Backpacking Palisades

So I've decided already to give up on my previous goal of an artist a day; I decided it would distract from writing about stuff that may actually matter. Like what happened in the past few days.

Backpacking to Upper Palisades Lake and Waterfall Canyon
My girlfriend Bailey and I hiked into the upper lake (6.6 miles) and set camp. The path up wound along a creek (it was really high with snow melt) and past lower lake (much smaller than upper) After setting camp, we attempted fishing. I haven't fished since I used to with my father when I was little. Our amateur fishing attempts failed the first night and we went to bed disappointed. The second day, we swam in the lake for a bit. It was really cold. We got onto a large log on the shore and pushed it into the lake. I was hoping it would float to the middle of the lake with us on it, but it ended up against the shore again; it was still an exciting adventure though. That afternoon, we attempted a day hike into Waterfall Canyon. Despite having a topographical map, we missed the turnoff to Waterfall Canyon because we were distracted by a group of canvas tents apparently belonging to elk hunters. Realizing we were on the wrong trail, we free hiked to the top of a mountain and were able to see the canyon we should have been in. By that time, thunderclouds were moving in and we hoofed it back to camp.
That night, I fished again. I covered the hook completely with salmon eggs this time and caught a fish very quickly. I laid that one on a log and cast again, hooking another fish on my first cast, but it got away. Then Bailey caught one, too, after hooking one that got away. It was a very lucrative evening of fishing and we had two eight-inch fish for dinner. Cooking them proved difficult, but they turned out fine.
The hike out in the morning was difficult. Bailey and I were sore and the 6.6 miles seemed twice as long; it didn't help that it was raining pretty hard for the last mile and a half. All in all, Upper Palisades Lake is a gorgeous area. I wish we could have found Waterfall Canyon; we found the turnoff later, but by then we were worn out and too tired. Maybe I'll go back there another year and find Waterfall Canyon then.