Kathy and I took another trip to the Sierra Range with the canoe in July of 2010. Different location this time, Utica Reservoir. It's quite a bit less remote than Hell Hole Reservoir. Hell Hole is probably 35mi off the nearest main road (Wentworth Springs, not even a highway), while Utica is only 6mi off of CA-SR4.
It's also quite a popular destination for kayaking and canoeing. So there were a lot more people to be seen at the put-in both coming and going. I had a little bit of trepidation about the popularity of the place since due to a rough few weeks at work I was seeking some serious alone time with Kathy. As it turned out my fears were unfounded, we hardly saw anyone all weekend. Not much story, but here are a ton of photos.
The pond also made for a easy place to practice some solo paddling. It's a lot harder to solo paddle a tandem than I'd thought.
Kathy snapped a pic of me blissed out on silence, wine and chicken kabob.
The wind never blew hard, but there was a light breeze from 10-4 each day. Once that calmed down the lake just got right and truly stunning.
On the second day we took a hike up to a tarn to the north of the lake.
A family paddling by while we ate dinner just after sunset.
Thinking about a potential future return trip we spent a bit of time checking out other campsites on our way back to the put in. Here is a look at the main body of the lake.
Kathy didn't know I wasn't paddling.
Loaded up and heading home. The VW TDI Jetta got 37mpg on the trip with the canoe on top. Nice.
I am curious about best day(s)to get a camp site. Do folks tend to come and go on certain days? Also, what was the name of the campsite in your photos? There appears to be 2 different sites. Which ranger station did you enter from? Thanks in advance for your help.
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