Deep Creek via Hooks Creek Rd.

 
 
 
 

Getting There: Get to Lake Arrowhead and then head toward Cedar Glen. When you get to the gas station at Cedar Glen, turn right onto Hooks Creek Rd. Continue to follow this road until it dead end's into Splinter's Cabin Trailhead. Part of the road is dirt, but 4x4 isn't required.
Minus the poor fishing, this hike was amazing. The hike follows a section of the Pacific Crest Trail and offers magnificent views of the creek from above. Heading downstream, the trail is ever so slightly downhill, and easy on the way back. This area appeared to have recently been burned (i think it's been about 5 years as of this post, but that's a guess) therefore, there is very little shade. I don't envision there would have been much more shade anyway because the ecosystem is pretty desert oriented, with the occasional oak, but mostly scrub oak and high elevation drought tolerant plants. I would estimate that we only hiked 2 miles from the trailhead. The one problem I saw with trying to fish on this hike was that the trail was high above the creek, so access was a bit limited, as we only crossed 3 footpaths leading down to the creek on our hike.

I managed to get an aeriel view of Aztec Falls, said to be the best swimming hole in CA. It looked like you could have jumped, but with the water being high, it was hard to see the bottom, in case a new boulder has been submerged by the storms/runoff this season. Also, the water temp was in the mid 50's, so even though it was a warm day (about 75), I would probably want to wait until later in the season.

Fishing: Mike and I did not catch any trout, nor did we get any bites. The creek was appeared to be flowing very high, but being that this was my first visit to the area, I can neither confirm nor deny that statement. I used a super duper, panther martin rooster tail, and the tried and true bubble fly method (my prefered method). This creek is filled with great runs and a number of slow moving pools. The water had a brown tinge, but was still quite clear (if that makes sense). Mike was fishing with artificial worms. This area is a wild trout stream, so you are only allowed to use lures with barbless hooks. No bait fishing at all. The limit is 2 fish and they must be at least 8 inches long. This is definitely somewhere I will return to fish.

Jed: He did very well on this hike, except I have determined that dog's and fishing don't mix. He gets very instinctual when I fish, and wants to chase my lures, or any animals that might be nearby. He would clearly make a great bird dog, but not so much when it comes to fishing. I think I will leave him home on fishing trips from now on. There were a courting pair of mallard ducks that he kept harrassing, but I have to admit it was pretty funny. The ducks kept coming up to us thinking we would feed them (of course we wouldn't, this is one of my biggest pet peeves when people feed wild animals) and Jed would chase them back in the water and swim after them until they were far enough away to satisy him.