I Snuck Upcountry

Snuck, is that a real word? According to Dictionary.com Snuck is relatively new, an Americanism introduced in the late 19th century.

Destination, Caples Lake. As you know, we had a storm over the past weekend with the weather guessers putting the snow level  below 5000 ft. Unlike last time, the snow level WAS below 5000 ft.

I hit the first signs of snow just before Cooks Station. Then as I went further uphill, the amount increased (no duh). At 6000 ft. it was more dirt than snow. At 7000 ft. it was more snow than dirt. At 8000 ft. it was a pretty good accumulation in the area of 3 to 4 inches.

Then dropping back down to Silver Lake, I did a pit stop at the launch site and snapped this picture of where I fished back on October 22nd. No snow then.

Silver Lake Elevation 7261'

Back in the truck, I headed for Caples Lake, just up the road. I got to the lake and my somewhat numb brain said "Upper Blue Lake, Upper Blue". I figured, what the heck and bypassed (I could always come back) Caples and headed over Carson Pass for Hope Valley.

I wanted to know if they had closed the gate yet and the only way to tell is drive there. To my surprise, the gate was still open. Onward I went.

The shot below is from one of the un-improved campgrounds along Blue Lakes Road. I still had a thousand feet or so to climb. Was this an omen? 

The mountain between Hope Vally and Blue Lakes

Got to the turnoff at Lower Blue Lake and headed to Upper. Some, but not all, of the road looked like this.

Road between Lower and Upper Blue Lakes

Not to worry, I have 4 wheel drive and BF Goodrich AT mud and snow tires. The best M&S tires I've ever found. Even though I never put in into 4X, I did have a couple slip and slide places, but overall made it to Upper Blue just fine. 

Once there, set up, and with two lines in the water, I did panorama shots around the lake. 

To the right

Across to the right

Note the fishing rod in that picture.

Across to the left

Note the fishing rod in that picture. Different rod than the one above. I know you don't care about pictures of fishing rods, but I just threw that in for laughs.

The dam

And there I sat for better than three hours with out so much as a nibble. I guess Upper Blue Lake is done for the year.

On the way back to Highway 88, I saw smoke coming from an area that doesn't have any houses, so one could only assume: Wildfire. The last thing that area needs. So I went to see. I'm somewhat nosy about stuff like that. Turned out that it was what they call a "Prescribed" burn. Knock out some of the under brush before a big fire comes and do it while it's still wet. 

Intentional Burn

All the lakes are ice free for the moment. Good to see some snow on the hills.