A buddy and I have been planning on doing this trip for about 4-5 years, maybe longer. It's the one and only place in Washington that has grayling, and we both enjoy a little backcountry time, so it was a good fit for what we like out of a trip. We tried it a few years back, but the major stream crossing was too high so we bailed and said we'd come back again in the next year or two. This last weekend it was time.
The hike starts as an old logging grade for the first mile(ish). Nothing too special. Then you get to the first stream crossing. The crossing is about waist deep, and its a very steep gradient stream which was running pretty high. From there, you've got about 6 miles (roughly 4k feet of vertical gain), which is almost all bushwacking up an old overgrown logging grade - brutal. There were patches where there'd be 50-75 yards of somewhat open area to walk through, and you'd think "hey, this is nice".... But then there were long stretches of getting your ankles and face destroyed by thick underbrush, branches, sticks and fallen logs. Not to mention the mosquitoes were out in full force.
It wasn't all ugly though. After you get off the old logging grade, you get to the first lake. The first lake is a small gin clear lake that is full of small cutthroat. There's a camp site at this lake, so if you wanted to break the trip into two legs, this would be a decent spot to setup camp.
From that first lake, the hike opens up into old growth. You're done with the heavy bushwacking. The route from the first lake shoots up about 650 feet in about 700 yards scrambling on a boulder field. It was steep, but it was fun - all old growth and just breath taking scenery.
Once we finished bouldering up the slope, we hit the summit. From there it was a nice walk down through old growth with frogs and snakes and woodpeckers and all other sorts of wildlife that made the walk down to the camp by the lake enjoyable.
All in all, it took us just over ten hours to go 8.2 miles, up 5000 vertical feet to get from the truck up to our camp for the next couple days. We don't hike fast, but that was slow for us.
I brought the packraft because it was a decent size lake, and I wanted the ability to move around on the lake and not be limited by lack of back casting room along the shore. While it did add some weight, I was glad I brought it. It got us access out to the drop off by the inlet, and there was another really nice bay not to far away from our camp that we were able to access w/ the pack raft that we wouldn't have been able to fish very well had we opted not to bring the raft. So even though it added about 7 pounds, it was worth it (IMHO).
We got unpacked, got the packraft inflated and started by fishing the drop off along the inlet w/ a olive BH soft hackle. Was just using it as a searching pattern as I wanted to 'check the box' of catching a grayling and didn't care too much about how it happened, just wanted to get one to hand. Didn't take long before the first grayling was hooked.
Caught several more the first afternoon, we were mostly just sight fishing along the drop off. The water was so clear (I'd guess I could see 30-40 feet deep) that with the sun out, the fish cruising along the drop off were easily spotted. A cast out in front of their general direction of travel would typically lead to a fish on. It was a freaking hoot.
After catching a handful of grayling and cutts, we set up camp and relaxed and did some searching around camp - found a really cool back bay with a channel moving through it that was full from all the water coming from the inlet. There was quite a few fish that were in the channel. We sat for a while, sipping on whiskey watching the fish eat and do what they do.
(yes, those are all fish swimming back and forth in the channel).
After that we headed back to camp and rested up. The mosquitoes were out in full force, but it wasn't so bad that I ever really got annoyed with them. They were just always around and on you.
The next day we tried a little bit of everything, dries, streamers, chironomids, etc. It all worked. Everything worked. It was sight fishing heaven.
This fish moved about 15 feet to take the black ant.
Thought the bobber community needed to represent, so spent some time with the bobber on.
Got into the streamer game. Had some fish move a really long way to hit the streamers.
The water was so clear it was almost distracting. You could see 100% of the take and the fight, which was really cool. This fish hit at the drop off where it goes from about 10 feet down to 40 feet (quickly).
Spent some time stripping nymphs along the drop off.
We even got into a few that were in a little bigger size class.
The fish really weren't very particular about what they were eating. As long as you got the fly in front of them without spooking them, you had a pretty good chance at catching one. With the exception of the chironomids, it was 100% sight fishing in crystal clear water. The fish would spook if the cast was sloppy, but if your cast was good you'd probably get a look from the fish. We fished on and off for the day, along with some general exploration of the lake in the raft, some swimming and exploring around the camp. Wind picked up a bit in the late afternoon, which was a nice short reprieve from the mosquitoes. Went back out in the raft and caught a few more that evening. Had a fantastic meal, drank some whiskey by the fire and hit the sack, overall it was a pretty epic day.
Next day we got up, ate some breakfast and packed up for the long hike home. It ended up going a lot better on the way back down because we had flagged our trail on the way up, so it was quite a bit quicker getting back out. Even the long stretch of bushwacking didn't suck as bad on the way down.
All in all, while it was a fantastic trip. While the hike up had long stretches that wasn't that great, there were portions of it that were fantastic. The view from camp was pretty slick (below), and the fishing was fantastic. The fishing was so good it got to the point where I felt like I'd had enough and was completely content going home (which is rare for me). Was a bit of a bucket list trip for me and my buddy, so we're both stoked we got 'er done.
