This past week my wife and I tried one of my bucket list traverses. We'd visited parts of this ridge in the past and on paper and google earth it seemed like a reasonable adventure. Like many a trip it started with a hot slog, gaining 3000' of elevation to the first pass.
Another 45 minutes of steep off trail got us to our first night's destination.
We've been to this lake twice before and I know that it once held fish, but my expectations were low. While lounging on shore after a refreshing dip, the silence was broken by the deep 'kerploosh' of a rise and my immediate “Wah-Hooo!” After setting up the tent and a quick snack it was mandatory fishing time.
This was a quality over quantity lake which is a choice I'll gladly take. And sight fishing? Yes Please! Who can tell me what's up with this fish? It looks like a Rainbow, but the white ventral fin marks say Char to me.
Our second day was supposed to be easy. We're always slow the day after a strenuous approach, and on the map the mileage looked trivial. Morning was spent on more (successful) fishing, lounging, and exploring the lake vicinity. We left camp at the crack of noon. By the time we got going it had clouded up, and soon started raining lightly. It never got that bad, but was enough to create slippery rocks and even more slippery heather.
There is all sorts of cool rock here with fascinating detail in the weathered surfaces.
Route-finding turned out to be way trickier than expected with lots of boulder hopping and hard work trying not to slide out on the heather. We spent far too much time and energy puzzling our way past a cliffy ridge, with much elevation lost, gained, lost, and regained. By the time we found the key gulley and made our way into the next basin, we'd pretty much had enough.
It was tempting to stop at this second, unnamed lake, but opted to keep going and stay on schedule. We may come back in larch season sometime, though there are no fish here as far as I can tell. Onward; more boulders, hauling on vegetation up steep loose ground, and finally a nice little trail to the next lake. It took us five and a half difficult hours from camp to camp.
That night it rained hard, and we sat in the tent looking at maps. The next day was again supposed to be off trail, more than twice as long as what we'd just done, and potentially more difficult. We were tired, sore, and a bit discouraged; we decided to bail out while we had the chance.
Of course I did put in more mandatory fishing time and had a few takes, but no hookups. What fish were there seemed widely scattered about, and I didn't have all day to put one on the scoreboard. We packed up and headed out for what should have been a reasonable hike out, but had to contend with the worst blowdown-strewn trail I've ever seen; and as a bonus- a hot, flat, two mile road walk back to the car.
Now that I'm home and rested a bit the soreness is draining out of my quads. I've looked again at the map and google earth, and I'm already itching to get back and finish the route we'd originally planned. WDFW shows that in 2021 there were Golden Trout planted in the next lake along the ridge, and they'll be even bigger next year.
Another 45 minutes of steep off trail got us to our first night's destination.
We've been to this lake twice before and I know that it once held fish, but my expectations were low. While lounging on shore after a refreshing dip, the silence was broken by the deep 'kerploosh' of a rise and my immediate “Wah-Hooo!” After setting up the tent and a quick snack it was mandatory fishing time.
This was a quality over quantity lake which is a choice I'll gladly take. And sight fishing? Yes Please! Who can tell me what's up with this fish? It looks like a Rainbow, but the white ventral fin marks say Char to me.
Our second day was supposed to be easy. We're always slow the day after a strenuous approach, and on the map the mileage looked trivial. Morning was spent on more (successful) fishing, lounging, and exploring the lake vicinity. We left camp at the crack of noon. By the time we got going it had clouded up, and soon started raining lightly. It never got that bad, but was enough to create slippery rocks and even more slippery heather.
There is all sorts of cool rock here with fascinating detail in the weathered surfaces.
Route-finding turned out to be way trickier than expected with lots of boulder hopping and hard work trying not to slide out on the heather. We spent far too much time and energy puzzling our way past a cliffy ridge, with much elevation lost, gained, lost, and regained. By the time we found the key gulley and made our way into the next basin, we'd pretty much had enough.
It was tempting to stop at this second, unnamed lake, but opted to keep going and stay on schedule. We may come back in larch season sometime, though there are no fish here as far as I can tell. Onward; more boulders, hauling on vegetation up steep loose ground, and finally a nice little trail to the next lake. It took us five and a half difficult hours from camp to camp.
That night it rained hard, and we sat in the tent looking at maps. The next day was again supposed to be off trail, more than twice as long as what we'd just done, and potentially more difficult. We were tired, sore, and a bit discouraged; we decided to bail out while we had the chance.
Of course I did put in more mandatory fishing time and had a few takes, but no hookups. What fish were there seemed widely scattered about, and I didn't have all day to put one on the scoreboard. We packed up and headed out for what should have been a reasonable hike out, but had to contend with the worst blowdown-strewn trail I've ever seen; and as a bonus- a hot, flat, two mile road walk back to the car.
Now that I'm home and rested a bit the soreness is draining out of my quads. I've looked again at the map and google earth, and I'm already itching to get back and finish the route we'd originally planned. WDFW shows that in 2021 there were Golden Trout planted in the next lake along the ridge, and they'll be even bigger next year.
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