Near the Land of Zarahemla...

Saturday, August 6, 2011

I had to check out a couple hikes for our Beehive Camp next week at Camp Zarahemla on Clear Lake near White Pass. The first hike up Round Mountain had no water but what you could see far below in the Tieton Valley; also great views of Mount Rainier, Mt Adams, and the Goat Rocks. The second-year girls should be challenged by the 1700 ft of elevation gain and somewhat high altitude (just under 6000 ft at the top).

Mel and I then checked out a bushwack hike to Clear Creek Falls which will be challenging for the first-year girls, but rewarding as it is pretty cool. Mel and I climbed up the ridiculously slick rocks into the spray shooting across to the opposite cliff.


More importantly, this was a stream that bested me years ago. In fact, it was at this very creek (Clear Creek) that Jessica informed me the fish didn't like me because I didn't kiss them and tell them thanks. Well, I have obviously kissed enough fish since then, because in the first hole I pulled out this nice rainbow that waked after the elk-hair caddis skillfully skated downstream!

Next stop, North Fork Tieton above Clear Lake. A washed out bridge left us miles short of the trailhead we went to investigate, so I went straight to the river that had skunked me years ago. Beautiful looking stream, a little colored from the glacier that feeds it, but same results as my last visit - not a sign of any fish. I couldn't see any bugs on the rocks in the stream, so I'll just claim this as a fairly sterile piece of water and cross it off my list of places to visit. Unless I'm in the area with Tom, who can then show me how the catching is done.

On the way home, the girls allowed me a few minutes to toss a fly into the Tieton below Rimrock Lake along the rip-rap next to the road, usually a sure producer of fish. That was the case again, even though the water was fairly colored. Five rainbows, all about this size, mostly on the caddis green psycho, one on a brown stonefly, and a few hits on the stimulator chew toy (dry). A great way to close the day.