Waptus lake and Spade Lake 09-2014

   A successful fishing expedition of Waptus and Spade Lakes. This is the third time I've made the 9-10 mile trek to Waptus lake this year, and I'm beginning to get to know the trail very well. The hike out at the end of this epic adventure was in record time. Two hours and 50 minutes for nine miles is nothing to spit at...even if it is just plain bad English. Anyway, here is the trip....
  I hiked to Waptus lake and set up camp on the east side near the Spade lake intersection. After abandoning all my preconceived ideas about setting up camp, getting dinner started, and making sure I had my camera ready in case I caught a fish, I went fishing. I tied on a Super Duper spinner (obviously a duper above a regular Super spinner) I cast it out into the clear, calm lake and caught a log. Wait! That's not a log! It was the largest Eastern Brook trout I've ever caught. To be perfectly honest, I've never caught an Eastern Brook trout, so I suppose that's not saying much. The fish was a fat monster as trout go. It was about 16" and fat (as I already said at the beginning of this sentence). Mr fish, lets call him Bob, had two of the three hooks impeded in his lower jaw, but since I crimp the barbs down, the hooks slid right out. Bob was not happy, and decided to roll around a bit and got slightly tangled in the line. My concern grew for Bob's safety as I always release fish so I grabbed onto the hook to avoid any further damage to Bob, and damaged myself in the process. I was hooked on fishing, or at least hooked on the Super Duper. I found where the Duper part lies. Bob was laughing, or at least smirking a bit. With the hook in my finger, and Bob flopping and spinning near the shore, the hook was starting to draw blood. Alas, I was able to unwind Bob and set him free...I think her turned back, and flipped his tail at me. I caught two other fish (picture below of one), and was able to release them without incident.
   The next morning the real fun began as I hiked to Spade lake. I left camp and started up the hill at 0900 hours. As I reached the intersection of the Spade lake trail and the Pacific Crest trail, I saw three young hikers, in single file, with determined looks on their faces. I'm guessing, since they were hiking at 20-miles-per-day speed, they must have been PCT thru hikers headed for Canada. My map of Spade lake trail, from the Waptus river trail, says it's 2.9 miles. This is a blatant lie. Seldom do my mannerisms and 51% optimistic-outlook  get reduced to the point of swearing at an inanimate object, like a trail. I made an exception this time. About 3/4's of the way up the hill, I started swearing and calling the trail names. My rage-against-the-trail continued until I arrived at Spade lake, and all was forgotten. Momentarily anyway. Spade lake is truly beautiful, but getting within eyesight of the lake is only part of the battle. Here's a little secret, don't waste your time searching off to the right side of the lake for access to the lake. Especially don't waste about 30 minutes, when there is access up and over the glacial rocks to the left (still wasn't easy to find access). I finally got down to the lake, flung my spinner in the water, and watched as one small fish tried to bite. I didn't catch anything.
   The "2.9 mile" hike to Spade lake took me about 6 hours round trip. I don't hike slow, but the terrain is very difficult (think Mailbox peak, but not as nice). There were at least 12 blow overs, and 2-3 of those were difficult and dangerous to cross. Would I do it again? Nope. The beauty of Waptus lake or Deep lake are nearly the same, but very little risk of breaking something on those hikes.
  Here are the pictures...

Rainbow?

Center/East side of Waptus Lake

Waptus lake

Waptus Lake

Spade Lake trail

Small Pond near Spade lake

Spade Lake

Spade Lake

Spade Lake



Salmon La Sac Loop

  A forty-five mile loop from Salmon La Sac north to Deception Pass then south, via Hyas Lake, back to the car. A small detour on day three to Tuck lake and Robin Lakes was cut short by rain and low clouds.
  The hike began with a my usual 30 lbs of gear stuffed in my ULA circuit backpack, and the addition of my brand new collapsible fly pole. Heading north from Salmon La Sac on the Waptus river trail I was greeted by the usual, and easy, 9 mile hike that is just little ups and downs to the lake. I crossed the river (foot bridge is still out) after taking out the insoles (superfeet - orange model) from my New Balance trail runners (910's, I think). My sock also came off. I was surprised by how comfortable and easy the river crossing was, and by how easily it was to squish most of the water out of my shoes with a camp towel. After putting shoes back on (with insoles and socks), I did notice a little bit of dampness, but I was able to continue hiking without any blisters or other issues. The shoes dried the rest of the way over night.
  I camped my first night at the south end of the lake, and it was windy. Luckily the wind stopped during the night and no trees fell on me. The south end camp area has several very tall, dead trees that appear to ready to pound an unsuspecting hiking into the ground.
  The next day (day 2), I continued northbound up and over Deception Pass. I was able to make a phone call at the top of deception pass. One bar on the Iphone, and it was switching between Verizon and "extended" which I'm guessing means "just send us a blank check, we'll take care of the rest." After the extended phone call, I headed down the hill and around the corner (back southbound) to the Tuck and Robin Lakes intersection. I found a nice campsite just a few feet from the intersection, and made camp for the night. I met a doe very near the campsite that didn't seem bothered by my presence at all. Not a problem for me, but considering that the doe was within the bow hunting zone that allowed the taking of doe's, could be a problem for her. I did meet a bow hunter the following day about 5 miles farther down the trail.
  On day 3 I started early and attempted to hike up to Robin Lakes which is 1.4 miles past Tuck lake. The trail to tuck lake was very steep, and as I reached Tuck lake, it started to rain. The trail had me using my hands to scramble up the trail. Upon reaching Tuck lake, and looking east towards the cloud covered mountain that I'd have to climb up and over, I came up with lots of reasons why it would be best to turn around. A couple of my favorites were "it's just going to be raining anyway", "the trail is way too steep"...   Anyway, I turned around and started back down. There is a very nice camp on the south side of the trail just a few feet down the trail from tuck lake. It has a nice sandy bottom and has a very impressive view. Might be a bit windy though.
  I hiked down the Tuck Lake trail (1.1 miles), and then continued back S/B towards Hyas lake. Hyas lake is only 2-3 miles from a trailhead (located 10 miles from Salmon La Sac) and has at least three beautiful campsites. I hiked past Hyas Lake and continued to the TH and then headed W/B on the Trail creek Trail. At about 2.4 miles from the trailhead, I stopped at Squaw Lake for the night. The fish were jumping, but none would bite a fly. I had a good camp fire, and then hiked 15 miles out the next day.
  I caught 5 fish during the outing (all from the Waptus river).


