Friday, July 24th -- We -- my brother, our friend, our friend's cousin, and I -- woke up at 3:00am and it took a while for us to get going because our friend and our friend's cousin didn't get to bed until 1:30am. We arrived at a Denny's, ate breakfast, and left a little after 5 o'clock. We reached the trailhead at 7:30 and started hiking at 7:50. We arrived at the lake at 10:20 We were hungry so we quickly ate some instant breakfasts. Then, we set up the tents and immediately went fishing. That is, other than our friend. He had been "burning the candle at both ends" while both working full time and building a new house. He took a nap between the time that we got done with the tents until 2:45 that afternoon. One thing that he brought on the trip that my brother, he, and his cousin used in order to prevent leg cramps were anti-leg cramping pills. They worked well and none of them got any cramps. While hiking, we found an area that contained two clusters of Colorado's state flower -- the Columbine. When we arrived at the lake, we saw a dead fish floating on the top of it. It was strange because we extracted it from the water and it had no visible marks on its body. Another unusual thing was that we didn't cross paths with any other people while hiking. Usually, we see people such as during our trip two years before then when we crossed paths with eight people while hiking. And the last unusual thing was that we didn't experience a typical afternoon rainstorm. Regarding drinking and cooking water, we followed our standard procedure and got water from the spring that feeds out of the mountain and that fills the lake with water. We took two 1-gallon containers and I insisted on taking a 5-gallon container. Although it's somewhat heavy when it's filled up (water weighs about 7-1/2 lbs. per gallon; so a 5-gallon container of water weighs about 38 lbs.), it saved us one trip per day or day-and-a-half. So, our friend and I walked up to the beginning of the spring and filled all three containers with water. Note: We had to walk to the top because there wasn't enough water running below the top in order to fill up the containers. In addition to getting water from the spring, our friend's cousin had a filter. So, earlier in the day, we got water from the creek that ran near our campsite and filtered it. (I couldn't notice any difference.) Fish Caught: Our friend -- did not fish, our friend's cousin -- 0, my brother -- 9 (Chernobyl Ant), Me: 3 (red-and-white daredevil, bubble-and-fly set up with a black renegade) Planes: 60 People: 0 Saturday, July 25th -- One thing that I didn't mention was that I noticed something that I'd never seen at the lake before. Around half of the bottom of the lake was covered with moss. In all of the years that I've gone to the lake, there was never any moss. I hope that my friend is correct when hestated that it will be killed during the winter when the lake freezes over. Otherwise, if the moss continues thriving, it might overtake the lake. I got up at 8 o'clock. As usual, my brother was already up and out of the tent before me. The sky was cloudless and hinted that we would not have rain again that day. Our friend and his cousin got up soon after me and we ate an oatmeal breakfast afterwards. Then, we proceeded to do what we went to the lake for -- fishing. I was the last one to get in the water in my belly boat. While I was preparing, I saw something for the first time in my life. I watched a spider glide through the air along the edge of the lake with its silk trailing it, preparing to make a web. I wish that I would have had my brother's video camera in order to tape it. When I was on the lake, I could hear a hawk ... although I could not see it. Hawks make unique sounds, so I knew for sure what it was. Later, our friend and our friend's cousin saw a golden eagle flying over the hill near the lake. And while floating around the lake, I noticed that significantly more trees had died since we had been at the lake two years beforehand. If you don't remember, the temperature in that area during the past ten years or so had not dropped cold enough in order to kill the pine beetles that kill the pine trees. Based upon both looking at the hills and examining photographs later, I estimate that nearly half of the trees around the lake were dead. If this trend continues, I wonder if ALL of the trees will eventually die. Related to that, we all heard a tree fall down and my brother actually saw it happen. That's yet another thing that happened that I had never experienced before. The fishing was excellent that day. As a matter of fact, it was SO good that we never left the lake in order to eat lunch or to take naps. And regarding taking naps, we usually take them during rainstorms or thunderstorms. Well, the prediction from the morning was correct and we didn't have any that day. Also, the lake's water seemed warmer than usual and we didn't have to get out of the lake because we were cold. All told, we were in the lake for about eight hours. Wow! Last, while I was fishing along the far (south) side of the lake, I heard