ALL-TROUT 2002: The Legend of Cujo
Saddlerock Lake
South Lake to Saddlerock Lake via Bull Lake
August, 2002
Charles, Steve
Walking Trout Commentary:
This was the first year of Steve’s digital camera. It was a nice camera but it looks like it had a problem
dealing with the haze we encountered the first few days of the trip. The pre-2002 trips are going to take quite
a bit more effort – looking through boxes for pictures and negatives, scanning the pics, etc. I suppose that will
be part of the “fun.” The good news is that almost all of the journals are intact, with trips going back to 1991.
That said, here is the 2002 text, as it appears in the handwritten journal. I wouldn’t call this my best writing,
but it is thankfully short. I am typing this web page some nine years later, so I don’t recall writing this journal
but it does appear to be written after-the-fact (there is an entry to this effect). This may explain the poor
writing.
Prologue
Steve and Charles only. Stuart was absent because he was called up in the Army Reserve to go to Germany
and Qatar to fight terrorism. We thank him sincerely for his service. Rick was absent because a few days
before our trip, his father-in-law died unexpectedly and prematurely due to a heart attack. Our thoughts go
out to Rick, Melissa and her family.
This is the first year we extended the trip from two nights to three nights in the backwoods – an excellent
change.
Day 1: South Lake to Bull Lake
Met at South Lake. Rain had come through. I had driven the green Z car… whee. Late afternoon hike to Bull
Lake, a small lake which we didn’t really explore. We got there around dusk and made camp.
CHARLES AT SOUTH LAKE TRAILHEAD. HE LOOKS VERY HAPPY.
Two events are worth noting from the first night at Bull Lake. First, as we drank our tequila, we both started
laughing at the size of the monster tequila shots. The result was that we both shot tequila out our noses, or at
least deep into our sinus cavities. I can’t describe with any accuracy the pain this caused. It was actually a
very bad time for 10 minutes or so. Now, two years later, Charles tells me he hasn’t fully recovered.
The second event was that while sitting in our camp, I saw the eyes of an approaching bear reflecting off the
light of my flashlight. Scared, I stuttered “Ch-ch-charles” to get Charles’ attention. As the bear approached, I
realized it was actually a dog. Suffice it to say, Charles got a good laugh out of my initial fear. I blame the
tequila.
In the morning, we left Bull Lake and hiked up to Saddlerock Lake, a high-altitude lake nestled below Bishop
Pass. But first, we cut a length of rope and used it as a leash to tame the ferocious dog. As we hiked up to
Saddlerock Lake, we sent the dog down the mountain with some backpackers who were heading out. We
wrote a short chronicle of the dog’s stay with us and sent that down with the dog, so the owner would know
where we found him. We mentioned that we wanted no “cash reward” but said we’d be happy to accept a
pitcher of beer at the Pizza Factory in Lone Pine that coming Sunday.
We arrived at Saddlerock Lake in uncharacteristic and extreme heat. Because of the heat, we were so out of
it we kept wandering around aimlessly, unable to decide on a camp spot. We even napped. Finally we
picked a spot, set up camp, and fished the lake (with great success).
CHARLES CONTEMPLATES VERTICAL NAVIGATION – MOSTLY DESCENDING.
When we arrived at the Pizza Factory, the manager was taping this note to the front door:
It turns out the dog’s owner got a kick out of the note we sent with the dog, and was extremely appreciative.
He called the store manager and paid not only for a pitcher of beer, but for our whole lunch! We even spoke
to him on the restaurant’s house phone. He explained that his dog had wandered off from South Lake, about
2.5 miles to our camp.
Even though Charles and I shared the effort of caring for the dog equally, the people at the Pizza Factory kept
giving me all the credit for some reason. They wouldn’t even acknowledge Charles’ presence – for example,
he placed our lunch order and gave them the name “Charles” – but when the food was ready, they announced
“Steve, your order is ready.” We have no explanation for why that happened, but we both thought it funny.
As a result, Charles started calling me “The Lord of Lone Pine,” a name which has stuck for years to come.
Charles requested the following items to be mentioned, which he calls “a list of Steve’s follies”:
1. Steve brought his stove and told Charles to leave his behind. It turns out Steve didn’t bring enough
fuel, but that didn’t matter anyway, because the stove stopped working altogether!
2. Steve didn’t bring any toilet paper. None.
3. When Steve was cleaning the water purifier after the trip, he realized a gasket/seal had given out, and
that we’d basically been drinking unfiltered lake water for three days. Steve waited two weeks after the
trip was over to disclose this to Charles… to make sure we hadn’t contracted guardia.