Late start to another hike-in seep lake outing 3/16/2023

Starman77

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My start was significantly delayed on Thursday due to news of the closure of eastbound I-90, as there was a fatality head-on collision near Easton. The freeway didn't re-open till mid-afternoon. I waited around, then finally decided to travel via Stevens Pass, even though it is a much longer drive, and had much heavier traffic than normal. The scenery was spectacular with fresh snow covering the mountain tops and trees. I only had a few hours to fish before dark, but I like to fish around sunset anyway:

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In those few hours I landed some fish, but nothing special. There was no hatch around sunset, like sometimes occurs, so the fish didn't really start biting as I'd expected.

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The water temperature was nice at 46 degrees and the water was very clear with 10 to 12 feet of visibility.

It was nice and warm hiking in, but freezing on the hike out in the dark. With clear skies, the air temperature dropped very quickly once the sun set. I camped out in my Outback Wilderness and got pretty cold even with my winter sleeping bag. When I woke up in the morning, this is what I found on my windshield:

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The fly rods had been stored inside so that's why they don't look frozen. The weather forecast for Othello said it got down to 28 degrees and probably was a bit colder out in the boonies. From previous experience I knew that my butane stove was not going to work if it got below freezing, as butane liquifies at 31 degrees, so I put a butane canister in my sleeping bag overnight to keep it warm. As a result I had a hot breakfast which made me feel a little less cold.

I fished a different seep lake on Friday, but I'll create a separate posting for that outing.

Rex
 
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