something walking among the trees, not close enough to the lake for me to be about to see it. It was loud enough ... by breaking tree branches that it stepped on ... that it was probably either a moose or a bear. My companions went to bed around 9 o'clock. Being an astronomer, I stayed up for about 45 more minutes so that I could see the stars, planets, and the moon. Related to sleeping, our friend snores VERY loudly when he sleeps. Earplugs are essentially a necessity when sleeping anywhere near him. (I wonder if he scares off the animals that travel the woods at night.) I mentioned that I use earplugs since I'm a light sleeper. Our friend's cousin didn't realize that I had some, asked if he could have a couple, I gave some to him, and he slept MUCH better this night because they drowned out the snoring noise from our friend. Fish Caught: Our friend -- 18, our friend's cousin -- 11, my brother -- 17, Me: 1 Planes: 31 People: 14 adults, 1 child, 1 dog (carrying a backpack of supplies) Sunday, July 26th -- I slept better than the previous night. I believe that I was simply getting used to sleeping in a bag versus sleeping in a bed. But, I still had to roll over several times during the night because either my shoulders or my sides would get sore. I woke up at 7:15. It was breezy and mostly cloudy that morning. We had instant breakfast in our water mugs that morning, along with granola bars. (The other food that we brought for the trip, as usual, were trail mix and beef jerky.) Prior to me going into the lake with my belly boat (float tube), our friend's cousin had an auspicious beginning. While he was getting into his boat, he slipped, fell forward, and fell into the lake face-first. So, he was soaking wet and had to go back onshore to take off his wading clothes so that they could dry out. Bummer! Other than this incident, it was a typical, perfect day at my favorite place in the world. We fished all day long until we saw some darker clouds traveling over the glacier. We returned to the campsite and it lightly sprinkled for about five minutes. We took advantage of the chance to get 30-minute naps. During the day, the people who had camped at the lake during the previous night had left. Late in the afternoon, we noticed that four or so trail workers had arrived at the lake to do some flyfishing during the end of their day. I crossed paths with them once and thanked them for their work. One of them stated that it wasn't necessary to thank them because they thoroughly enjoyed the work. That reflected what our friend's cousin said. He pointed out that he was a trail worker when he was younger and that it was the most enjoyable job that he'd ever had. As usual, my brother, our friend, and our friend's cousin went to bed around 9pm. And as usual, I stayed up a little longer in order to enjoy the night sky. Our "neighborhood bat(s)" flew around both our campsite and the edge of the lake. It's amazing how they can fly SO close to you but they don't hit you. Fish Caught: Our friend -- 2, our friend's cousin -- 2, my brother -- 4, Me: 4 Planes: 65 People: 4 Monday, July 27th -- Usually, I take notes every day during these trips (as you know if you've been reading the stories on my/this Web site before). Strangely, I didn't find any notes about this day when I read my log book while creating these Web pages. Nevertheless, it was a typical, perfect day in "paradise". I DO remember thinking to myself how quickly time flew by whenever I was at the lake and I always wished that I could spend one or two (or three) more days there. Tuesday, July 28th -- The wind blew all night long. I woke up four or five times because of it. And remember that I even had earplugs on! I woke up at 7:15. Our friend and our friend's cousin didn't get up until later. So, we ate breakfast at 8:15. We had packed up all of our things during the previous night other than the tents, sleeping items, and fishing items that needed to dry out. So, it only took us about 30 minutes to finish packing and we left the lake at 8:50am. I'm a slower (I like to say that I'm a more deliberate) packer than them. So, my brother and our friend's cousin left about ten minutes before my friend and me. Nevertheless, we caught up to them after one mile. After resting for about five minutes, I led us for the rest of the way. By "the rest of the way", that's exactly what I did ... I hiked all of the way -- five miles -- without stopping until I reached the trailhead. While hiking, I crossed paths with two groups of about one dozen hikers. The first group was comprised of two adults escorting about ten children around ten years old each and the second group had about one dozen teenagers. My companions arrived about thirty minutes later. They told me a story that most of that time was spent helping out two other hikers fight off a mountain lion that was attacking them. As Dr. Evil said in one of the 'Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery' movies -- "Roight!" My brother and our friend's cousin also stated during our rest that they found a dead rabbit on the trail and moved it to the