Backpacking...

Dekartes · Feb 10, 2022

How many backpackers do we have on this forum? Bet we could combine knowledge and have a pretty damn good database for fishing in the Cascades and Olympics. Would have to be locked down and available to only trusted contributors somehow. Be cool to develop a database we could all add to with location data, etc etc... Been backpacking for 40 years and while I'm not as fast as I used to be, I still get off the beaten path. I think back to how fast I was able to climb in my 20s.... Speed isn't everything though!

Salmo_g · Feb 10, 2022

At 73 years young I've discovered that elevation really affects me. I wasn't so surprised when hiking at 10 to 12,000' in the high Sierra, but last summer I noticed that even 6 to 7,000' had me huffing and puffing on Mt Rainier's Wonderland Trail. So I'm content having to stop and catch my breath after climbing a steep pitch. Haven't combined backpacking and fishing lately, but it's never far from my mind. For the most part, my database consists of high lakes that don't have trout over 12".

Dekartes · Feb 10, 2022

I hear you on the elevation. I hope my joints last long enough to keep doing this into my 70s. They have USMC years on them... I have a couple of difficult areas I am going to hit very soon, before they are out of reach for me. My pack weight used to range close 80-100lbs. Due to Sh%&y, heavy, gear and too much gear. No way I could do anything but a city block with that type of weight now. I spend $$ on lightweight gear to keep access the same. I don't mind the smaller trout. Over 12"'s are out there, but most are in that range. Lakes definitely go through cycles too. We should have a PNW meet up in the mountains.

TDub · Feb 10, 2022

I love backpacking! Don't get to do it as much as I want, but I've had a couple nice 8 day trips the last few years. Lightweight gear is definitely the only way to go. Worth every penny to me. I've got this dumb idea I might do the PCT some day.

Gary Knowels · Feb 11, 2022

I'm newish to backpacking at this point and most of it hasn't been combined with fishing, but I hope to change that in the coming summers. I'm a teacher so I have some pretty good flexibility in July and August.

mcswny · Feb 11, 2022

Who has two thumbs and loves backpacking.

This guy

Generally speaking, all my backpacking ends where there is some opportunity to fish. With that being said, in my experience, high lakes fishing is very hit or miss in the OR Cascades.

mcswny · Feb 11, 2022

Salmo_g said:
Mt Rainier's Wonderland Trail.

Salmo, you hike the whole Wonderland Trail at 73? Hero.

Long_Rod_Silvers · Feb 11, 2022

I like the idea of a PNWFF version of the hi-lakers.

Salmo_g · Feb 11, 2022

mcswny said:
Salmo, you hike the whole Wonderland Trail at 73? Hero.

Sadly, no. I hiked with Gary and his friend Doug. I tweaked my knee on a downhill pitch on the first day and had to bail after Day 3. I'm going to try and get permits and do a couple pieces of it this summer because they are so breathtakingly beautiful.

mcswny · Feb 11, 2022

Salmo_g said:
Sadly, no. I hiked with Gary and his friend Doug. I tweaked my knee on a downhill pitch on the first day and had to bail after Day 3. I'm going to try and get permits and do a couple pieces of it this summer because they are so breathtakingly beautiful.

To be fair, any portion of the WT at 73 is impressive. Would love to hear you get to do more of it this summer.

NukeLDO · Feb 11, 2022

Backpacker to fishing destinations here. Mostly in the Wallowas and Blues.
Gonna be interesting to see how bad the fires were up in the Blues last year.
Expecting many of my trailheads on the north side to be inaccessible.
Probably will try to get into a drainage down there from the Oregon side this fall though.

Salmo_g · Feb 11, 2022

NukeLDO said:
Backpacker to fishing destinations here. Mostly in the Wallowas and Blues.

Have long wanted to hike in the Wallowas and Blues.

Salmo_g · Feb 11, 2022

mcswny said:
To be fair, any portion of the WT at 73 is impressive. Would love to hear you get to do more of it this summer.

Even more than the PCT, the WT goes up, then it goes down, then it goes up, repeat day after day.

mcswny · Feb 11, 2022

Salmo_g said:
Even more than the PCT, the WT goes up, then it goes down, then it goes up, repeat day after day.

You gotta get up to get down

Josh · Feb 11, 2022

Dekartes said:
Would have to be locked down and available to only trusted contributors somehow.

If enough people get serious about it, the site could probably create somewhere safe from prying eyes for this project.

Ryan Smart · Feb 11, 2022

Like a few others have said, almost all of my backpacking is to reach remote areas for fishing. Some of my favorites:

Wind River Mountains, Wyoming

Western Idaho:

NE Oregon:

This last one in only "sort of" backpacking... It's in Voyageurs National Park in northern MN. There are backcountry lakes and campsites on a peninsula that is only accessible by boat, so you take your boat (or a shuttle) across the lake, hike into the backcountry lake, and use canoes or rowboats that the NPS has locked up at the lakes. The lake in this pic has a unique strain of muskies that is more plentiful, but smaller, than the normal muskies found in the Upper Midwest. Unfortunately the weather was poor and the fish not very aggressive when I was there so I didn't land any, but it was a neat experience and got to see a few fish come and at least inspect or swipe at my flies.

ffb · Feb 11, 2022

I've been wanting to get into backpacking for a few years. I finally have my wife on board so I think this will be our first year for it. I already have a tendency to choose day hikes based on potential fishing prospects and I expect that to remain the same when we start backpacking. We've put it off for a while because of the overwhelming amount and different types of equipment which brought along the fear of "doing it wrong". We'll start with some pretty short hikes to feel out our gear (that we're still accumulating) and routine.

Freestone · Feb 11, 2022

Another longtime backpacker/angler here. I, too, seem to lighten my load with each passing year! I prefer sleeping in my hammock but if I am going super ultralight, my TarpTent sleep system is lighter than my UL hammock system.

SculpinSwinger · Feb 11, 2022

I was a serious backpacker, before I was a serious fisherman. I was In It for the solitude, scenery, geology, botany… just watching the light change. Mainly Eastern Sierra, and a couple in the Grand Canyon, and shorter trips here in Oregon.
Not surprised to find like minds here

Gyrfalcon22 · Feb 11, 2022

Longtime backpacker as well. I guess about 75% of my flyfishing is now via hiking trips. Getting more crowded for sure but if you get out a day+ and am not afraid of a little weather you can find solitude. I have a couple of favorite golden trout lakes to test my fitness every so often..getting much harder 25 year plus later after my first visits. Some older lakes I still visit I went to as a teen 40 years ago. Olympics, Cascades, a little Canadian rockies and the Nepalese Himalaya.

My lips are sealed on my favorites by specifics. I do not take chances.

The Winds and Sierra are on my to-do list for sure. Alps, too.

Around the bend from Everest (that is Ama Dablam skying at 22,349') *not my photo