Outdoors with Don Q: Having fun at Lake Almanor, Calif.

Elaine and I just returned from a fun-filled trip to Lake Almanor, which is located in Northern California near the towns of Chester and Westwood.

Our trip was the result of a chance meeting with Gary and Birgitta Metz of Carson City. We met them at Duke's Steak House in the Fandango Casino, when our dinner party was there in early May to celebrate my birthday on May 08, and his dinner party was there to celebrate his birthday on May 06.

We stayed in touch with the Metz's via Emails and telephone calls, and they convinced us to visit Lake Almanor and the Lake Haven Resort where they spend May through early October of each year in their fifth-wheeler.
We drove to Almanor last Wednesday (from our cabin near Davis Lake, also in Plumas County) on a combination of S.R. 70, S.R. 89 North and S.R. 147.

At Almanor, we had reservations for a kitchen cabin at the Lake Haven Resort which consists of kitchen cabins, other cabins, boat launch, boat berths, fish cleaning station and seasonal, monthly and overnight RV sites.
Cabin No. 08 (our home for three days) is a very comfortable three room, kitchen cabin with all of the amenities you could ever want or need:

One large room contains a living area (sofa, easy chair, end table, coffee table and television set), a dining area (table and four chairs) and a fully equipped kitchen (cabinets, sink, stove and refrigerator with freezer).
The other two rooms consist of the bedroom and bathroom with shower.
Outside, there is a picnic table with benches and a gas barbecue.
Plus you also have AT&T cell phone and internet connections.
That is my kind of camping in high style: Good food, good drinks, good company, good accommodations, good scenery! It doesn't get much better!

Here is some information on Lake Almanor and the Lake Haven Resort:

Lake Almanor:
The lake has a local slogan: "The Best Kept Secret In California."
According to Wikipedia and other internet sources, Lake Almanor is a large artificial lake in northwestern Plumas County. It has 52 miles of shoreline and a maximum depth of about 80 feet.

Lake Almanor was formed in the late 1920's by Canyon Dam (130 feet tall) on the North Fork of the Feather River, as well as by Benner and Last Chance Creeks, Hamilton Branch and various natural springs.
The dam is owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and is used for hydroelectricity production, while the lake basin and surrounding area offer world class fishing in lakes and streams, family fun on skis, wakeboards, tubes and jet skis, quiet mountain adventures in camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, horseback riding, bird watching and championship golf.

Fishing:
Lake Almanor contains rainbow trout, brown trout, king salmon, catfish, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass.
According to local fishermen, fishing is good either trolling or shore fishing along the east shore and by the dam. Another good location is near the boat jetties by the U.S. Forest Service boat ramp on the west shore. More areas to try include near the powerhouse and Hamilton Branch.
The afternoon we arrived at Almanor, the lake looked like a scene from the television series "The Deadliest Catch," with high winds and huge waves.

The next day, we left the Lake Haven Resort dock at 7:00 a.m. to troll with Gary Metz in his 22-foot Bayliner fishing boat.

We were originally scheduled to go five miles across the lake to fish along the other shoreline, but breezy conditions resulted in us trolling along the east shore near the resort.

Fishing was slow (Elaine caught and released a small rainbow trout and I lost a very respectful brown trout, right at the back of the boat when it jumped into the air and snapped my 6-pound test leader).
However, the camaraderie, visiting with one another, awesome scenery and warm weather more than made up for the lack of success.

The next day, we left the dock at 7:01 a.m. (it was very breezy)and quickly returned at 7:20 a.m. due to white caps and rapidly deteriorating wind conditions out on the water.
We all agreed that it was better to be safe than sorry, and we could always return another day to fish from a boat.
As a matter of interest, Gary usually fishes, all by himself, about 4-5 out of every 7 days, and those fish that he catches and keeps, he smokes in his smoker back at the fifth-wheeler.

Lake Haven Resort:
The owners are David and Judy Finkbeiner, who have two children Amelia, age 7, and Josh, age 5.
The Finkbeiners have owned the resort since 2008, and prior to that time David and his Mother acquired the resort in 2002.
The resort is open each year from May 01 through Oct. 15, and during their annual off seasons, David is a contractor and Judy is a full time Mom.
At the resort there are 6 cabins with kitchens, 2 cabins without kitchens and 26 RV sites with full hookups and cable TV.
Some of the RV sites can accommodate RVs up to 44 feet in length.
The cabins without kitchens rent for $110 per day, the kitchen cabins are $135 per day and the RV sites are $60 daily or $350 for the week.
There is Wi-Fi available at the resort office, and we had internet connection through our AT&T I-Phones.
The resort does not have laundry facilities, showers and rental boats.
There are rental boats available at two other locations on the lake.
The nearest grocery store and deli is three miles away on the Peninsula and the nearest gas station is 8 miles away in the Town of Westwood.

Finally:
The Lake Haven Resort is at 7329 Highway 147, Lake Almanor 96137.
For information, you can call the resort at (530) 596-3249 or on their cell phone at (530) 258-6521 or email them at info@lakehavenresort.com or go to website www.lakehavenresort.com.
Give them a visit, you will be pleasantly surprised. I guarantee it!

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you what special thing we enjoyed the most at Lake Almanor.
If he grins and says, "Don and Elaine enjoyed visiting with Judy (David was out of town) and the Metzs" he could be someone who we told about our first-time, overnight stay at Lake Almanor.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com