Saturday
Saturday morning I woke up with the blue jays (well, ok, they're probably stellar's jays) and decided to get up. After Friday's breakfast fun with the bees I was determined to keep things under wraps until the last possible moment. I puttered around for an hour or so getting ingredients ready for breakfast burritos and drinking coffee, and when Lazy Doug arose from his slumber we were ready to cook and eat.
We were not troubled as much by bees Saturday morning, but the weather may have had something to do with it. It had turned cold, and the wind was coming up pretty strong. We ate, cleaned up the dishes, and set up our chairs on the leeward side of the tent to play some cribbage.
Doug apparently had some kind of trick deck or mirrors around the campground because he buried me in cribbage. I'm not sure how he did it but I really didn't stand much of a chance. After a couple resounding losses it was time to go try my luck with the trout.
I fished alongside the campground for three or four hours, and covered a good bit of water. The trout were again willing to attack pretty much whatever I threw at them, and I landed six or eight before it started to sprinkle. A little rain didn't really bother me as I was dressed for it, but when it started to pick up I reconsidered.
"Hmm. I'm standing in the middle of a large body of water, easily the tallest thing in a fifty-foot radius, holding a 9-foot long conductive rod that I'm pointing at the sky."
I decided to ride out the shower on the river bank underneath a nice tree.
After the rain stopped I waded back out into the river. I looked up and, wow! A full rainbow arched over the east end of Kings Canyon. I don't believe I've ever fished in such a beautiful setting, Yosemite included.
On one of my first casts after returning to the water, I caught my biggest fish of the day - a fat 12" rainbow trout. I released him and should have had the good sense to quit right then. After fishing for four hours my casting arm was turning to jelly. I started casting quite badly and getting lots of tangles in my line. Eventually I realized fatigue was ruining the experience and started reeling in my line.
As fate would have it, one last trout took my fly on that retrieve - a fish no longer than my finger, which got a good loud laugh from me as I released it and waded to the shore.
Dinner consisted of more Manhattans, baked beans, and (in Doug's words) "the best hamburger ever." (Details to follow.) We burned the rest of the wood and went to bed.
Here's how the burger was put together: First, I cooked a couple slices of bacon. I sliced up an onion and put it in the bacon fat to saute on low, in a covered pan. After the onion was done, I fried the burgers, which were then topped with jalapeno jack cheese, bacon, sliced tomatoes, and sauted onions. Delicious!
