We had a free weekend in June. Lemelo Lake was on the list of places to go and it looked like we could find a place to camp. Friday came around and away we went.
High in the North Umpqua Drainage, Lemelo is the uppermost reservoir in the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project. It also happens to offer a great view of Mt. Thielsen and surrounding peaks, and there are brown trout to be had trolling the waters as well. We arrived Friday evening and set up camp and were out on the water Saturday morning. It wasn’t too long until we had our first brown trolling rapalas.
We trolled for a while and after 8 browns and a kokanee we returned to camp so we could get out and explore the area. We found a short trail to Calamut lake not far from camp and raced ahead of the mosquitoes up to the lake. As crowded as most places in the woods seem to be nowadays it was pleasant to leave the only people behind at the lake by the trailhead and have the whole place to ourselves.
After the hike we did a bit of exploring dropping over the divide between the Umpqua and the Willamette river drainages. There are a few locations on the list of places to go in the upper Willamette and this gave us the chance to check them out for trips later in the summer or fall.
Rhododendrons were still in bloom up high along with a lot of other wildflowers. Mosquitoes were also out in full force and you are taking a big risk of being carried away if you are out of the vehicle near any nice looking lake or meadow.
After some exploring we returned to camp to watch the flora and fauna for a while.
We were back out on the lake the next morning to reel in a few more browns before packing it in and heading back home. Lemelo was definitely worth the trip. With so many things to see in the area I have a hunch we’ll be back.
