Survivor Man –

Two weeks ago I went on an outing with my friend Bryce and his little brother to West Clear Creek. Since none of us had ever been there we weren’t sure what to expect. We knew we wanted to explore and catch fish. The weekend turned out to be an exhausting adventure.

I’ve heard it said that the definition of an adventure is any trip where the anticipated plans do not go as intended. By that definition we sure had an adventure.

When we arrived we immediately noticed the stars. There was no moon and we were far away from any city, town, settlement or cabin. That night time sky was the best I’ve ever seen in AZ. We think we saw the Milky Way, but made the comment that it looked like skim milk because it was a bit thin.

Our first problem happened in the morning, when we realized that a tire on the truck had gone flat overnight. Bryce fixed the tire while I helped his little brother learn the knots used to tie fishing line so he could earn the Fishing Merit Badge.

We then hiked quickly down the ridge to the creek and began to fish. We caught a lot of fish, too many to count. But the problem was they were all small (about 5 inches long). The fish really liked meal worms, real worms and rooster-tail lures. They wanted nothing to do with power bait. We caught mainly Rainbow and German Brown Trout, and I am guessing (from the size) that they were all native.

The banks of the creek were pretty dense and we had to climb over rocks and through trees and bushes to find the next fishing hole. One time we had to get in the water and walk waste deep down the creek with our gear (reminiscent of Survivor Man) because we couldn’t get by on either shore. After catching and releasing many fish we finally got a few that were big enough to keep and cook. We taught Bryce’s little brother how to clean a trout, which he had to cook at home to earn the Merit Badge, and then we headed back to the truck.

The climb back out was hard. We had to climb more than 600 vertical feet in only 0.2 miles of trail. I noticed that at one point we hiked for 1 minute and then rested for 2 minutes (this lasted for about 15 minutes). That was pretty bad especially since our water was running low, still we made it without problems.

When we finally got back to the truck we headed home. We were discussing what kind of meal we would be eating in Payson when another tire on Bryce’s truck got a flat. We pulled as far over as we could on the road got out and tried to decide what to do (since our spare was already being used). Basically, we got the truck towed into Payson left it there until Monday and drove back in my truck (which I had left in Payson…we came in separate vehicles from the valley and then carpooled to the trailhead together from Payson).

The trip was great. Bryce’s little brother is awesome. It’s refreshing to talk with a kid whose imagination is still active and who is intelligent and wise all at the same time (while we were waiting for the Tow Truck he beat me at Chess…Grrr.). My favorite conversation with him was when he was explaining why Survivor Man is better than Man vs. Wild. Oh, and of course, he earned the Merit Badge without problem—good kid.

Scott

Flat tire #1

West Clear Creek Reflection--The scenary was beautiful

I can name 4 or 5 reasons why it is obvious that these two are brothers, just from the picture above and from the picture below.

You probably can't tell, but that was the biggest fish of the day.

We thought this was poison ivy but now, on second thought, I'm not sure. Any thoughts?