Blayney Meadows on the South Fork San Joaquin, John Muir Wilderness

Usually by August the larger brown trout move up into the South Fork San Joaquin above Florence Lake, but this time if they were there I wasn't able to get them to take a fly. I caught three trout up to twelve inches and had a few more rises. Without the big trout I had more time to paint this view of the meadow where I camped. The next morning I made the quick hike out and caught the Sierra Queen boat down Florence Lake to civilization.

 I was lucky to get up to the South Fork twice in the short summer of 1998. The river was high all year with snow remaining high above, making the crossing over to the hot spring difficult. For the second year I saw a bear, one that never bothered my camp. This view was during the alpenglow in a late evening after a long hike fishing upstream.