Fishing, Backpacking, and Photographing Sespe Creek
Today, I got back from an overnight backpacking trip to Sespe Creek with my flyfishing buddy, Bill. We started from the Lion Canyon trailhead near Ojai and hiked about six miles east to where we think the Bear Creek campground is located. There were no fire rings, facilities, or signs indicating a campground, but we were at the right elevation and what looked like the right place along the creek.
Unfortunately, my copy of the topo map didn't have latitude/longitude markings because I photocopied a middle section of a larger map (which I own, so I'm not violating any copyrights), so I couldn't find my location on the map using GPS coordinates. That was a dumb oversight on my part.
We arrived at around three o'clock in the afternoon to a spot along the creek surrounded by a sandy and rocky creekbed. Just in front of us was a large, deep swimming hole, draining into fast, rocky riffles downstream. The water was quite cold, about 50 degrees F, by my estimate. The characteristics of the water seemed perfect for holding trout, but I could not see any fish at all. I cast my fly line with a dry-dropper rig (#16 California Mosquito holding up a #16 Hare's Ear or Pheasant Tail) for about an hour without producing any further evidence of fish.
I was expecting quite a bit more fishing action, but there was none. On the hike back, I bushwacked into some areas that were not well traveled and found the same - perfect habitat but no fish. Actually, I didn't see much life in the form of insects or amphibians, either, although we did hear what sounded like a toad. They say 80 percent of the fish are caught by 20 percent of the fisherman, so perhaps the creek was not occupied by any fish that I'm eligible to catch, but usually, I can at least see the fish, even if I can't catch them.
In any case, I only saw about 100 linear meters of the stream, so I do hope to get back for a more thorough investigation.
The backpacking went well, except my MSR Pocket Rocket Stove did not work on my Primus fuel canister. The compact stove screwed snugly into the canister, and the canister made noise when shaken (as if full of liquid) but when I turned the valve open, I got nothing. Next time, I'll test my equipment before the trip.
I very nearly filled up my 1 GB CF card with pictures taken on my brand new Canon EOS 20D with 17-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Bill and I spent quite a bit of time taking a night shot of a rock formation crowned by a dying tree. We got a nicely exposed sky with a few stars, a streaking plane, and the orange glow of city lights above the ridgeline. We used Bill's LED flashlight to paint the scene with light for some very interesting effects. I love the challenge and interesting results of long exposure night photography.
It was a very nice, short trip. We learned our lesson about testing equipment and gained some confidence in overnight backpacking. Next time, we should attempt a two night backpacking trip.
Unfortunately, my copy of the topo map didn't have latitude/longitude markings because I photocopied a middle section of a larger map (which I own, so I'm not violating any copyrights), so I couldn't find my location on the map using GPS coordinates. That was a dumb oversight on my part.
We arrived at around three o'clock in the afternoon to a spot along the creek surrounded by a sandy and rocky creekbed. Just in front of us was a large, deep swimming hole, draining into fast, rocky riffles downstream. The water was quite cold, about 50 degrees F, by my estimate. The characteristics of the water seemed perfect for holding trout, but I could not see any fish at all. I cast my fly line with a dry-dropper rig (#16 California Mosquito holding up a #16 Hare's Ear or Pheasant Tail) for about an hour without producing any further evidence of fish.
I was expecting quite a bit more fishing action, but there was none. On the hike back, I bushwacked into some areas that were not well traveled and found the same - perfect habitat but no fish. Actually, I didn't see much life in the form of insects or amphibians, either, although we did hear what sounded like a toad. They say 80 percent of the fish are caught by 20 percent of the fisherman, so perhaps the creek was not occupied by any fish that I'm eligible to catch, but usually, I can at least see the fish, even if I can't catch them.
In any case, I only saw about 100 linear meters of the stream, so I do hope to get back for a more thorough investigation.
The backpacking went well, except my MSR Pocket Rocket Stove did not work on my Primus fuel canister. The compact stove screwed snugly into the canister, and the canister made noise when shaken (as if full of liquid) but when I turned the valve open, I got nothing. Next time, I'll test my equipment before the trip.
I very nearly filled up my 1 GB CF card with pictures taken on my brand new Canon EOS 20D with 17-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Bill and I spent quite a bit of time taking a night shot of a rock formation crowned by a dying tree. We got a nicely exposed sky with a few stars, a streaking plane, and the orange glow of city lights above the ridgeline. We used Bill's LED flashlight to paint the scene with light for some very interesting effects. I love the challenge and interesting results of long exposure night photography.
It was a very nice, short trip. We learned our lesson about testing equipment and gained some confidence in overnight backpacking. Next time, we should attempt a two night backpacking trip.
posted by Bernie at 11:31 PM
1 Comments:
It turns out we were about a half mile short of the Bear Creek backcountry campground. The Topo! software shows the area in finer detail than the large foldout map I was using on the trip.
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