Outdoors with Don Q: A short vacation at high altitude

Elaine and I just returned from a three-day, two-night, mini vacation at Parchers Resort in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, west of Bishop, Calif.

The purpose of our visit was to enjoy the cozy cabin accommodations at Parchers, plus the late spring weather, spectacular scenery and the peace and quiet in that general area. Here's some miscellaneous info on our trip:

Wednesday, May 28: We drove south on U.S. 395, from Carson City to Bishop which is a total driving distance of about 170 miles. In the middle of Bishop, you turn onto West Line Street and drive 18 miles west on a combination of West Line Street and S.R. 168 to Parchers Resort.

In that 18 miles you climb from Bishop at an elevation of 4,147 feet to Parchers at an elevation of 9,260 feet. The air is thin up there and the weather can be Crisp, with a capitol "C" even at this time of the year.
At the resort, we had advance reservations for Cabin No. 09, one of their "Deluxe Small and Paradise Cabins."

Cabin No. 09:
It is located across from the main lodge building and includes a private parking area, barbecue pit, and a front porch with two chairs.

Inside there is: A large room with a queen-sized bed, a dresser, a small closet, and a fully equipped kitchen area with a breakfast bar with two stools, a four-burner gas kitchen stove, and a refrigerator with freezer, plus a bathroom with shower.

All of that combined for comfortable accommodations for the two visitors from Carson City. Best of all, there was no cell phone coverage, no internet and no television. It was very peaceful and quiet without the noisy hustle and bustle of the modern world.

We also had the pleasure of re-visiting with our friend, Jared Smith, the Proprietor of Parchers Resort, and thanking him for sending his weekly reports to include in my weekly fishing reports at Carson Now.

Thursday, May 29:
We had early coffee, followed by a leisurely breakfast in our toasty warm cabin (it was noticeably chilly outside), and then waited for the temps to warm up, before venturing outside.
At 9:00 a.m., we hopped into our little red pickup, and drove the short distance (one mile) to South Lake (elevation 9,755 feet) to photograph the high mountain scenery in that area.
Along the way, we stopped at a number of locations to take photos of the rushing Bishop Creek, Weir Pond with its fly fishermen and the spectacular mountains in the background.

South Lake:
When we reached South Lake, it was even worse looking than last fall. Last year, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had drawn down the water in that large lake to where it is a stark-looking and ugly remnant of a once gorgeous lake.

That draw down plus the below average snowfall this past winter has resulted in Parchers marina and boat launch being totally unusable, there is no boat launching of any kind and any shore fishing requires a long hike to reach the water in what is now left of the lake.

It is a shame that LADWP can devastate a lake in that manner. We took photos of LADWP's "handiwork," hiked quite a ways up the Bishop Pass Trail to get photos of the surrounding mountain scenery, returned to the parking area and then drove over to Lake Sabrina. We drove there via the Bishop Creek Lodge and Aspendell.

On arriving at Sabrina, yep, you guessed it: It is also a small, rocky-looking remnant of where we fished last year.
However, the good news is that at Sabrina, you can launch small boats, there are many opportunities to shore fish and it is still getting planted on a regular basis by California DFW.

Here is a quote this week from folks at the Bishop Creek Boat Landing: "The rental boats moved up to the front and the lifejacket and cushion trailer moved down by the boats. The road to the back natural lake is almost under water – what does this all mean – THE LAKE IS ON THE RISE – it’s come up about 4 feet from last weekend – woo-hoo and it was a week without snow, a bit breezy, but all in all a great week at the Lake."
That afternoon, we returned to Parchers where we had the pleasure of renewing our friendship and hosting Jarad at a tasty Cornish Game Hen dinner in Cabin No. 09.

Friday, May 30:
We woke up to chilly conditions and strong gusty winds which combined to put a damper on our plans to fish at Lake Sabrina.
At 10:00 a.m., we reluctantly said goodbye to Jarad and began the long drive back to Carson City, where we arrived safe and sound at 3:30 p.m.

Finally:
I highly recommend that you visit the Bishop Creek area to enjoy the spectacular high mountain scenery and trout fishing at Bishop Creek, Weir Pond, Intake No. 2, North Lake and Lake Sabrina.
For information, call Parchers Resort at (760) 873-4177 or go to their website at www.ParchersResort.net.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you about the two backpackers that Don met on the highway in front of Parchers Resort.

If he grins and says, "The young guy and gal had just hiked down from Bishop Pass and were trying to hitchhike a ride to Bishop. They were the first two months into their hike on the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada," he could be one of the many people Don told about the couple.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. Don's wife, Elaine, is the Outdoor section photographer. They can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com.