side of the trail. They asked if our friend and I saw it, but we didn't. (Now THAT story is more believable.) After about 15 minutes, we left the trailhead on the way to our friend's place in Casper, WY. Including a stop at a Burger King for a late lunch, it took us exactly five hours to get there. Last, we didn't do any fishing that morning since we didn't leave at our usual time between 11:30 and noon. Epilogue -- This epilogue is going to be different, containing information about specific things related to preparing for the trip and potentially useful information for future trips. And it is as follows -- We forgot to bring hand soap, dishwashing liquid, a dishwashing towel, and fishing rags As noted above, anti-leg cramping pills worked great; they'll be using them in the future We need to either tie or buy more flies; in particular, Chernobyl Ants, Parachute Adams, Stimulators, Renegades, and Royal Coachmans We needed to bring two more oatmeal packages, bringing the total to 2, instead of 1-1/2, per person per meal Our friend lost his knife, presumably while saving something else from falling into the lake while he was in his belly boat Our friend said that he was going to "retire" the largest belly boat ... the one that is shaped like a 'U' and weighs about twice as much as the other boats -- 15 lbs. Our friend said that he was going to replace his wife's wader boots I need to replace all of the flyline on my flyfishing reel Our friend's cousin brought some anti-mosquito repellent named "Thermacell" that worked VERY well Our friend's cousin suggested bringing freeze dried peas and carrots on future trips -- Good idea! I want to point out that other than the 5-minute sprinkling, we never had any rain during the entire trip. Our friend had shown us on his smart phone that no rain was forecast during the five days. We didn't believe it. This time, the weather prognosticators were correct. of Page Return to Picture Page.
Saturday, July 25th -- One thing that I didn't mention was that I noticed something that I'd never seen at the lake before. Around half of the bottom of the lake was covered with moss. In all of the years that I've gone to the lake, there was never any moss. I hope that my friend is correct when hestated that it will be killed during the winter when the lake freezes over. Otherwise, if the moss continues thriving, it might overtake the lake. I got up at 8 o'clock. As usual, my brother was already up and out of the tent before me. The sky was cloudless and hinted that we would not have rain again that day. Our friend and his cousin got up soon after me and we ate an oatmeal breakfast afterwards. Then, we proceeded to do what we went to the lake for -- fishing. I was the last one to get in the water in my belly boat. While I was preparing, I saw something for the first time in my life. I watched a spider glide through the air along the edge of the lake with its silk trailing it, preparing to make a web. I wish that I would have had my brother's video camera in order to tape it. When I was on the lake, I could hear a hawk ... although I could not see it. Hawks make unique sounds, so I knew for sure what it was. Later, our friend and our friend's cousin saw a golden eagle flying over the hill near the lake. And while floating around the lake, I noticed that significantly more trees had died since we had been at the lake two years beforehand. If you don't remember, the temperature in that area during the past ten years or so had not dropped cold enough in order to kill the pine beetles that kill the pine trees. Based upon both looking at the hills and examining photographs later, I estimate that nearly half of the trees around the lake were dead. If this trend continues, I wonder if ALL of the trees will eventually die. Related to that, we all heard a tree fall down and my brother actually saw it happen. That's yet another thing that happened that I had never experienced before. The fishing was excellent that day. As a matter of fact, it was SO good that we never left the lake in order to eat lunch or to take naps. And regarding taking naps, we usually take them during rainstorms or thunderstorms. Well, the prediction from the morning was correct and we didn't have any that day. Also, the lake's water seemed warmer than usual and we didn't have to get out of the lake because we were cold. All told, we were in the lake for about eight hours. Wow! Last, while I was fishing along the far (south) side of the lake, I heard something walking among the trees, not close enough to the lake for me to be about to see it. It was loud enough ... by breaking tree branches that it stepped on ... that it was probably either a moose or a bear. My companions went to bed around 9 o'clock. Being an astronomer, I stayed up for about 45 more minutes so that I could see the stars, planets, and the moon. Related to sleeping, our friend snores VERY loudly when he sleeps. Earplugs are essentially a necessity when sleeping anywhere near him. (I wonder if he scares off the animals that travel the woods at night.) I mentioned that I use earplugs since I'm a light sleeper. Our friend's cousin didn't realize that I had some, asked if he could have a couple, I gave some to him, and he slept MUCH better this night because they drowned out the snoring noise from our friend. Fish Caught: Our friend -- 18, our friend's cousin -- 11, my brother -- 17, Me: 1 Planes: 31 People: 14 adults, 1 child, 1 dog (carrying a backpack of supplies)
