Friday, August 7th -- We woke up at 2:15am. We left my friend's place at 3:20. Along the canyon drive, we encountered two foxes in the road. They moved quickly off the road and we didn't need to do anything to avoid hitting them. We reached the trailhead at 6 o'clock. Wow, there was a cold wind a-blowin'! We put on windbreakers and wore them during the first half of the hike. We arrived at the lake at 9:20. According to my friend's GPS, we walked for 2:26 and rested for the remainder. We set up camp, quickly ate some granola bars, and then started fishing. (We noticed that some previous campers had built a campfire pit in our campsite. We decided to leave it alone so that the forest rangers would find it.) My friend caught the first fish at 11:35 on a small Red Foam Ant. As usual, we took two 1-gallon plastic water containers with us and filled them up with the water from the spring coming out of the mountain (glacier?) that fed the lake. And as usual, we did not need to purify the water in any way prior to drinking it. How convenient is that? After a while, two men and their dog arrived at the lake. At about 6 o'clock, eleven people with two dogs arrived. They camped at the old campsite which is designated as a "Revegetation Area". My friend informed them that people were not supposed to camp in such areas and one of the men responded "It's our first time here and it's 6:15 [so we're going to camp here instead of one of the designated campsites]". So if anyone knows of a group of about eleven people who were hiking on August 7, 2009, camped in a revegetation area, and had a dog named Libby, please ask them to follow the rules of the forest service. It did not rain that afternoon as it usually did for 30 minutes or an hour. We tried to take naps but had to wake up early because the tent was so hot since the sun was shining directly on it. The reason was because forest rangers had sawed down a tree that fell down in the campsite directly in the spot where we typically set up our tent. (Poor babies!) According to my friend's GPS system, it was 89 degrees in the tent.) My friend suggested that we remove the fly from the top of the tent during the next morning and that might help to keep it cooler. (dramatically shifting gears ...) A fortunate side benefit from the stronger-than-usual wind was that the mosquitoes were not as prevalent. For dinner, we ate smoked salmon with crackers and Ramen. Afterwards, the sky was clear so we used my friend's binoculars to look at some astronomical objects. We saw epsilon Lyra, the Hercules Cluster (M13), and Mizar -- Ursa Major's binary star. We hit the sleeping bags at 10:15, more or less exhausted from the hike having taken shorter than desired naps. Fish Caught: My friend -- 19 (Red Foam Ants, Yellow Sallies, and Gray Adams); Me -- 5 (all on Black Woolly Worms) Planes: 30-something People: 13 (and 3 dogs) Saturday, August 8th -- We got up at 10:15. (Yes, we slept for 12 hours!) We quickly ate breakfast (oatmeal and instant breakfasts) and then went fishing. While fishing, we noticed that there were no clouds coming from the west and if there were any, they were either in the north or the east. Then we remembered that the weather forecaster that we watched on TV on Thursday night stated that there would be a high pressure system over Colorado during the weekend. So there would be little or no inclement weather while we were at the lake. That can be good and bad. The reason why it can be bad is that the best fishing conditions, at least at THIS lake, are best both immediately before and immediately after a storm. So once again, it did not rain that day. I caught the first fish at 11:52. One person day-hiked to the lake, fished for a few hours, and hiked back down the mountain. For lunch, we had antelope jerky and granola bars. (Wow we took a lot of granola bars with us!) That afternoon, two men arrived at the lake with a child. Once again, it did not rain and we did not take naps. However, we did not need naps after sleeping SO long the previous night. We noticed that more trees were dead because of the pine beetle infestation happening all around the mountains in Colorado, California, and other Western states. I sure hope that the forest rangers that we encountered during the previous year's trip were right and that the majority of trees in the area around this lake are fir pine trees and not lodgepole pine trees. (In case you either didn't read last year's story or don't remember it, the rangers informed my friend and I that the beetles are only attacking lodgepole pines. So other pine trees such as firs should be safe.) Otherwise, the mountains might not be as "soft on the eyes" as they are now! At 7 o'clock, we stopped fishing. At 7:45, two guys walked into our campsite in order to get information about the rules of the area. They had eight or nine people and two dogs. We told them about campfires, designated camping sites, etc. After they left, it happened ... After another dinner of jerky and Ramen, my friend and I went down