9.9.11-9.11.11: causey reservoir part 1...

have you ever seen salmon spawn?  i hadn't until this past weekend at causey reservoir, aka causey dam or causey.  it was amazing!

Emma chillin' in the boat.  Such a good girl!

after i got off work last friday, rachel, her two boys, jalen (10) and justin (7), their dog, emma, and i headed out to the causey to go camping for the weekend.  we were running kinda late, aka filipino time, thai time, whatever you wanna call it.  haha.  we were supposed to meet up with our friend, miah (jeremiah), at the causey parking area at around 530pm so he could pick us up to boat back to the campsite.  miah, and his, friend daniel, had headed out there earlier in the day to reserve a spot.  camping at causey isn't like some of the other campgrounds, where you have to reserve a spot and pay for it.  it's pretty much a first come, first serve basis.  and it's free!  =)  and there's no phone service in the dam, which means no way of hittin' up miah to let him know we were runnin' kinda late.  oops!  well, it was almost 630pm and we were about 5 mins from the dam.  there's this turn off the highway with a lil corner store and just as we turned, i see someone waving at us in the parking lot of the store.  oh snap!  it's miah.  wha da hare is he doing all the way out here?!  this guy had walked about 2 miles from the dam to the store cuz he was so worried about us.  sweet, yeah!  but hey, if you know rachel, there really ain't nothin' to worry about.  he shoulda known cuz that girl is notorious for runnin' on thai time.  ;-)  haha.  and hey, i'm filipino so it's pretty normal for me.  =P  the whole way to the parking lot, they're bickering and whatnot, it was funny!  oh, rachel was also getting irritated/ worried cuz one of our other friends, brian, was supposed to meet up with us and she was trying to give him directions to the place.  but darn, no phone service!  how were we supposed to give him directions?!  so, when we got to the parking lot, we unloaded the car and rachel drove back up to this other turn in the road to leave a sign for brian.  at this point in the evening, it's starting to get dark and we were thinking, "dang, is he gonna make it out here?"  kinda sketchy so who knows...  well, miah, jalen, justin and i loaded the boat and when rachel got back, we headed out to the site, which is located on the northeast side of the dam.  we had gone there earlier this summer to hang out and fish, but i don't remember seeing the campsite.

the boat ride is about a 30-40 minutes going about 8 miles an hour.  miah has a motor on the boat so it took us a bit faster than normal cuz he punched it a few times.  =)  the ride through the dam is gorgeous.  there are mountains with different trees, bushes, clearings and whatnot on each side as well as rock formations of all shapes and sizes along the side of the dam, where people cliff jump/dive.  it's such beautiful area.  when we had gone there before, the water was about 10 feet higher.  we could tell by the color change in the rocks along the sides of the dam.  that was a pretty site to see as well.  wish i had photos...

anyways, as we were coming up to the area of the campsite, we passed some people on canoes.  it looked like they were trying to scoop up the same spot cuz they had a bunch of gear with them.  apparently, a good amount of people tried to hit up the spot to reserve it that day.  it's quite a popular camping spot and has been there for years and years.  thanks, miah and daniel for heading out there early to reserve it!

wish i had an actually camera so i coulda taken better
pix but guess there's always next year.  =)
- taken 9.10.11

when we pulled up to the spot we had fished  at before, the water had dropped so low, we had to park the boat out further.  but the site was pretty close cuz miah had called out for daniel, who minutes later showed up to help us unload the boat.  to get to the campsite, we had to walk through parts of the stream.  the water wasn't so bad, it was bearable.  plus, it was so clear, we could see the rocks at the bottom.  so pretty!  justin kinda had a difficult time cuz the stream was rushing a bit fast for him so rachel had to piggy back him across one part of the stream.  as we walked along the embankment and looked into the stream, we could see dozens of salmon spawning in the water, that's how clear the stream was.  it was so cool!!!  and when the salmon spawn, their bodies turn a bright red or reddish orange color;  only their faces stay brown.  it was such an incredible sight, we were in awe.  we stopped for a lil bit to take in the beauty of it.  it's the first time we had seen salmon spawning.  actually, i had never seen any type of fish spawn so i had to take in the moment.  =)  

the trail to the site is is between the rock
wall and the trees

as we continued further upstream, we reached a trail in between the stream and some trees and this large rock wall about 50 feet high.  right when we walked out of the trail, we reached the sweetest campsite i'd ever stayed at.  there was a fire burning with a huge black section, which covered the rock wall above it all the way to the top.  it was really cool, i had never seen anything like it.  apparently, the fire pit was built years and years ago and the rock had turned black from all the smoke from the fires.  people had tried to build a couple more fire pits in the campsite but those didn't look very successful.  there was a lot of room.  we had pitched up four tents, set up a table and some chairs and there was still room for about one or two more small tents.  the trees shaded most of the site.  when we walked to the other side of the site, it led us back to the stream.  there was a huge rock and a log which you could walk across to get to the other side of the stream.  i guess people camp out there as well but it'd be kinda difficult  to take lug all the gear there since the embankment is about 8 feet off the ground.  to get there, you had to either walk across the log or walk across the river then climb up the side. uh, no thanks.  haha.  in the stream, we witnessed several dozen more salmon spawning.  uh-mazing!!!  all i wanted to do was stand there and watch them.  although, they didn't move too much; they kinda just swam in one spot, marked their territory and waited for the right mate.  quite a lotta of waiting!  lol.  sadly, when they do find the right mate and "procreate", they turn white and life is over for them.  we saw a few of the salmon starting to turn white, but we didn't see any of them actually mate.  that woulda been awesome!  

we set up shop, got all situated, played with our awesome headlamps and whatnot.  and throughout the night, we were thinking about brian, saying things like, "oh, he's probably not coming anymore.  it's dark already." and "he probably didn't even attempt to come out here." and "he probably got lost and turned around."  no faith!  hahaha.  it was about 930pm or so and it was already dark.  i believe we were just chillin' by the fire, chitchattin' and listenin' to music.  and miah goes, "i think that's brian.  i see a light."  and i looked over towards the trail and i saw the light through the trees, too.  so, miah and rachel walked through the trail and who ends up walking back with them?  brian!  we were all laughing and hella surprised and excited he was there.  hella gangster!  he made it!  IN THE DARK!  he even told us he didn't leave his place until it was already dark and found the place just fine.  supposedly.  hehe.  but dang, he made it!  it was awesome.  for dinner, this guy brought steak, mashed potatoes and canned corn.  it was pretty delish.  thanks, brian!  hahaha.  then, we all ended up drankin' (well, minus the kiddies and emma, of course.), listenin' to music, sittin' by the fire and having a great night!  oh, and daniel started bustin' some rhymes.  rachel got that bad boy on recording.  i'll try to get it from her and post it.  hehehe...  

btw, smoke follows beauty!  =)))

to be continued...