The hike starts as an old logging grade for the first mile(ish). Nothing too special. Then you get to the first stream crossing. The crossing is about waist deep, and its a very steep gradient stream which was running pretty high. From there, you've got about 6 miles (roughly 4k feet of vertical gain), which is almost all bushwacking up an old overgrown logging grade - brutal. There were patches where there'd be 50-75 yards of somewhat open area to walk through, and you'd think "hey, this is nice".... But then there were long stretches of getting your ankles and face destroyed by thick underbrush, branches, sticks and fallen logs. Not to mention the mosquitoes were out in full force.
It wasn't all ugly though. After you get off the old logging grade, you get to the first lake. The first lake is a small gin clear lake that is full of small cutthroat. There's a camp site at this lake, so if you wanted to break the trip into two legs, this would be a decent spot to setup camp.
From that first lake, the hike opens up into old growth. You're done with the heavy bushwacking. The route from the first lake shoots up about 650 feet in about 700 yards scrambling on a boulder field. It was steep, but it was fun - all old growth and just breath taking scenery.
Once we finished bouldering up the slope, we hit the summit. From there it was a nice walk down through old growth with frogs and snakes and woodpeckers and all other sorts of wildlife that made the walk down to the camp by the lake enjoyable.
All in all, it took us just over ten hours to go 8.2 miles, up 5000 vertical feet to get from the truck up to our camp for the next couple days. We don't hike fast, but that was slow for us.
I brought the packraft because it was a decent size lake, and I wanted the ability to move around on the lake and not be limited by lack of back casting room along the shore. While it did add some weight, I was glad I brought it. It got us access out to the drop off by the inlet, and there was another really nice bay not to far away from our camp that we were able to access w/ the pack raft that we wouldn't have been able to fish very well had we opted not to bring the raft. So even though it added about 7 pounds, it was worth it (IMHO).
We got unpacked, got the packraft inflated and started by fishing the drop off along the inlet w/ a olive BH soft hackle. Was just using it as a searching pattern as I wanted to 'check the box' of catching a grayling and didn't care too much about how it happened, just wanted to get one to hand. Didn't take long before the first grayling was hooked.
Caught several more the first afternoon, we were mostly just sight fishing along the drop off. The water was so clear (I'd guess I could see 30-40 feet deep) that with the sun out, the fish cruising along the drop off were easily spotted. A cast out in front of their general direction of travel would typically lead to a fish on. It was a freaking hoot.
After catching a handful of grayling and cutts, we set up camp and relaxed and did some searching around camp - found a really cool back bay with a channel moving through it that was full from all the water coming from the inlet. There was quite a few fish that were in the channel. We sat for a while, sipping on whiskey watching the fish eat and do what they do.
(yes, those are all fish swimming back and forth in the channel).
After that we headed back to camp and rested up. The mosquitoes were out in full force, but it wasn't so bad that I ever really got annoyed with them. They were just always around and on you.
The next day we tried a little bit of everything, dries, streamers, chironomids, etc. It all worked. Everything worked. It was sight fishing heaven.
This fish moved about 15 feet to take the black ant.
Thought the bobber community needed to represent, so spent some time with the bobber on.
Got into the streamer game. Had some fish move a really long way to hit the streamers.
The water was so clear it was almost distracting. You could see 100% of the take and the fight, which was really cool. This fish hit at the drop off where it goes from about 10 feet down to 40 feet (quickly).
Spent some time stripping nymphs along the drop off.
We even got into a few that were in a little bigger size class.
The fish really weren't very particular about what they were eating. As long as you got the fly in front of them without spooking them, you had a pretty good chance at catching one. With the exception of the chironomids, it was 100% sight fishing in crystal clear water. The fish would spook if the cast was sloppy, but if your cast was good you'd probably get a look from the fish. We fished on and off for the day, along with some general exploration of the lake in the raft, some swimming and exploring around the camp. Wind picked up a bit in the late afternoon, which was a nice short reprieve from the mosquitoes. Went back out in the raft and caught a few more that evening. Had a fantastic meal, drank some whiskey by the fire and hit the sack, overall it was a pretty epic day.
Next day we got up, ate some breakfast and packed up for the long hike home. It ended up going a lot better on the way back down because we had flagged our trail on the way up, so it was quite a bit quicker getting back out. Even the long stretch of bushwacking didn't suck as bad on the way down.
All in all, while it was a fantastic trip. While the hike up had long stretches that wasn't that great, there were portions of it that were fantastic. The view from camp was pretty slick (below), and the fishing was fantastic. The fishing was so good it got to the point where I felt like I'd had enough and was completely content going home (which is rare for me). Was a bit of a bucket list trip for me and my buddy, so we're both stoked we got 'er done.
