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Approximate mileage: 20 miles
We parked the truck at the Hunting Hollow Entrance as we were warned not to park at Coyote Creek entrance due to vandilsim. After you get throught the poison oak riddled forrest on Anza trail, the next several miles of this trip are pretty much uphill on Jackson Trail. We stoped for a snack at the Elderberry spring and took the more level Elderberry trail towards Coit Road. Once you get up on Coit Road it's mostly smooth sailing in terms of elevation gain. Coit Road is a long descent down to Kelly Lake. We ate lunch at Kelly lake, we didn't try for fish at Kelly. The road from Kelly to Coit lake seems longer than it looks and is fairly steep. Coit lake is large, although it has so many Tules there are only about a dozen places to hit the water from with a fishing line. But, there are so many fish in this lake that if you lure is in the water, you'll catch them. The fish hit everything we threw at them, even our bobbers. The bass in this lake are small, maybe 12" at best. There seems to be a strong population of large, black crappies though. These crappies have the shape of frisbees, larger than the bass weighing in at a couple of pounds. These guys really put up a fight and were caught on just about anything as well, even 4" bass baits. We also got paid a visit from the DFG, so be sure to bring your fishing liscence. This trip my pack weighted much less, I had replaced my 8 lb tent with a 16 Oz bivy sack and the shit-bag self-inflating matt was now just one of those blue foam pads. We camped on the north side of the lake, down below the damn in a flat spot. The nights were still long, the chorras frogs singing loudly. My sleeping matt was not suffiecent to keep the hard ground from disrupting my sleep. We saw a few groups of bikers passing through, one other camping group but not many fisher people. In the mornings, I found California Newts all over the place. The trip back to the truck seemed fast and we were surprised of how much altitiude we had gained on the way in. When we got to the Coyote Creek entrance my pack got heavy and my feet sore with two long miles up the road to the truck. It seems how ever long you go, the last stretch is exponentially harder.
Some things I learned from this trip:
Last updated: 03/27/05
