Fire Kindles Desire to Rebuild Sierra Lodge

For the Huffmans, a new season in a new home began with such promise.

They had sold everything last fall--their house in Riverside, their cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains--and left the city for a new and simple life in what Kathy Huffman calls “God’s country.”

And anyone who had ever stayed at rustic Glacier Lodge near Big Pine in the Eastern Sierra knows exactly what Huffman means, what with the snowy slopes in the distance, pines surrounding the place and a rippling creek flowing through the yard and meandering down the mountain.

“There’s no traffic noise; all you hear are the birds and the squirrels and the chipmunks,” Huffman said Thursday morning. “We put everything we had into this place, along with blood, sweat . . .”

And tears.

Apparently, they are still the order of the day for not only the Huffmans and the Jordans--their son and daughter-in-law with whom they bought the lodge last October--but for many in the close-knit Big Pine community of 1,500.

They are mourning the loss of Glacier Lodge, often called the Jewel of the Sierra and once the vacation getaway of such stars as John Wayne and Rita Hayworth. The lodge burned to the ground Tuesday evening.

The fire started in the kitchen about 5 p.m. and quickly engulfed the seven-room lodge, restaurant and general store. The 10 cabins adjacent to the main structure are still standing, but their source of electricity was cut off by the blaze, which destroyed the generator.

“My daughter-in-law, Jody, was the first to notice the smoke and we all jumped up and ran,” Kathy Huffman said, guessing that a faulty water heater was the source of the fire. “We got out with just the clothes on our backs. We had no guests at the time, and it happened early enough so we were not sleeping, so I guess we’re lucky in that respect.”

Indeed, even the family dog survived. The only casualty was young Aaron Jordan’s pet boa constrictor.

Lost in the fire, however, were all the family belongings and a reservation book that was full beginning May 15.

“I have no idea who even had reservations anymore,” Kathy Huffman said, asking that anyone with reservations can call her at Big Pine Resort Cottages, where the family is staying, at (760) 938-2922.

As for the future of Glacier Lodge, the Huffmans vow to get the place up and running again as soon as possible, and the community south of Bishop alongside U.S. 395 already has begun to help.

“We held a meeting [Wednesday night] at the town hall and 30 people showed up and donated $675,” said Joann Lutito, a clerk at the Big Pine Chamber of Commerce. “And two trailers are being donated, which they can live in and run the cabins from until they get the lodge back up.”

Built in 1917, the lodge was destroyed by fire in 1967 and promptly rebuilt. It burned down again later that year after an avalanche struck, causing an explosion. It was rebuilt in 1969 and has stood nestled amid the pines, offering a scenic retreat for fishermen and other tourists ever since.

Until Tuesday night, that is.

“The people here are really helping us get through this,” Kathy Huffman said, her voice cracking slightly. “They are doing beyond what we could ever have expected and everybody seems ready to help us rebuild.”

PACK IT OUT

I spent much of Monday hiking along Piru Creek beneath Pyramid Lake and was astonished at how green and lush the steep canyon had become since my previous visit before the rains.

There was no one in sight, songbirds were singing, the creek was flowing briskly and the trout were even biting. One couldn’t ask for a better morning. Or so I thought until I stumbled on one of many piles of garbage left behind by weekend visitors.

In one pile there were six-pack cartons and empty beer bottles, wedges of squeezed lime, and dirty diapers and socks surrounding a makeshift campfire. In another were fast-food containers, more beer bottles, a baby-food jar and a large empty day-tent box. In yet another was more of the same.

The good news was, the farther I hiked upstream the less litter there was, which was not surprising because anyone with this much cargo would be less apt (and probably too lazy) to hike to the more remote sections of the stream.

Still, it’s mind-boggling that anyone who would want to visit such a scenic area in the first place would trash it so, spoiling it for others.

While pondering this, I thought about the National Forest Adventure Pass that cost me $5 for the right to hike the creek, which meanders 14 miles through the Los Padres National Forest from Pyramid Lake to Lake Piru.

The daily pass--part of a pilot program initiated a year ago to help fund a financially strapped federal agency--is required of anyone visiting the Los Padres, Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino national forests and failure to buy one can result in a $100 fine.

