Opening day at Blue Lake interesting, fun

MOSES LAKE - This is the first of a two-part series about camping along Blue Lake during the opening days of the lowland-lakes fishing season.

Traveling to Blue Lake on the opening day of fishing season is always a fun and interesting experience. My wife, Garnet, and I, along with Brenda Starr, our 3-pound, 4-ounce Chihuahua, make the annual trek as a daytrip to the lake to watch anglers catch limits of feisty rainbow trout.

Recreational vehicles line the west side of the lake along Highway 17. These vehicles are bumper to bumper in most places and sometimes two, three or four deep.

At times the situation seems unsafe, as empty cattle trucks, passenger vehicles, trucks hauling hay and Harleys traveling 60 miles per hour pass by within a few feet of the parked RVs. Fortunately there are few if any accidents and I'm thankful. But it amazes me there aren't several incidents each year.

The speed limit is 60 mph, but we always slow down in case a dog or person standing just off the road should suddenly turn and take a few steps onto the road.

Families travel from hometowns throughout the state to join family and friends along Highway 17. The groupings become a village, with those who were strangers a few days ago becoming friends in fast order.

People who doubt fishing is an important source of Grant County tourism should drive past the lake on the opening-day weekend, observe the out-of-area license plates and think about the amount of money each person at the lake is leaving in Grant County.

A few weeks ago Garnet surprised me with an unexpected statement.

"Let's take the new trailer to Blue Lake for the opener," she said.

Well, I about spit out my buffalo burger. Never has she expressed an inclination to join the multitudes. Still I was game for such an adventure. We conducted research by driving to Blue Lake and stopping in likely camping spots.

Several caught our fancy, with our most favorites being a good distance off of the Highway, having a level spot to support our travel trailer and being close to the edge of Blue Lake. We also invited friends Kris and Bob Chudomelka to join us.

On the Monday before the Saturday opener, Garnet and I again drove to the lake and found a motor home parked in our number one preferred spot. It had a chair in front of the RV and a boat on a trailer a few feet behind. The chair and boat were obviously in place to reserve a spot for other friends and family.

We readjusted our preferred list, bumping what was our second choice up to the number one position, and headed back to Moses Lake.

Our caravan of two travel trailers, the Chudomelka's 23-foot Wildwood and our 26-foot Hideout were on the road at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. North on Stratford Road, left on Road 20, past Adrian and into Soap Lake we traveled. Then we drove north on Highway 17, past Lake Lenore and the Resort at the south end of Blue Lake.

A camping trailer was at the spot, which was now our first choice. However, there was still plenty of room for both our trailers, plus the one already parked. We were about 20 yards from the edge of the highway.

Bob parked his rig parallel to the lake edge. I placed our tail end toward the water, with the picture window facing the lake. In no time we were conducting setup procedures, which were soon completed. The Hideout, which is made in Pendleton, OR, is designed with western campers in mind. The entire rig sits higher than most campers. The bumper is 16 inches off the ground and the side of the trailer 21 inches high. This fact played a roll in placing it in a perpendicular position to the lake.

Before we left Moses Lake I asked Bob why his trailer has wheels under the bumper?

"You'll need them going over curbs and on uneven ground," he said. "Your trailer sits higher, so you won't have such a problem. Still you might want to consider attaching them."

To get into position, I needed to back the trailer down one slope and up another slope. Even with the extended height, the trailer bumper came within three inches of the ground.

Next week: Kris and Bob limit on Blue Lake