Backcountry,    california's drought

[Cough, Cough] What To Do When Drought [Cough] Is On The [Cough] Menu

By Tom Chandler 3/12/2014

Been a while, Undergrounders. But don't mistake the lack of activity here for a lack of activity on the home front, as if I'm watching I Love Lucy reruns all day long.

In fact, for much of the past month, I've been watching I Love Lucy reruns while coughing and hacking like a three-pack a smoker. All courtesy the Respiratory Virus of Doom.

And it hasn't been just me.

The wife and kids have all suffered the RVoD, so at times the Underground/Man Cave World Headquarters have sounded a lot like a Victorian-era tuberculosis ward.

It's been unpretty.

But we're getting better. Just this last week I was able to hold a phone conversation without once apologizing for blowing the listener's eardrum out.

Baby steps.

Drought-Flavored Lemonade

When the universe hands you drought, you're basically left to make drought-flavored lemonade.

So Older Bro and I -- aware that California's record drought has only been dented by the recent rains -- are making plans for opening day that involve maps of remote, alpine destinations.

If there's no snow, there won't be much water in a lot of small streams in late summer and fall.

That's bad news.

The good news is some of those remote, inaccessible-due-to-snow streams are suddenly within reach very early in the year.

Last year, the reality of drought meant we hiked the last mile into a small stream that's normally not accessible until June.

This year -- given the even-more-dismal state of California's snowpack (snowpack in my neck of the woods is 18% of normal) -- we may roll the dice on an even less-accessible stream.

See? Lemonade.

More to come on our plans. And maybe more on California's drought, the extent of which is pretty unhappily summed up in this NASA animated GIF.

See you looking towards the snow-free mountain streams, Tom Chandler.

 

Hedge Creek Falls, Dunsmuir M1 and M2 prove there's some water up here (Hedge Creek Falls in Dunsmuir).

AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

10 comments
...wretches and hacks together! The girls get more beautiful with every photo. Even with RVoD, ur a Lucky Boy. See ya at Sickbay...
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[…] The Trout Underground is mixing up some drought-flavored lemonade: Having survived the Respiratory Virus of Doom (RVoD for you medical types), the Trout Underground is plotting the next fly fishing trip: … “When the universe hands you drought, you’re basically left to make drought-flavored lemonade.So Older Bro and I — aware that California’s record drought has only been dented ... more by the recent rains — are making plans for opening day that involve maps of remote, alpine destinations. If there’s no snow, there won’t be much water in a lot of small streams in late summer and fall. That’s bad news. The good news is some of those remote, inaccessible-due-to-snow streams are suddenly within reach very early in the year. … “ Read more from the Trout Underground here: [Cough, Cough] What To Do When Drought [Cough] Is On The [Cough] Menu […]
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JP2: The other is they are better behaved than their father…….. That falls under the heading "How low can you set the bar?"
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The other is they are better behaved than their father........
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JP2: seems you get this advice about this time every year Yeah. This year, even the cat was sneezing and coughing. The family that wretches and hacks together.... [you finish this one].
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Dan: Makes me sad. I’d blame the pot-heads but you’ve got them, too. I dunno. The quasi-legal status of marijuana cultivation in the state (the state allows it, the feds don't) means some larger marijuana growing operations are doing a substantial amount of environmental damage. Not a pretty picture.
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Jay Doran: Beautiful children. That's one of two ways everyone immediately knows they're adopted.
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YUCK.....One of the joys of pestilent children....Get better ,drink hot Lemon Tottys...seems you get this advice about this time every year...trying to shoo some of our rain your way......
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All the snow is in Colorado. They've got snow pack running as high as 190%. My favorite mountain here in New Mexico is at 28%. Makes me sad. I'd blame the pot-heads but you've got them, too. I dunno. Hope your feeling better soon.
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Beautiful children.
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