On the back it says that “at least 80% of the fees collected will be used to improve your visitor experience through maintenance and repair of facilities and protection and restoration of the forest.”

This apparently does not include any serious effort to discourage litterbugs, whose inconsiderate actions seriously degrade what might otherwise be a great experience.

HOT BITES

* Costa Rica: El Nino was supposed to have spoiled the fishing off the Pacific coast of this Central American country this winter, spring and summer, and dire predictions knocked the crowds down some, but instead the bite has been phenomenal since January, “and it’s still continuing,” said Jerry Rhulow, editor of Costa Rica Outdoors magazine and travel company. “In spite of El Nino, the bite’s incredible and we’re looking for a record year that’ll probably last well into August.”

A group of tourists from Michigan recently raised 187 sailfish and six marlin in only four days off the Playa Carillo area. In a 28-day period, Rhulow’s son, Rick, raised 291 sailfish, hooking and releasing 99 for clients aboard Kingfisher. They also caught and released 11 blue marlin and two black marlin, six striped marlin and an assortment of dorado, tuna and wahoo. Costa Rica Outdoors can be reached at (800) 308-3394.

* Cabo San Lucas/East Cape: The presence of swordfish, while exciting, means there are large areas of green water, which is scattering the striped marlin. Still, where there is blue water there are plenty of marlin. Victor Gutierrez of Victor’s Fleet in San Jose del Cabo reports an unseasonal showing of wahoo, with boats returning with one to four per day.

Inshore, Grant Hartman of BajaAnglers reports an increase in roosterfish activity, which his customers have been targeting with fair success using poppers. BajaAnglers, specializing in fly-fishing, can be reached at (888) 588-3446.

* Locally, the barracuda bite is finally showing signs of breaking wide open immediately off the Los Angeles and Orange County coast, which would give half-day boat anglers something other than sand bass to pull on. The Southern Cal out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach had 60 barracuda on board by 1 p.m. Thursday.

KILLER CROC

A fisherman in Costa Rica was attacked and eaten last week by a giant crocodile that struck after the fisherman dived into a river on the Pacific coast to free a snagged fishing line.

Carlos Salas of the Costa Rican Red Cross told Reuters news agency that friends of Denis Chacon, 24, were helpless to stop the savage assault by a crocodile estimated to be 18 feet long.

“People tried to help him, but every time they got close the crocodile went mad and they had to run for their lives,” Salas said.

A year ago, a tourist from Israel was killed by a crocodile on the Caribbean coast after swimming in a lagoon despite warnings from locals about the beast residing in the lagoon.

“They kept telling him, ‘Don’t go, don’t go,’ but he went swimming anyway and it got him killed,” said Rhulow of Costa Rica Outdoors. “I know the hunter who went out and killed [the crocodile].”

Rhulow, 65, a resident of Costa Rica for 15 years, added that crocodile attacks on humans are rare but said the reptiles are territorial and will strike anything invading their territory.

This sent a chill through my spine. During a nighttime fishing trip two years ago on a narrow tributary of the San Juan River, which borders Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I was asked by the pilot of a small skiff to jump overboard and push after he had inadvertently run the boat onto a sand bar.

I stood waist-deep in the river trying to shove the boat into deeper water, thinking how eerie things were at night in the Nicaraguan jungle, while he shone a flashlight on the bank.

I then followed the beam of light directly into the glowing red eyes of a large crocodile that was only 20 feet away and I immediately leaped back into the boat, landing with such force that it pushed free of the sand bar. The skipper laughed all the way back to the mother ship in the San Juan.

Had I known what I now know about crocodile behavior, I’m pretty sure I would have told him to shove it--the boat, that is--while I held the flashlight.

UPCOMING . . .

* Irvine Lake in Silverado near Orange is hosting its second Boating Demo Days on May 15-17, offering the public a chance to test-drive various boats and personal watercraft. Other activities include kayaking, mountain biking, outdoor cooking and climbing. Admission is $6 for adults and free for children 12 and under.

* Volunteers are needed for the annual Junior Disabled Learn to Fish Program, sponsored by the Easter Seals of Southern California and Corona Recreational Inc., May 15 from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at Santa Ana River Lakes in Anaheim. About 400 developmentally disabled children are expected to be on hand. Details: (714) 834-1111.