to the creek to clean the eating utensils. We walked back over the hill to the campsite and my friend suddenly stopped, turned around to me, and asked "Do you see it?" I responded "No, what is it?" He then said "Follow me" and quietly began running towards the camp. While running, he said "It's a moose!" We ran all the way to the lake but I never saw it. He said that it was a full-grown bull moose with 3-foot wide shovels ("antlers"). I asked how tall it was and he guessed about 7 feet. Wow! Like the night before, we stayed up until after it got dark. But that night, there were high thin clouds. So instead of stargazing, we watched bats flying around the lake. We noted that the water level looked like it was about 5 inches lower than the summer's peak. That was surprising since the mountains and the cities had received more rain that summer than any other summer that my friend could remember. So the water feeding into the lake from the mountain must be from snow and/or ice and not rain. It was so low that fish could not swim into "the inlet" as they usually can do. Also, it must not have snowed very much and/or the rain must have washed the snow away because there was virtually no snow in the "Snow Field" area. (Refer to the associated picture on the picture page related to this page.) I pointed out to my friend that, for the first time that I could remember, I did not lose any lures, flies, bubbles, etc. during the first 2 days of the trip. ("Kiss Of Death!") We went to bed again at 10:15 that night. Fish Caught: My friend -- 14 (Chernobyl Ants); Me -- 5 (Chernobyl Ants) Planes: 37 People: 13 (and 2 dogs) Sunday, August 9th -- My friend and I got up at our normally usual time -- 6:15. We ate our typical oatmeal and instant cereal for breakfast and went fishing at 7:05. It was very windy and since we were both in belly boats/float tubes, we paddled quite a bit in order to stay in our desired positions while fishing. After about one hour, we got our daily rations of water from the spring and then resumed fishing. It was so windy that my hat blew into the water! Fortunately, I was able to grab it before it sank. We noticed that there were not as many "cruisers" -- fish that swim near the shorelines. Once again, there was no afternoon rainstorm, so we fished and fished and fished. (And it was great!) During the day, a group of 4 day hikers, a group of 2 day hikers, and a group of 3 day hikers (plus one dog) arrived at the lake. At 2:50, a camper arrived with 2 dogs. At the same time, an unusually number of large white butterflies hatched. I counted about 50 of them in the area near me on the lake. The flies that we usually saw, both during this trip and during previous trips, are very small gray midges and 3/4-inch light brown caddises. My friend also saw sedges. My friend said that he would tie up a bunch of the latter flies for our next trip. Something that we rarely see up there, a helicopter, flew near the lake around mid-day. I wonder how tough it is for one of those to fly at 10,000 feet? Regarding people camping in the revegetation area, I was originally going to leave things as they were so that the forest rangers could witness the change. (The campers had moved the logs and rocks that were placed in the middle of the area as an additional hint to people that they were not supposed to camp there. But I couldn't resist and I returned everything to their positions. I'm sure that they were back in the same spots, but at least they were back in general. While I was "taking a number one", I noticed a bunch of gun shells nearby on the ground. I picked up 18 of them and showed them to my friend. (He is a hunter, so I knew that he would recognize them.) He said that they were .22 pistol shells. So apparently, someone was using the are near our campsite for shooting practice! At 7 o'clock, a group of 5 college-age campers arrived. At the same time, 2 women day hikers arrived. I believe that the campers set up at the same revegetation area as the group of 11 campers from the day before. The "Group Of 11" (as I referred to the group of 8 or 9 people with the 2 dogs) left the lake at noon. By the way, they had a campfire the previous night although the first rule of the area that I told them about was that campfires are not allowed. (It is also posted on a sign along the trail.) This night, there were so many campers that all of the campsites were full. Fish Caught: My friend -- 13 (Chernobyl Ants and Grasshoppers); Me -- 6 (red-and- White Daredevils) Planes: 57 People: 26 (and 3 dogs), including the "Group Of 9" from the previous day Monday, August 10th -- My friend and I got up at 8:15. For some reason, his alarm didn't go off. As usual, we quickly ate breakfast and went fishing. This time, I did not go out on the lake in my belly boat. Instead, I walked along the west-facing shoreline, sat down, and for about 10 minutes, I didn't do anything except just soak in everything around me. There sure are a lot of things going on when one just sits and, well, pays attention. I