[pct-l] Fishing the PCT/possible ride to and from KO

Fri Feb 1 13:47:00 CST 2013

Hi Bill,

Yes, I'm from Mendocino. We lived there for 34 years. Our home was two miles north of town. We bordered the Pt. Cabrillo Nature Preserve and could see the lighthouse one-half mile north - it was the first structure north of us. We could watch the whale migration.There was a large cove with great fishing and abalone,  My wife gave me my trail name. We also had a ranch in Comptche, 15 miles inland. Our horses ran on 70 acres. We could also ride out of Mendocino. We now live in Agua Dulce - the PCT passes through our town. We moved here in 2007. My wife had come down with an incurable case of GRANDSONITIS. She insisted on not just visiting but living near our grandson. I resisted and finally compromised. We compromise for each other. That's why we are still married and in love after 53 years.

In 2007 I was researching the possibility of riding the PCT.  We discovered Agua Dulce and met th Saufleys. It is an equestrian community - lots of horses and good riding. We ride a lot and have discovered various trails the lead us to and from the PCT and through town. We can tie the horses to a hitching rail and get a pizza or burger. We could see the horses while eating.

When you pass through the Sierra there will be lots of snow and many lakes will still be frozen. Later, north of Sierra City, there will be fishing opportunities if you can take the time. You might want to send your fishing kit to Sierra City or to Truckee.

How far north do you think you will get by the Friday morning prior to Saturday of the Kickoff? Last year I offered rides to and from the Kickoff from just two locations - Agua Dulce and Cajon Pass. Drove there on Friday and returned on Sunday. The KO is very worth attending. I have been to three.

I didn't fish in 2008 & 2009. I just wanted to reach Canada. I took my time in 2011 & 2012 and rode during the summer. 2011 was a record snow year. Still had lots of snow and downed trees as I rode south from S. City to Tuolumne. North of the Yosemite border I had to spend a lot of time sawing routes around large downed trees and detouring around snow. It's much easier to hike the PCT than it is to ride it.

Don't forget to bring along some dehydrated veggies for the stew.

MendoRider-Hiker

________________________________
 From: Bill Potter <billpotter at yahoo.com>
To: Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Friday, February 1, 2013 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: Fishing the PCT

Hi MendoRider,

Out of curiosity are you from Mendocino?  My wife and I get there once or twice a year but it's so beautiful that I wish it was more.

I do plan to thru-hike this year and you are the second person who has told me I won't have time to fish.  I'm planning to leave around the 10-15th of April and make a couple hundred miles before renting a car and driving back to the kickoff.  I'm taking Ned's snow class in March to learn how to function in the snow so I can move through it quicker.  I'm a fast hiker.

My goal is to move through the desert and high sierra's as quickly as possible and take very few zeros during that time.  Then, once I hit good fishing areas, take a zero or nero here and there when I find a beautiful location to go with great fishing.  I totally agree with you that a pound in fishing gear will more than pay for itself in the weight of the fish caught.  I've spent a small fortune upgrading all my gear so it's much lighter than I've ever backpacked with before so even with the fishing gear I'm fine.

Thanks for the cooking suggestions.  I'm not going to bring a frying pan but I can cut up the trout and cook it in the bottom of my pot and I love the idea of adding it to soups.

Am I over estimating the amount of time I will have to fish?  What do you think?

Thanks again,

Bill

________________________________
 From: Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com>
To: Bill Potter <billpotter at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Friday, February 1, 2013 8:36 AM
Subject: Re: Fishing the PCT

Good Morning Bill,

Are you planning a thru hike?  If so, you won't have time to take advantage of a lot of the best off-PCT fishing possibilities. There are also good fishing possibilities near the PCT.

I suggest that you, beginning from Horseshoe Meadows, bring a lightweight spinning rod or combination rod. While riding through the Sierra between H. M. and Sierra City I brought a lightweight combo rod and just one small spinning reel to catch trout that I would eat for dinner. Well worth the weight and bulk since I caught many times as much weight in trout than the weight of the fishing tackle - which weighed about a pound. While I love fly fishing, small lures have been more predictable given the time that I had to fish. Last summer was not a fishing trip - I wanted to finish that last 470 miles of the PCT that I had previously missed because of too much snow to ride through with a horse when I had arrived there in mid-June. I rode that last 470 miles during two summers - 2011 and 2012. I did all the rest of the PCT in 2008 & 2009. You might be interested in viewing my slide show. On search, you can find it by typing in as one word:    
 edandersonpct    look for Postholer and then find the link there. That covers only 2008 & 2009, 

I brought a lightweight titanium frying pan and also, sometimes made trout stew in my Jetboil cooking pot. I dehydrate the vegetables myself (precut into very small pieces). I used that and a vegetable soup mix for flavor. I would gut the trout, cut off head and tail and skin it from the head end down. Then cook it whole with the stew. When cooked, I could, using a fork, pick out all bones, backbone and all ribs still attached in one piece.

