One week at Pine Lake…
Pine Lake, elevation 8,100 feet, is located between Escalante and Bryce in southwest Utah. The good sized reservoir, 77 acres, has rainbow and cutthroat trout. The campground is what you’d expect of a National Forest Service facility. The road is narrow with a few turns that would be hard to negotiate for big rigs. Sites are all large with plenty of privacy. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring. There were no hook-ups, but there were multiple well maintained vault toilets and dispersed water spigots. It was very peaceful. The lake was a pleasant 1/4 mile walk from our front door. We left the kayaks on the bank.
The final seven miles of dirt road had plenty of teeth-rattling washboard. It was a bit tough on our home. The bathroom door broke, a few cupboards and cabinets were jumbled, and a mug fell and broke on Arleen’s foot when she opened a cabinet door.
We relaxed during our stay. I woke up before 6:00am each day, walked our four-legged friend, ate some cereal, and was usually fishing by 7:30. I fished until about 10:00, then went back to our little home and was a lazy bum until after dinner. Then around 7:00pm, I’d launch the kayak again and fish until 9:00 or so. Arleen usually woke up sometime before I went fishing, enjoyed her favorite tea, then walk our four-legged friend to the lake. Then she would be lazy most of the day and do a lot of reading. It was a tough week!
The first morning, I woke up early to go fishing. The truck was sitting funny…POOP…a flat tire! Hmmm…go fishing or deal with the tire? Go fishing, of course! I had a pleasant morning fly-fishing from the dam, caught a few nice trout, and then tackled the flat tire. All was well.
Fishing…
Fishing was consistent. I usually caught 5-10 rainbows each time I went out. Though I watched the hatchery truck dump about 3,000 trout in the lake, I don’t think I caught many of the scrawny 8-11 inchers! Most of my fish were 13-15 inches long, fat, and strong. I caught a few around 16 inches long and my biggest were two chunky 17 inchers. The scrappy trout were big enough to spin and tow the kayak! My hot flies were lake leeches and damsel nymph impersonators like a size 10 gold ribbed hare’s ear. Sometimes I cruised the shallows plopping a juicy grasshopper fly in the weeds that was destroyed by voracious trout…very fun fishing!
Hmmm…maybe I should fish with damsel flies / A fat 17 inch rainbow trout caught on a grasshopper fly
An osprey often sat in a tall tree watching the lake for a trout meal. A couple of times, we saw it swoop down to get fish. In the upper right of the second picture, the osprey is perched near the top of the big tree. (Click the picture to zoom for better detail.)
A typical evening on Pine Lake
Other stuff…
We did a couple of 2-4 mile hikes around the lake. Our primary route was on an ATV trail so we had to keep our ears open for the noisy devils. We also drove up to near Powell Point. The decent dirt road climbs to 10,100 feet and traverses a fairly narrow ridge before it climbs again to Barney Top. An ATV route detours 4 miles south to Powell Point. We weren’t motivated enough to do the 8 mile hike, but I’m sure it’s spectacular.
We also did a supply run to Panguitch. We had an outstanding BBQ meal, ate homemade ice cream, got groceries, and filled the truck with diesel. The route took us through Red Canyon…spectacular! Red Canyon is Bryce on a smaller scale. Though the temperature was in the low 90s, we had to stop and do a quick hike. It was a great warm-up for our up-coming Bryce adventure!
Red Canyon
Story time…
It was about 5:30am and I was peacefully sleeping. Then I heard Arleen’s slightly panicky voice in a loud whisper saying “Shawn, there’s a mouse!”. I stirred and said “ah, mice are cute” and rolled back over. Arleen said it again, this time a little more emphatically, so I jumped out of bed and headed to the trailer’s “north wing”. Arleen had heard a noise, lifted the stove top, and came eye to eye with the fuzzy beast! It was gnawing on a hard candy when Arleen interrupted its meal. Arleen jumped back and the mouse went into escape mode. We stood there for a minute or two when Arleen heard a noise in a cabinet. I put a plastic grocery bag over my hand and opened the cabinet…the little booger shot out and ran across the floor at mach speed. I pounced, quicker than the whiskered rodent, and caught it! I showed Arleen the little lump, now wrapped in a plastic bag…she shuddered. Then I dispatched it and took it to the garbage. It was our first mouse incident, and unfortunately, it isn’t resolved. The little shit’s friend has left evidence of nightly visits. The battle is on!
Candy wrapper and poop on kitchen counter…yuck! / Building a nest
After a busy and physically tough month in Torrey, Pine Lake was a welcomed change of pace. The relaxing week was a vacation from our retirement!
Next we will spend two weeks at Bryce Canyon National Park! We will hike Bryce’s amazing terrain, kayak and fish nearby Tropic Reservoir, and do some geocaching. My parents, sister, and two young nephews will even meet us for a few days. It will be an adventure-filled two weeks!
Parting shots…
Hatchery truck dumping 3,000 rainbow trout into the lake
(30,500)
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