June 26, 2005

Greetings, Rock Creekers!  Summer officially arrived on Tuesday the 21st, but the weather in the Eastern Sierra continues to be mild.  Highs at Rock Creek Lake have consistently been in the upper 50’s and low 60’s for the past couple of weeks, and a couple of days struggled to even hit 50.  Except for a couple of mornings, lows have remained above freezing, however.  There is a slight chance of thunderstorms over the weekend, otherwise the next week or so looks to be beautiful in the Eastern Sierra with mostly clear skies and mild temperatures.  The heat of summer is down in the Owens Valley, not in the high country.  Interestingly enough, as I write this at 10:30 AM on Saturday, I just got an email from Steve Wilcomb, the manager of the camping in Rock Creek, saying that it’s snowing at the lake, so you never know what you’re going to get weather-wise in the Eastern Sierra.

Considering the deep snowpack from the winter, it’s amazing how quickly things are melting out in the backcountry.  The trails in the Rock Creek area are clearing and the road to Mosquito Flat opened last week, just in time for Father’s Day.  I’m sure that was a nice gift for a few dads.  The trail through Little Lakes Valley is pretty wet and muddy, and there’s patchy snow below Long Lake.  From Long Lake on the trail is pretty much all snow.  Mono Pass is buried, and it’s unknown when the pack station will be able to get its animals over the pass.  Check out the photo below of Ruby Lake taken on the 19th.  It’ll give you a good idea about what the pass must be like.  The trail to the Hilton Lakes is open, except for that last descent down to #2 and Davis Lake, where there is still a good amount of snow present.  The lower lakes are thawed, and I’d assume there’s still some ice on lakes #5 and higher.

 

Ruby Lake Frozen on June 19 Photo by Dave Farfalla

Mosquitoes are becoming more of a nuisance by the day. In the evening and early morning, repellant is all but necessary to keep from being bitten. They are especially bad in wetter areas of the canyon, including the lower portions of Little Lakes Valley, Hilton Lake #2 and Davis Lake, and any other area where standing water or wet ground is present. CLICK!

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The fishing in the Rock Creek area has gotten better in the last couple of weeks as the water temperature continues to rise in the lake and creek.  Weekly trout plants in the lake and creek have helped maintain the trout population, and Jim King is likely to purchase 200+ pounds of Alpers trout within the next couple of weeks to enhance the fishing at the lake.  Now if we could only convince people to practice catch and release a little more frequently instead of insisting on taking their daily limits…

The trout are becoming more active, as are the insects, hence an increase in surface feeding late in the day and early morning.  Trolling streamer flies is working very well now in the early evening hours.  Resort employees Adam and Nick took a boat out a couple of days ago and reportedly caught and released over 20 fish in a 2-hour period.  Trolling live matukas, hornbergs, and olive and black wooly buggers is working great.  From shore, nightcrawlers have been the most productive bait, and Thomas Buoyants, Kastmasters, and Super Dupers have been the most active lures.  Flyfishers should consider the above-mentioned streamers, as well as small nymphs such as beaded hare’s ears or pheasant tails.  A few dry flies to try are mosquitoes, elk hair caddis, female adams, and light cahills.  No large fish have been brought into the resort from Rock Creek Lake, but a 2 pound, 6 ounce brown trout from Heart Lake was brought in on the 23rd.  Heart Lake was producing some big browns last summer too, so those of you looking for big trout out of the backcountry might want to make it a point to visit Heart Lake.

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Camping in Rock Creek got a late start due to the snow that lingered well into May, and there was a delay in opening Pine Grove and Upper Pine Grove because a number of diseased and dying trees needed to be removed.  Pine Grove was hit pretty hard.  Several large lodgepole pines were infected with butt rot, a fungus which causes the inside of the tree to rot out and leave only a thin outer layer to support the tree.  Tom Higley from the Lee Vining ranger station cored most of the trees and located the dangerous ones.  They were taken down by Inyo Fire and removed by firewood bidders.  The branches were chipped, which has given the campgrounds nice chip covered interior roads, not as much dust, and a great smell!  80% of the diseased trees in the canyon are now down, according to Steve Wilcomb.  In addition, French Camp lost 50% of the pinion pines for fire reasons, and with that many trees removed you can not tell there were any taken down.  They were pretty thick, and according to Tom a real fire danger.

All the campgrounds in Rock Creek are now open.  That’s better than in the Mammoth Lakes Basin where the upper campgrounds are STILL closed by snow.  As a result, chrome-rimmed SUV’s with their music blaring have been more common in East Fork and other Rock Creek campgrounds lately.  Hopefully Mammoth’s campgrounds will open soon so they can have their clientele back.  Bears are in the area and have been seen at Iris Meadow and they have left their calling cards around the cabins at Palisade, but as of today no damage has been reported.  As we head into the busiest part of the summer, it’s imperative that the public be bear-smart.  Of course, the people that receive this newsletter know what that means, but we need to make sure our neighbors comply as well, so please don’t be shy about informing people of the need to maintain a clean camp, utilize the bear boxes correctly whenever the camp is left unattended, and basically leave nothing behind that would draw a bear’s attention to the campsites.  If everyone did their part, the bears would find other sources of food and visit the campgrounds less frequently, leading to an eventual cessation of concerns about bears.  Please do your part to help this become a reality.

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Those of you that have enjoyed Cheri Maynard’s Rock Creek calendars in the past will be glad to know that she has a new 2006 calendar on the market now.  They’re available at the Resort and other businesses in the area.  In August, it’ll be previewable online.  Give it a look when you’re in the area this summer.  She has also created a Mammoth calendar that’s available at the Booky Joint in Mammoth and other businesses in the Mammoth area.  If you’re interested in a calendar, and she’ll give you the details.

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Have you ever thought about working in the Eastern Sierra in a seasonal position? Rock Creek Lakes Resort is looking for hardworking, energetic, and fun people to help close out the 2005 season from August through October. If you’re interested, you can download an application HERE and mail it and a cover letter to…

Rock Creek Lakes Resort
P. O. Box 727
Bishop, CA 93515

We hope to hear from you soon!

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