Sunday, July 26th -- I slept better than the previous night. I believe that I was simply getting used to sleeping in a bag versus sleeping in a bed. But, I still had to roll over several times during the night because either my shoulders or my sides would get sore. I woke up at 7:15. It was breezy and mostly cloudy that morning. We had instant breakfast in our water mugs that morning, along with granola bars. (The other food that we brought for the trip, as usual, were trail mix and beef jerky.) Prior to me going into the lake with my belly boat (float tube), our friend's cousin had an auspicious beginning. While he was getting into his boat, he slipped, fell forward, and fell into the lake face-first. So, he was soaking wet and had to go back onshore to take off his wading clothes so that they could dry out. Bummer! Other than this incident, it was a typical, perfect day at my favorite place in the world. We fished all day long until we saw some darker clouds traveling over the glacier. We returned to the campsite and it lightly sprinkled for about five minutes. We took advantage of the chance to get 30-minute naps. During the day, the people who had camped at the lake during the previous night had left. Late in the afternoon, we noticed that four or so trail workers had arrived at the lake to do some flyfishing during the end of their day. I crossed paths with them once and thanked them for their work. One of them stated that it wasn't necessary to thank them because they thoroughly enjoyed the work. That reflected what our friend's cousin said. He pointed out that he was a trail worker when he was younger and that it was the most enjoyable job that he'd ever had. As usual, my brother, our friend, and our friend's cousin went to bed around 9pm. And as usual, I stayed up a little longer in order to enjoy the night sky. Our "neighborhood bat(s)" flew around both our campsite and the edge of the lake. It's amazing how they can fly SO close to you but they don't hit you. Fish Caught: Our friend -- 2, our friend's cousin -- 2, my brother -- 4, Me: 4 Planes: 65 People: 4
Monday, July 27th -- Usually, I take notes every day during these trips (as you know if you've been reading the stories on my/this Web site before). Strangely, I didn't find any notes about this day when I read my log book while creating these Web pages. Nevertheless, it was a typical, perfect day in "paradise". I DO remember thinking to myself how quickly time flew by whenever I was at the lake and I always wished that I could spend one or two (or three) more days there.
Tuesday, July 28th -- The wind blew all night long. I woke up four or five times because of it. And remember that I even had earplugs on! I woke up at 7:15. Our friend and our friend's cousin didn't get up until later. So, we ate breakfast at 8:15. We had packed up all of our things during the previous night other than the tents, sleeping items, and fishing items that needed to dry out. So, it only took us about 30 minutes to finish packing and we left the lake at 8:50am. I'm a slower (I like to say that I'm a more deliberate) packer than them. So, my brother and our friend's cousin left about ten minutes before my friend and me. Nevertheless, we caught up to them after one mile. After resting for about five minutes, I led us for the rest of the way. By "the rest of the way", that's exactly what I did ... I hiked all of the way -- five miles -- without stopping until I reached the trailhead. While hiking, I crossed paths with two groups of about one dozen hikers. The first group was comprised of two adults escorting about ten children around ten years old each and the second group had about one dozen teenagers. My companions arrived about thirty minutes later. They told me a story that most of that time was spent helping out two other hikers fight off a mountain lion that was attacking them. As Dr. Evil said in one of the 'Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery' movies -- "Roight!" My brother and our friend's cousin also stated during our rest that they found a dead rabbit on the trail and moved it to the side of the trail. They asked if our friend and I saw it, but we didn't. (Now THAT story is more believable.) After about 15 minutes, we left the trailhead on the way to our friend's place in Casper, WY. Including a stop at a Burger King for a late lunch, it took us exactly five hours to get there. Last, we didn't do any fishing that morning since we didn't leave at our usual time between 11:30 and noon.
Epilogue -- This epilogue is going to be different, containing information about specific things related to preparing for the trip and potentially useful information for future trips. And it is as follows --