listened to the wind blowing through the pine trees, the ants and tiny bugs hustling along the path, the various directions that the breeze blew the lake's surface water, and many other things. Oh how I wish that I could spend more time "slowing down"! We stopped fishing at 11 o'clock. We wanted to continue, but we needed to let my friend's belly boat, waders, and boots dry out as much as possible prior to packing. (It's no fun carrying wet backpacking items!) We ate lunch, packed everything up, and began hiking down the hill at 1:30. We arrived at the truck at 3:50. We only stopped for 15 minutes of resting. (My friend is improving with each trip, each time requiring fewer stops. Warming up for the trip by hiking around his neighborhood with a 50-lb. pack for about one month beforehand is doing the trick!) Now to prevent other problems that he has such as a tight back muscle and blisters on his feet/toes. Once again, there were no clouds and no rain. This might be the first trip that I ever took to the lake where it did not rain at least once during 3 or 4 days! And during the whole trip, I lost only one fly and one lure. That is a new record for me! I might have also gotten a new record on the number of times that fish hit my bubble instead of my fly. One afternoon, I had fish hit my bubble 9 times! Fish Caught: My friend -- 1 (Red Ant); Me -- 1 (Red And White Daredevil) Planes: Approximately 27 People: 0 of Page Return to Picture Page.
Saturday, August 8th -- We got up at 10:15. (Yes, we slept for 12 hours!) We quickly ate breakfast (oatmeal and instant breakfasts) and then went fishing. While fishing, we noticed that there were no clouds coming from the west and if there were any, they were either in the north or the east. Then we remembered that the weather forecaster that we watched on TV on Thursday night stated that there would be a high pressure system over Colorado during the weekend. So there would be little or no inclement weather while we were at the lake. That can be good and bad. The reason why it can be bad is that the best fishing conditions, at least at THIS lake, are best both immediately before and immediately after a storm. So once again, it did not rain that day. I caught the first fish at 11:52. One person day-hiked to the lake, fished for a few hours, and hiked back down the mountain. For lunch, we had antelope jerky and granola bars. (Wow we took a lot of granola bars with us!) That afternoon, two men arrived at the lake with a child. Once again, it did not rain and we did not take naps. However, we did not need naps after sleeping SO long the previous night. We noticed that more trees were dead because of the pine beetle infestation happening all around the mountains in Colorado, California, and other Western states. I sure hope that the forest rangers that we encountered during the previous year's trip were right and that the majority of trees in the area around this lake are fir pine trees and not lodgepole pine trees. (In case you either didn't read last year's story or don't remember it, the rangers informed my friend and I that the beetles are only attacking lodgepole pines. So other pine trees such as firs should be safe.) Otherwise, the mountains might not be as "soft on the eyes" as they are now! At 7 o'clock, we stopped fishing. At 7:45, two guys walked into our campsite in order to get information about the rules of the area. They had eight or nine people and two dogs. We told them about campfires, designated camping sites, etc. After they left, it happened ... After another dinner of jerky and Ramen, my friend and I went down to the creek to clean the eating utensils. We walked back over the hill to the campsite and my friend suddenly stopped, turned around to me, and asked "Do you see it?" I responded "No, what is it?" He then said "Follow me" and quietly began running towards the camp. While running, he said "It's a moose!" We ran all the way to the lake but I never saw it. He said that it was a full-grown bull moose with 3-foot wide shovels ("antlers"). I asked how tall it was and he guessed about 7 feet. Wow! Like the night before, we stayed up until after it got dark. But that night, there were high thin clouds. So instead of stargazing, we watched bats flying around the lake. We noted that the water level looked like it was about 5 inches lower than the summer's peak. That was surprising since the mountains and the cities had received more rain that summer than any other summer that my friend could remember. So the water feeding into the lake from the mountain must be from snow and/or ice and not rain. It was so low that fish could not swim into "the inlet" as they usually can do. Also, it must not have snowed very much and/or the rain must have washed the snow away because there was virtually no snow in the "Snow Field" area. (Refer to the associated picture on the picture page related to this page.) I pointed out to my friend that, for the first time that I could remember, I did not lose any lures, flies, bubbles, etc. during the first 2 days of the trip. ("Kiss Of Death!") We went to bed again at 10:15 that night. Fish Caught: My friend -- 14 (Chernobyl Ants); Me -- 5 (Chernobyl Ants) Planes: 37 People: 13 (and 2 dogs)