I will attach a couple of pictures showing two trout, rod and reel. I caught them from Benson Lake in Yosemite - only three casts required to catch two, all I could eat. I filleted those and fryed them The other picture shows that and the frying pan. Delicious! Sometimes I fryed them having dipped them in a flavoring mix for seafood. Benson lake is very near the PCT.

Have a great hike

MendoRider-Hiker

________________________________
 From: Bill Potter <billpotter at yahoo.com>
To: Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 9:17 AM
Subject: Fishing the PCT

Hi MendoRider,

I'm hoping you are willing to give me some advice on planning my PCT hike with a fly rod.  It sounds like you fished the high sierra's succesfully?  I was originally going to have my fly rod shipped to me in Truckee and fishing norcal  and oregon because those are the areas I know. 

What can you tell me about the area between KM and Truckee in terms of the fishability of that area?  Also, how did you cook the trout you caught?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Bill

________________________________
 From: Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com>
To: Paul Mitchell <paul at bluebrain.ca>; "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 8:34 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] FOOD--Between Whitney and Muir Trail Ranch

Paul,

That 400 number was not an exaggeration! There were probably more. Last summer I didn't start my ride until July 20 because I did not want to have to ride my horse over snow on the high passes. That was most likely the peak time of year for JMT hikers. You will not have that problem if you are hiking the PCT and going NOBO in June or early July as most PCT thru hikers do. Virtually all of the hikers I passed were going SOBO and had started in Yosemite Valley. Almost all of them were hiking the famous John Muir Trail, and when I asked their destination it was "Mt. Whitney". They had come from all over the world - Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, South America, Asia, Japan, Canada, and from many European countries. Of course, there were many Americans too. I became interested to ask where they came from. I met one friendly group of about 10 young people from South Korea - none of whom
 spoke English: several girls in that group wanted to know if it
would be OK if they touched my horse: perhaps they had never actually seen a horse.  Interestingly, I don't recall any of the hikers I met replying "Whitney Portal" as their destination, which is actually the official southern terminus of the JMT. Almost everyone I asked said that they would camp at Guitar Lake before climbing Whitney. That lake must become a really crowded and polluted place. I only met one hiker, who I knew from this pct-l list. He guessed who I was and greeted me with "Hello MendoRider".

A note about my 1957 JMT hike, which took, I remember, about 18 days. I actually hiked a lot farther than the 180+ mile distance from W. Portal to T. Meadows. I took many side trips to climb a few peaks and to fish off-trail lakes. The trout were a delicious and important part of what I ate. That's why it took so
 long.

Last summer I didn't reach Yosemite Valley until mid- August. My planned destination was actually Wawona, but I had to give up because there were too many downed trees to cut as I got near Buena Vista Pass. Then I backtracked and descended to Yosemite Valley.  The JMT had been cleared - I only had to cut two trees and a few branches at one location south of McClure Meadow. Riding from Horseshoe Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows completed the PCT for me - that was the last part to ride, a part that I had had to trailer around because of snow when I arrived at H. Meadows in  mid-June of 2008.

Have a good hike.

MendoRider-Hiker

________________________________
From: Paul Mitchell <paul at bluebrain.ca>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 3:33 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] FOOD--Between Whitney and Muir Trail Ranch

> There were many hikers. I think I passed at least 400 heading south. I saw
four bears. Had no bear problems.

400?  Seriously?  Has traffic on the JMT exploded in the past few years, or
is there just a peak time of year that's not when PCT thru-hikers usually go
through?  

- Potential 178

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On
 Behalf Of Edward Anderson
Sent:
 January-29-13 7:58 PM
To: James Stringer; pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] FOOD--Between Whitney and Muir Trail Ranch

When I solo hiked the Muir Trail way back in 1957, I went from Whitney
Portal to Tuolumne Meadows without a resupply.  I was a "Heavy Trucker" - my
pack weight, at the start, carried in my old Kelty Pack, was probably around
65 pounds. I brought no tent or stove. In those days I always cooked over a
wood fire. My trail diet included lots of trout and some wild plants that I
was familiar with. I took my time - I think that it took 18 days. There were
very few hikers on the JMT at that time. I never saw a bear in the high
country.

So, in 2012 I rode the JMT, starting from Horseshoe Meadows. I resupplied
twice, at Cedar Grove and at the
 Vermillion Valley Resort. There were many
hikers. I think I passed at least 400 heading south. I saw four
 bears. Had
no bear problems.

MendoRider-Hiker

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