CONVICT LAKE— One is a former reserve quarterback in the NFL. The other is a certified public accountant who had an insurance company and became an investor in a fishing resort in the Eastern Sierra.

Today, Dennis Morrison, 59, a formerKansas State quarterback who played two years with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1970s, and Brian Balarsky, 55, part owner and general manager of Convict Lake Resort, are teaming with a dedicated crew to maintain a mountain lake treasure.

How did these two men with such different backgrounds land here at the most scenic lake along U.S. 395, at a historic resort that traces its roots back to the early 1900s?

Of the two, Morrison, who grew up in Pico Rivera, has the most history here.

“My family brought me here when I was 3 or 4 years old,” said Morrison, 59, a former 14th-round pick of the 49ers in 1973, a draft that included fellow quarterbacks Ron Jaworski, Dan Fouts, Joe Ferguson, Bert Jones andDon Strock. ”My mother started coming here when she was 6 or 7 years old.”

Morrison had been working as a salesman for a structural steel business, but he decided to follow his lifelong dream to live in the Eastern Sierra.

“Six years ago I was in Oklahoma and I decided to pack my car with all my clothes, fishing poles, golf clubs and drive to Bishop,” Morrison said. “I saw an ad in the paper that Convict Lake needed store help, and here I am, six years later still here.”

Balarsky, who also arrived at the lake six years ago, credits Morrison for helping bring the resort into the 21st century.

“Dennis just really helped us move ahead,” Balarsky said.

But it was Balarsky who persuaded his business partners, Al Bentley of San Diego and Joe Tomkinson of Laguna Niguel, to upgrade the resort’s cabins, improve the landscaping and add amenities such as TVs, Internet, hot tubs, steam showers and other features in some of the cabins and rental houses.

Balarsky started as an accountant for Bentley and Tomkinson and later joined them as a partner. Like Balarsky, Bentley is a San Diego State alumnus.

In 2004, Bentley and Tomkinson asked Balarsky to go to the resort and see how it could be improved.

“I said I’d hang around for 90 days, but 90 days became six years,” said Balarsky, who grew up in Los Angeles before attending SDSU.

Balarsky and Morrison say they enjoy the families who return every year to renew their connection with this magical place at the base of Mount Morrison, so named for the Benton merchant and Wells Fargo agent, Robert Morrison, who was gunned down by escaped convicts he chased here in 1871. Dennis Morrison is no relation, but the fact there’s a Morrison now working at Convict Lake somehow brings it all full circle.

“This place has so much history, so much lore,” Balarsky said. “I talked to a man last year who was in his 90s. He said he came here back before 1929 and stayed in a camp here. That’s the beauty of this place. We’ve modernized it, but you can still go into some of these cabins and sit in the exact same spot your great grandfather sat. We have that kind of tradition here. I just have been totally seduced by this place. How can you not love the blue sky, the clean, fresh mountain air, the crystal clear lake and the fact everyone here is here to enjoy the outdoors? I came from an insurance business where we dealt with problems 24/7.”

Balarsky and Morrison’s favorite clients are the ones who bring their children up for the first time.

“I know how I felt as a kid the first time I came here,” Morrison said. “If I can work it out to get a kid here for the first time, once they see Convict Lake, they’re going to come back year after year after year.”