Dort and I left Monday for Lake Tahoe, NV. Saw some beautiful territory and had a great time. Arrived home around midnight last night (Friday) and are just shaking off the time change effects.
While there I saw some Lahotan trout, a species on the brink of extinction. They were in a special underwater viewing area of a pool on the Truckee River which flows into South Lake Tahoe. Basically a pool was constructed by damming a side channel of the Truckee. One of the sides of the pool was a solid glass wall that allowed a view of the pool. This viewing area was underground and covered so one could see in but the fish could not see out. Pretty interesting to observe the fish behavior. Interesting to note was that the largest fish in the pool was occupying a mid water level area in the center of the pool. The smaller fish were either along the bottom or in the roots and blow-down structures that framed the pool. I would have expected the big boy to have taken up residence in the most reclusive and protected area. The time of the viewing was around 0930 hours. Did not see the fish eat anything in the 10 minutes I observed their behavior. There were also rainbow, brook and brown trout in the pool.
My conclusions are:
1) The bigger the fish the more likely they are to be in water easy to fish with a fly.
2) Trout do not eat.
3) Trout peacefully coexist with other fish.
4) Trout swim around a lot.
5) Trout like their space.
6) The bigger the trout, the bigger the space they prefer.
7) Lahotan trout have developed a white "tag" type appendage immediately in front of their dorsal fin.
Following my scientific observations of the Lahotan Trout I went hiking in the mountains of the Eagle Lake area of the Desolation Wilderness (by myself, of course). The Eagle Lake area is a remote section of the Desolation Wilderness and features high country lakes and streams There are reports of huge trout in this area but no established records or pictures. I became aware of these reports when I overheard a couple of area Old-timers whispering of 50 lb Brown Trout that lived for over fifty years in some of the remote streams of the Desolation Wilderness. One of the Old-timers mentioned Eagle Lake. Then they appeared to notice my close proximity and immediately clammed up and began discussing the stock market. Eagle Lake sounded like an interesting area to hike so off I went.
I hiked for about three miles past Eagle Lake and then got off the established trail. Since I had my GPS and my maps I was not concerned with this situation and decided to look the area over even though the Ranger at the Forest Service headquarters had suggested one NEVER leaves the established trails. I had not seen anyone official so was not worried about getting in trouble with the establishment.
While exploring I found evidence of what appeared to be some sort of ceremonial site back in this remote section of the Eagle Lake area (I have attached a photo of this ceremonial ring). The ceremonial ring site sits on a barren granite shelf which forms the top of small knob projecting out from the side of the mountain on the south side of the area. While exploring in the ceremonial area I though I heard a low growl coming from a heavily wooded section with dense undergrowth which ran up to the top of the shelf. The section formed a wedged shaped piece of heavily wooded area which terminated at a large boulder on the ceremonial site. I stopped, the hair rising up on the back of my neck, and looked around while subtly slipping my knife out of it's sheath. Once again the growl........................ and then the growl transformed into what I thought were the spoken words, "Outsider" and "Our Land".
I backed up to a large rock outcropping, balanced myself on the balls of my feet, quickly wrapped my wind breaker around my left forearm, ensured my knife hand was free of obstruction and waited. I can't remember feeling more alive, my every sense was razor sharp, my muscles firm but flexible. Being thus ready for anything. I maintained this posture in anticipation something sinister.
After what seemed hours (probably minutes) I noted movement in the dense undergrowth coupled with more low growls and unintelligible words. The dense undergrowth expanded into a small draw which ran up to the bottom of the steep granite face of the mountain that formed the division between the Eagle Lake Valley and more remote areas of the Desolation Wilderness. The draw ended in what appeared to be a deeply fractured section of the granite cliff which appeared to run back into the cliff. The movement continued up the draw while the sounds slowly faded and finally disappeared. As it was getting late, and I had told Dorothy I would meet her for dinner, I was unable investigate further. So, after tightening the straps on my backpack and a long pull on the water bottle, I set off down the mountain using my GPS and the maps to return to the more civilized paths. The balance of the trip was enjoyable but relatively uneventful. I did some more hiking in the Lake Tahoe area (did not get an opportunity to go back to the Desolation Wilderness area due to time schedule), went for a romantic evening cruise with Dorothy on Lake Tahoe and enjoyed the sights, sounds and dining in the area. In the evening Dort had a good time at the Casinos while I finished my book by Joe Heywood, "The Legend of The Snowfly".*
*I believe Pete has been taking The Legend of The Snowfly too seriously, and include this as a disclaimer to the validity of some of his misadventures..... Howard
