Following the father/daughter trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, my dad and I spent a week the following summer fishing in the Owens Valley and Sierras. Even though I was born and raised there, I still had not explored nearly enough of the area. There are unlimited “secret” getaways that the mountains and valley have to offer, but it takes curiosity, effort and sunscreen to make it happen.

There’s nothing like going to a place where you can feel the earth living and breathing. That connection is irreplaceable and is my battery charge. This trip is close to my heart in more ways than one.

My favorite thing to do with my dad is fish. It’s one of the first activities I remember doing with him. We’d be standing on the beach in Baja, he’d cast out into the waves and taught me how to watch the tip of the rod and feel the fishing line with my index finger for a bite. How seaweed, waves and rocks feel different than a fish. It’s a secret power I have now 🙂

My dad taught me how to fly fish on this trip. It’s hard! And much more of an art. It takes constant concentration (at least for me) and is tiring after a few hours since you’re moving all the time. I need to get better at tying flies, not losing them, and learning the movements that various fish like. I did luck out though on my first trip out and caught a trout in the Owens Canal. My dad was more surprised than I was!

We split our days fly fishing in the morning and lake fishing in the afternoon. We also built in some hiking and exploration field trips. The lakes were extremely low due to the California draught, it’s having a big impact on tourism, thus local businesses, and visually is sad. It’s hard to argue that the view is depressing when it’s still beautiful, but when you’ve seen it change drastically in the past 10 years it’s alarming. I’m hoping with the El Niño year that the water levels rise.

If you’ve never been to this area, it is one of the most impressive geological and scenic places in the world. It’s also only a 4.5 hour drive from Los Angeles (Freeways/Highways 5N, 14N, 395N).

On this trip we visited places familiar and new:

1. June Lake
2. Grant Lake
3. Ellery Lake
4. Tioga Lake
5. Owens River near Benton Crossing
6. Hot Creek
7. Owens Canal in Pleasant Valley
8. Convict Lake
9. Lake George
10. Lake Sabrina
11. Devil’s Postpile
12. Rainbow Falls
13. Lake Mary