks and start throwing them at the bear to keep the fear going and keep it running... it went out about 20 yards and stopped and then started back towards the mountains... stopping to check out a fire pit just in case someone left some little tid bits...... ( the pic )
Finally the trip home... well to explain myself on this issue... let me give the facts.... i left home with almost a topped of fuel tank... stopped in the beautiful city of Mojave, half a tank used, filled up again.... stopped in Bishop to fuel up, used 2/3 rds of a tank and had a head wind all the way.... fueled up again and headed up to camp used 1/4 of a tank pulling a 6% grade at 55 mph.... so here is where my math comes in... if i top off the tank in Mammoth, altitude 7500 ft. and go to Mojave 2000 ft.. its all down hill and i should have at least a 1/4 to 1/8 left no problem... wrong.... well leaving camp going down hill to Bishop i only used a 1/8 if that of a tank..... no worries... crusing along no problem... well i pass the last gas station i have a 1/3 tank head up a terrible hill with bad head winds and at the top is see a sign that says Mojave 46 miles and i only have 1/4 tank and i have been averaging 8 miles to the gallon, i now realize i am not going to make it... well after going down hill through red rock canyon trying to make miles and conserve when the fuel light comes on... i am now on reserves i see a sigh for some little town to the left so i quickly take it only to see a town out in the middle of the desert with absolutely now services... great....just great... Tammy is just livid... i turn around in some guys lot as he is watching us from across the street and he was not happy.... i head back the way i came because i saw a tow truck in this guys yard... i stop on the highway and walk up to the place ask the guy for some fuel he says i do not have any gas and i said i am looking for some diesel... he asks how much do i need.. i tell him 3 gallons will get me to Mojave... he says i can have one, the town of California City is 10.5 miles to the south and there is a gas station there... well i have a empty gas can and he has no way of getting it in so i go back to the trailer to cut off 3 feet of hose from the drain line and now proceed to siphon out a gallon of fuel with out getting a mouthfull of it.... done... i thank the man ask him what i owe him and he says nothing so off i go.. into the tank i put it... and start it up... i now have a 1/8 of a tank... i now have to find a place to turn around and head to town... of course its next to some railroad tracks.. again Tammy is on edge... about 7 miles later the light comes on again.. i motor into the gas station and take on 23 1/2 gallons.. my capacity is 26... too close for comfort... well camping with me can be exciting so next time i am going for a more low key trip but then again maybe not........

vacation

Well we arrived in Mammoth Sunday evening ready to relax.. pictured is the camp site. This is site 25 at Sherwin Creek campground. It is located 2 miles out of the town of Mammoth..first time we have camped in this site. second time out with the trailer...Cody and I fishing at lake Mary and Cody catching a trout on the Owens river are the pictures... Fishing was fantastic.. we did well... the water levels were low from the lack of snow this past winter which made for some challenging fishing but we made up for it and changed to different favorite places... Lake Mary has been a favorite, its close to camp and a beautiful lake. I fished it first in my float tube and just love the quiet and scenery... well we did well the first day especially when the stocking truck showed up late in the afternoon and it was non stop action.. i kept 4 and let the rest go... Cody just kept going... on Thursday Cody and I fished the Owens river and wow they were there.. Cody fished one pool and i another... Cody kept 5 and so did I... but must have released another 15... it was warm there,, 80 deg... with a slight breeze occasionally but very dry.... we drank a lot of water. I like the Owens, it has always been good to me there... no trees to deal with just the wind which can be very brutal and biting bugs which the wind keeps away or repellent and o the sun... we wear long sleeves and big hats to keep the sun burns down... boy did we get sun... we all forgot sun screen more than once and have the red skin to prove it.. boy i sure hated coming home.. would i like to live there you bet but only in the summer, i cannot stand snow... too cold for me... but i would have to work and that would just take away from being there in the first place.. oh well... such is life... more to come and the stories that go with them.. one more camera to down load pics so i can put them on the blog...