"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... And sorry I could not travel both. I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference." --Robert Frost

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Family Fishing at the Walker River, CA

Topaz , NV & Walker, CA
Topaz Lodge RV Resort &
Bootleg Campground


Our last week in California was spent with the kids fishing at the Walker River along Hwy 395.  It was a miracle that they were all able to get a few days off at the same time at the 4th of July and join us.  We had such a great time.  Kaylee's boyfriend, Roger, also came up.

Shane, Brennan, Kaylee & Ryan
Our first few days we spent on Topaz Lake in the tiny RV park at the Topaz Lodge & Casino.  $28 for FHU which was important as Steve needed to work this week before taking a few days off.  This is one of those times we were glad to have electric hookups as the temps rose to 100 which set off some crazy thunderstorms. (which is NOT good for fishing, more later)

Topaz Lake in the background.

Beautiful sky after the storm, just before sunset.

Our site at Topaz RV & Casino Resort
 
Next, off to the river and our campsite in the pines, Bootleg.  This is a Forest Service campground.  $20 a night.  It has water and flush toilets.  It's only 20 miles south of Topaz, but it sits at 6600' elevation so it's about 15 degrees cooler.  And much prettier.  It's a rugged pretty.  Some pines, sage, juniper, lots of craggy steep mountain areas too. 

Love being surrounded with a nice pine forest at Bootleg Campground.

 
Before the boys arrived it was just Kaylee and Roger.  In the evening we taught him what I've always known as "The Marble Game".  I grew up playing this home-made game at my grandparents.  Many years later I was at a friends house playing Aggravation and I said, Hey, my Grandpa invented this!  We had a great time and Roger won.

The thunderstorms played havoc with the fishing.  Thankfully they didn't produce too much rain and the water would clear up by the morning.


 



We did see some bear prints down by the river.

Here's one section where one river feeds into the Walker. Funny how one is always clear.

 
Lots of pretty flowers.




Kaylee & Roger


Shane, in the hot pink shorts, is certainly not a fashionista.  And not shy either.  Just trying to get some sun while fishing.


A couple of pictures of my fish.  A pretty good sized German Brown and a Rainbow Trout.
Everyone caught at least 5 fish.

 
The kids goofing off after a long day of fishing.  We like to go to the casino for some cheap grub and a tiny bit of gambling.  No one won anything.  Although it was all-you-could-eat spaghetti night.  Guess they didn't know our boys were coming!  Six plates for Shane.

Kaylee & Roger

 
It was great to spend time with the kids, but the road is calling!

10 comments:

  1. Very nice. When we get to California you will have to tell us where to go. Nicely though.

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    1. Ha, the length of the Walker River between the tiny town of Walker and Rt 108 on 395 about 20 miles north of Bridgeport. Gorgeous! Although the fishing season will be over probably by end of July with the scant snowfall this year. Water levels go down quickly.

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  2. It's always great to be able to get the whole family together. Looks like a fun time in a pretty area.

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    1. Yes, who knows how often we'll get the 4 of them together. It's quite the chore with work schedules and locations.

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  3. Bring on the spaghetti and pile on the meat sauce, Debbie! That is hilarious that Shane polished off six plates. :)

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    1. It's kind of an annual tradition on the gluttony. Only the boys participate. The others were smart enough to stop at 4. Shane paid the price later though.

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  4. How great that you were all able to get together for the week :-) I like your bear prints photo and I'm glad it was gone by the time you were walking in the same area.

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    1. An absolute favorite place to fish. You should take a trip up there. I hear the water is still running fine thanks to all the late season rain storms.

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  5. Good to see you got out on the water and wet a line! Nice trout, my favorite recipe is on the grill with lots of butter!

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    1. Yes, it was about time! We will back in Montana next week for the month and plan to do a lot of fishing!

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