Sunday, August 9th -- My friend and I got up at our normally usual time -- 6:15. We ate our typical oatmeal and instant cereal for breakfast and went fishing at 7:05. It was very windy and since we were both in belly boats/float tubes, we paddled quite a bit in order to stay in our desired positions while fishing. After about one hour, we got our daily rations of water from the spring and then resumed fishing. It was so windy that my hat blew into the water! Fortunately, I was able to grab it before it sank. We noticed that there were not as many "cruisers" -- fish that swim near the shorelines. Once again, there was no afternoon rainstorm, so we fished and fished and fished. (And it was great!) During the day, a group of 4 day hikers, a group of 2 day hikers, and a group of 3 day hikers (plus one dog) arrived at the lake. At 2:50, a camper arrived with 2 dogs. At the same time, an unusually number of large white butterflies hatched. I counted about 50 of them in the area near me on the lake. The flies that we usually saw, both during this trip and during previous trips, are very small gray midges and 3/4-inch light brown caddises. My friend also saw sedges. My friend said that he would tie up a bunch of the latter flies for our next trip. Something that we rarely see up there, a helicopter, flew near the lake around mid-day. I wonder how tough it is for one of those to fly at 10,000 feet? Regarding people camping in the revegetation area, I was originally going to leave things as they were so that the forest rangers could witness the change. (The campers had moved the logs and rocks that were placed in the middle of the area as an additional hint to people that they were not supposed to camp there. But I couldn't resist and I returned everything to their positions. I'm sure that they were back in the same spots, but at least they were back in general. While I was "taking a number one", I noticed a bunch of gun shells nearby on the ground. I picked up 18 of them and showed them to my friend. (He is a hunter, so I knew that he would recognize them.) He said that they were .22 pistol shells. So apparently, someone was using the are near our campsite for shooting practice! At 7 o'clock, a group of 5 college-age campers arrived. At the same time, 2 women day hikers arrived. I believe that the campers set up at the same revegetation area as the group of 11 campers from the day before. The "Group Of 11" (as I referred to the group of 8 or 9 people with the 2 dogs) left the lake at noon. By the way, they had a campfire the previous night although the first rule of the area that I told them about was that campfires are not allowed. (It is also posted on a sign along the trail.) This night, there were so many campers that all of the campsites were full. Fish Caught: My friend -- 13 (Chernobyl Ants and Grasshoppers); Me -- 6 (red-and- White Daredevils) Planes: 57 People: 26 (and 3 dogs), including the "Group Of 9" from the previous day
Monday, August 10th -- My friend and I got up at 8:15. For some reason, his alarm didn't go off. As usual, we quickly ate breakfast and went fishing. This time, I did not go out on the lake in my belly boat. Instead, I walked along the west-facing shoreline, sat down, and for about 10 minutes, I didn't do anything except just soak in everything around me. There sure are a lot of things going on when one just sits and, well, pays attention. I listened to the wind blowing through the pine trees, the ants and tiny bugs hustling along the path, the various directions that the breeze blew the lake's surface water, and many other things. Oh how I wish that I could spend more time "slowing down"! We stopped fishing at 11 o'clock. We wanted to continue, but we needed to let my friend's belly boat, waders, and boots dry out as much as possible prior to packing. (It's no fun carrying wet backpacking items!) We ate lunch, packed everything up, and began hiking down the hill at 1:30. We arrived at the truck at 3:50. We only stopped for 15 minutes of resting. (My friend is improving with each trip, each time requiring fewer stops. Warming up for the trip by hiking around his neighborhood with a 50-lb. pack for about one month beforehand is doing the trick!) Now to prevent other problems that he has such as a tight back muscle and blisters on his feet/toes. Once again, there were no clouds and no rain. This might be the first trip that I ever took to the lake where it did not rain at least once during 3 or 4 days! And during the whole trip, I lost only one fly and one lure. That is a new record for me! I might have also gotten a new record on the number of times that fish hit my bubble instead of my fly. One afternoon, I had fish hit my bubble 9 times! Fish Caught: My friend -- 1 (Red Ant); Me -- 1 (Red And White Daredevil) Planes: Approximately 27 People: 0