Hippocleides Doesn't Care

Yum does this funny thing with her fingers, “air quotes”, every time the subject of “camping” comes up. She doesn’t think that I camp. Or rather, she doesn’t think that I’ll ever take her camping. So I decided to fix that.

Last Wednesday morning we loaded up the Yaris and left Vacaville along the road to fun.

We drove up 80 and 99 to highway 70. Then we drove all the way up the Feather River canyon on highway 70 to where it intersects with 89. Then we drove along 89, made a quick stop to hike down to Indian Falls, then drove through Indian Valley to the 147 junction, and then to Lake Almanor.

Ahhh, Lake Almanor. The best place in northern California to watch raptors swoop and hunt. Bald Eagles and Osprey can be seen snatching trout in their talons. Or so I’ve been told–didn’t see any this trip. Bald Eagles, that is.

We camped on the northern shore, just a few miles from the city of Chester. Our campsite was *right* on the shoreline. We angled the entrance of our tent to have a beautiful view of Mt Lassen in the morning. Thank you North Shore campground, your facilities are top-notch.

After setting up our tent and sleeping stuffs we drove into Chester for a snack. Chester is the land that time forgot. There are no corporate entities in this town, save for a Chevron and Union 76 gas station. No McDonalds, no WalMart. From all appearances this place hasn’t changed since the ’50s–and that’s a good thing. Chester is one of those quaint little mountain towns where little things like community and helping your neighbor are still important.

Yum and I had a burger and a shake at the Pine Shack Frosty on the main strip. Dee-lish. Then I took Yum to my favorite fishing spot near the intersection of highways 32 and 36.

Yum must have caught 20 fish–way more than I did. I fly fished the entire time. I knocked ‘em dead with my dry flies. There was a nice hatch going on, and I was busy slapping my line down on the water and catching nice rainbows–whooping and hollering with every trout I caught. We kept a couple for dinner.

So, Yum decides that she’s just going to throw the fish on the coals to cook them. What? Are you crazy? You’re going to ruin the fish, Yum! I wanted to say that, anyway. I’ll just keep my mouth shut, and when she ruins the fish she’ll learn her lesson and I’ll get to smile and cook them in aluminum foil next time.

But a funny thing happened–the fish came out perfect. Yum lifted those trout off the coals and peeled the crispy skin/scales back off the meat and revealed perfectly cooked and seasoned trout. Crow, oops, I mean trout, never tasted so good.

And now I beg Yum to cook our fish her way. Good ol’ Yum =) But I digress…

After dinner we made S’mores. Yum has never had S’mores! Yum doesn’t know the goodness of S’mores! Poor Yum. All those wasted years…

In the morning we broke camp and headed into town. We had some coffee at a nice little place and checked our email on the free wifi. Then we headed over to the Kopper Kettle for some breakfast. Then we drove back to upper Deer Creek for some more fishing. Yum knocked ‘em dead, catching a lot of fish. We kept 3 for dinner–3 big, beautiful rainbow trout.

We took 32 back to Chico. I felt a little homesick as we drove through my old stomping grounds. Ahhh, Chico… good times, good memories.

No trip through Chico is complete without a stop at Burger Hut. And then, sadly, we drove home.

And so here we are, the end of my post. And here are the pictures from our trip =)

Tags: camping, Chester, Chico, coffee, Deer Creek, Deer Creek Falls, fishing, fly fishing, highway 147, highway 32, highway 36, highway 70, highway 80, highway 89, highway 99, Indian Falls, Indian Valley, Kopper Kettle, Lake Almanor, Pine Shack Frosty, wifi, yaris, yum