Pleasant Valley Lake — Wednesday, Jul. 18, 2018

I've had an interesting relationship with the South Lake having stocked it now for the last 10 years.  It's down to about an acre in size, but has a nice little inflow creek and despite being maybe 8 feet deep in a couple of spots, there were around 20 plus survivors from the previous plant, and they're almost impossible to catch in these conditions.  My hiking partner C and R'ed one healthy fish and that was it.  Unique spot a difficult half mile off trail, one decent camp site.  We like to walk the Pleasant Loop Trail from the Goat Peak Trailhead which is 2.75 miles to the intersection with the Pleasant Valley Lakes Trail simply because we like the walk along the languid American River and prefer not to make the river crossing-trail comes across from the road from the Crow Lake Way TH.  From the there the trail slogs up hill for a mile and a half, passing North Pleasant Valley Lake which has a self sustaining cutthroat population, fish are generally pretty small and is visited far more often.  At about elevation 4390, cut cross country to the South Lake using a variety of elk runs downhill into the lake-no obvious trail goes to it.  Mosquitoes were tolerable, sprayed down once leaving the pickup but were good for the day.  No sign of anyone having been there this year although it appeared someone had boned out an elk they had killed during last hunting season in an old camp site on the east end of the like.  Go in exactly 11 miles-included a side trip to the North Lake.