Sequoia and the Kern River

Anyone who knows us knows that we love fishing. To say that Diana is obsessive about her fishing is an understatement. In mid June, we traveled to the Kern River for some fly fishing. We stayed at the Durwood Lodge in Sequoia.

The lodge is owned by Ralph and Diana and was previously owned by Claire Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s cousin. She lived there for 50 years and passed away at the age of 102.

We stayed in the one large cabin furnished with 1920’s appliances (yes, they still work) and the lodge is situated in the pines fronting on the South Fork of the Kern River

We took some photographs of our host Ralph with his son Cody. Next to our cabin was a “pool hall” and bar. Take a look at the photos.

It was warm, but the fishing was pretty good. (See the insert of Diana and one of her very large trout).

I fly fished while Diana used her spinning outfit with rooster tails. Our first day’s expedition I did not expect much and while we made our way to the river, I left our net in the car. Diana let her lure float to the bottom and she immediately latched into a huge trout.

Now for those of you who do not river fish, 10 inches is a pretty average trout. Diana pulled this monster rainbow to the shoreline. It was at least 24 inches. I reached down to grab it (no net mind you) and he snapped the line. Diana immediately dove in for him…clothes and all. Sadly, he slipped away.

But, as you can see, she redeemed herself and caught 2 more of these monster rainbows. The smallest was 24 inches and weighed in at 8 pounds. We broiled it over an open campfire and ate the whole thing!

By the way, all of the photographs were taken with our Fujifilm X100's. Pretty awesome travel camera which we will be using in Ireland and France.
My point to this story is that Diana and I find fun things to do even it isn’t Europe. I mean LOOK AT THAT FISH!