My 14 y/o had been begging me all summer to go backpacking to alpine lakes and last week we finally made it happen. Hopefully the start of an annual tradition now that he's old enough to carry a loaded pack into the mountains.
Day 1: We hiked in to set up our base camp on Wednesday just a few miles in from the trailhead. Once we had the tent set up, we hit the lake in our float tubes and found immediate action from hungry brook trout and west slope cuts almost all measuring 12-13”. Lots of fish sipping, but I did best with Black Spratley on sink-tip and Vampire Leech on intermediate. We also checked out a smaller lake down the trail in the evening and saw lots of rises and space to cast from shore. Just before darkness we had some action casting from shore right off from our campsite.
Day 2: Woke my son up early to hit the trail to some nearby lakes. The furthest lakes were only 5 miles down the trail, but there was also almost 3,000’ elevation gain and we wanted to get as much lake time as possible. The hike was no joke, but thankfully the berries were out in full force, so we had a built in snack every time we needed to catch our breath. We made it to the first lake before 10:00am and, after stashing my float tube there to lighten my pack, we moved on to the highest lake. We arrived around 11:30am to see a lot of fish rising within casting distance from shore. I don’t think the fly mattered, but a small beetle and parachute adams were both successful when cast and left to sit. We watched several west slope cuts drown the flies and eventually hook themselves while we cooked and ate lunch. The lake was gorgeous and for the short time we were there we had it to ourselves. After a few hours we headed back down to the first lake and I was on the water in my float tube by around 2:30pm. Nothing rising, so I targeted sub-surface action. I only had one bite until I reached the back of the lake and found the fish concentrated in an area inaccessible except by watercraft in 20’+ of water below a 30’ cliff. I brought in a few 14” coastal cuts and a 13” west slope cut and had several more hits in that area before I moved on. I should have just focused everything there because that was the only hotspot all afternoon. I was back at the takeout by 5:00pm to break everything down for the hike back which was almost equally as challenging going down as going up. We were both exhausted by the time we got back to our basecamp, but agreed that overall it was an epic day.
Day 3: Caught a beautiful sunrise from our campsite, cooked breakfast, and then we hiked out passing scores of backpackers as they hiked in to enjoy their Labor Day holiday in the mountains.
Day 1: We hiked in to set up our base camp on Wednesday just a few miles in from the trailhead. Once we had the tent set up, we hit the lake in our float tubes and found immediate action from hungry brook trout and west slope cuts almost all measuring 12-13”. Lots of fish sipping, but I did best with Black Spratley on sink-tip and Vampire Leech on intermediate. We also checked out a smaller lake down the trail in the evening and saw lots of rises and space to cast from shore. Just before darkness we had some action casting from shore right off from our campsite.
Day 2: Woke my son up early to hit the trail to some nearby lakes. The furthest lakes were only 5 miles down the trail, but there was also almost 3,000’ elevation gain and we wanted to get as much lake time as possible. The hike was no joke, but thankfully the berries were out in full force, so we had a built in snack every time we needed to catch our breath. We made it to the first lake before 10:00am and, after stashing my float tube there to lighten my pack, we moved on to the highest lake. We arrived around 11:30am to see a lot of fish rising within casting distance from shore. I don’t think the fly mattered, but a small beetle and parachute adams were both successful when cast and left to sit. We watched several west slope cuts drown the flies and eventually hook themselves while we cooked and ate lunch. The lake was gorgeous and for the short time we were there we had it to ourselves. After a few hours we headed back down to the first lake and I was on the water in my float tube by around 2:30pm. Nothing rising, so I targeted sub-surface action. I only had one bite until I reached the back of the lake and found the fish concentrated in an area inaccessible except by watercraft in 20’+ of water below a 30’ cliff. I brought in a few 14” coastal cuts and a 13” west slope cut and had several more hits in that area before I moved on. I should have just focused everything there because that was the only hotspot all afternoon. I was back at the takeout by 5:00pm to break everything down for the hike back which was almost equally as challenging going down as going up. We were both exhausted by the time we got back to our basecamp, but agreed that overall it was an epic day.
Day 3: Caught a beautiful sunrise from our campsite, cooked breakfast, and then we hiked out passing scores of backpackers as they hiked in to enjoy their Labor Day holiday in the mountains.
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