Canoe Trip to Shoshone Lake Backcountry, Yellowstone NP
July 25 - 30, 2009
In late July Marilyn and I took a great 5-day canoeing and camping trip with some friends in Yellowstone NP to the backcountry of Shoshone Lake. We were joined by Nick and Jen, and Chris. It was a great time except for, as our Kiwi mate Nick would say, the mozzies (mosquitoes). They were thick!
Here I am in the back of the canoe as we set out from one of our campsites to go across the lake to the Shoshone Geyseer Basin. The basin is out in the middle of nowhere, miles from any road and with no boardwalks and guardrails. No pics either, since the camera wasn't working at that moment. In the background you can see our campsite, which we called Camp Mozzie Point. If you enlarge the pic you can see our food bags hanging from the bear pole:
We didn't see a whole lot in the way of critters, but did paddle by this awesome looking bald eagle, symbol of American might and power, on one of the shores of the lake:
We had lots of good times and mosquito bites. I even caught a 17" lake trout from the canoe on my fly rod. Nick brought a full bar with beer, margaritas, and wine. Cheers, mate!
Chris was in a kayak and Nick and Jen were piloting the awesome 1970's style Core Craft canoe. Core! Here they are at the head of Shoshone Lake heading back towards the opening of the Lewis Channel. The channel is kind of like a small river between Lewis and Shoshone Lakes we got to drift through on the way back out (had to pull the canoes on the way in):
Here Marilyn is paddling us back through the Lewis Channel to Lewis Lake on our way back to the trailhead (last day). Nick and Jen, and Chris, are way up ahead:
About to emerge from the channel back into Lewis Lake:
Team Mozzie on Lewis Lake:
After 5 days of fun and adventure we made it back to the trailhead and a good drive home. A great, mosquito-filled time was had by all!
Crazy Mountains Backpack
August 28-30, 2009
In late August Chris and I decided to do a double-backpack trip: one weekend in the delightfully named Crazy Mountains, and the next weekend another into the Beartooths.
Homie Chris is ready to go, the Canyonero is loaded:
The delightfully named Crazy Mountains are an island mountain range east of Livingston characterized by jagged peaks and sheer drops. Fortunately they also harbor some beautiful lakes with nice trout. The approach to the trailhead goes through rolling ranchlands. We are heading up that valley in the middle:
Our destination, Blue Lake, is about 4 miles up the valley after a steep climb:
But first we have to pass through the ranch. Here is Chris opening the legenday gate for the Canyonero to pass through:
After a tough slog of about 3 or 4 hours we made it up to the lakes. Blue Lake and Granite Lake sit next to each other and are joined by a small crick. All of them have nice rainbow trout. Here is the crick, looking up towards Blue Lake. We set up camp on a point up on the right near where the crick empties into the lake. I caught a nice 12" rainbow there:
We made the short trek over to Granite Lake, which is very scenic but short on campsites:
We fished it and caught several decent trout, one of which I got off the end of this log:
Our campsite was pretty sweet, and featured single-malt scotch in the evenings and fresh espresso in the mornings. Granted my pack was a few pounds heavier than it needed to be but it was worth it:
And the log slog back down the side of the mountain. It wasn't the longest trip by any means but it was a workout. At least going down was easier:
Chris crosses the bridge at the lower end of Big Timber creek:
We made it back to the Canyonero where a couple of cold Guiness were waiting. Perfect end to a great trip!
Beartooth Mountains Backpack
Sept 4-7, 2009
The following weekend was Labor Day, and the perfect opportunity to take a long 4-day weekend backpack trip up into the Beartooths to flyfish for cutthroat trout.
Our plan was to hike up to Becker Lake and then head off-trail over a couple easy passes up to Albino, Golden and Jasper, and the Cloverleaf lakes. All are populated by nice cutthroat trout (although Becker is also full of brook trout).
We never made it as far as the Cloverleaf Lakes, but our route did take us to Golden and Jasper lakes which are just beyond the rounded peak way in the distance - about 7 or 8 miles. This me at the trailhead at Island Lake:
The scenery on the way up to Becker Lake is fantastic as you pass by many other lakes and get great views out into the distance:
Becker Lake itself is very beautiful, about 4 miles in. We decided to stop here for the first night as Chris had been out late the night before and was feeling it:
We fished the lake and caught tons of brookies and a few cutts. The next day we headed up towards Albino Lake. This is the inlet to Becker from Albino, we are headed up over the small pass in the distance. There was a pretty good footpath and it was not very hard at all:
Me heading up to the pass, Becker Lake in the background:
Just over the pass is Albino Lake, which is above treeline and very scenic. It had cool islands in it and stuff, and on the way back in a few days we fished it and caught some nice 15" cutthroat trout on dry flies:
We headed up over another, steeper pass to get to Golden and Jasper lakes. Here I am going up the pass, Albino Lake behind:
Golden and Jasper Lakes are also above treeline, and also scenic. The fishing was slow as some nasty weather was coming in and it was getting colder. Chris did manage an 18" cutt out of Golden Lake on a spinning rod (gasp!). Here's our camp in the draw between the two lakes. Chris' tent in front, and if you look close you will see my tent (yellow) up in the rocks at about 1-o'clock:
The next day we huffed back down to Becker Lake and found a different campsite than the first night. A few more brookies were caught and then the weather turned most foul. In the rush to hang the bear bags off the cliff here and over the lake, I left a pocket open and realized the next morning that my $100 fly reel had fallen out and into the lake. Fortunately it was visible in about 4' of water on a ledge along the rock face. Another 2 feet out and it would have sank to the bottom in 0ver 30 feet of water! I had to go Bear Grylls and strip to my skivvies to inch out along the ledge in the water to retrieve the reel. I did but boy was the water cold! On top of this it had rained all night as a cold front came through, and now the daytime temps were almost 20 degrees colder, in the 50's. The point you see is where our camp was and were I had my salvage operation:
After that we packed up and hiked back to the trailhead. It was a great trip and a great time. Lots of nice fish were caught and there was some great scotch and campfire time, plus a real adventure!