Waptus Lake looking N/B

Deception Pass

Approach to Deep Lake



Deep Lake

Deep Lake

heading up to Cathedral rock from south



Cathedral rock/start of trail to Peggy's pond

Sign near cathedral rock

Deception pass

Deception pass



Deer near Tuck/Robin Lakes trail

Camp near Tuck/Robin's lake trail

Tuck lake

Campsite near tuck lake



Hyas lake



Camp at Squaw lake



Squaw lake

Toilet sign by ?

 

Waptus Lake - Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Waptus River Trail #1311

The trail begins at the end of the road at Salmon La Sac. For 9 miles the trail rises and descends a scant 50-75 feet at a time. I would guess the elevation gain and loss to be around 1500-2000 feet, although the trailhead is 2400 and the lake is at 3000. Power up the rises and coast down the other side makes for a "quick" 9 miles.

Green Trail Map (#208) shows a camping space at 3.4 miles, below is a picture of that site. Excellent size for horses, but the creek access next to the site is too steep for horses.

  Here is a picture of the next Waptus river camp at about 5 miles. The picture doesn't do it justice. This a beautiful camp with a nice swimming area/fishing hole next to the camp.

Bog area 3-4 miles from trailhead
 

Old fire area 3-4 miles from trailhead

Waptus River

Waptus Lake
 

Waptus Lake

Waptus Lake



           My campsite. Next to Waptus River at about 8 miles from Trailhead.

 

 

I first hiked to the lake (staying left at trail junctions-to avoid the river crossing), and found it very crowded. Earlier in the day, other coming down from the lake said that the right side (river fording side) of the lake was very crowded. I ended up hiking back to the camp site in the picture after taking a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Pacific Crest Trail - Rainy pass to Snowy Lakes (Aug 2014)

  This gem of an adventure started with the intent of hiking 31 miles or so northward to Harts pass, where I started and ended my last trip. I found the parking lot, the correct lot this time, and began hiking around 1100 on August 4th. What a beautiful trail! Almost level, and hardly any rocks or roots to trip over. The work began just a few miles up the trail.
   With the heat of the day increasing, as well as the incline of the terrain, I soon found myself sweating in places that I'd rather not. No problem. There were plenty of streams to cross and dunk myself and hat into. After about 3 hours of hiking, I crossed Methow Pass and descended down towards the ridge that eventually arrives at the Snowy Lakes cut off.
   My shoe choice of the day was a disappointment at best. I would even categorize the choice as an epic fail. I've read that it's best to not wear Gore-Tex shoes as they don't really breathe, and they don't really keep your feet dry. Either wear a good pair of rubber boots or go with something that will breathe and dry if/when you have to cross a creek. So here's what happened to my shoes/feet.
   My poor choice of the day was a pair of North Face low top, Gore-Tex hiking shoes. Around mile 6-7 my feet began to get very hot and uncomfortable. I stopped and doffed them, allowed the dogs to cool for several minutes. I also met up with a Washington PCT thru hiker by the name Grand Pappy Amos. After allowing my feet and shoes to dry somewhat, I continued N/B.
   As I neared the Snowy Lakes intersection, my toes were screaming for relief so I decided to hike up hill another 1/2 mile and camp at upper snowy lake. What a beautiful basin. I pitched my tent and then stuck my feet in the lake. My Gore-Tex, "breathable" shoes were damp to almost wet inside. This caused the start of many blisters on my toes and forefoot of both feet.  The wind kept the mosquitoes at bay, or at least tolerable for most of the day. I arrived at the lake around 3 pm, and enjoyed some solitude for a few hours. A few hours later, 6 other hikers arrived. The wind died and the mosquitoes began to swarm. I hid inside my tent and watched the "no-see-ums" dive bomb by tent netting.
   As night fell the basin grew very quiet, and the remaining sun's rays painted beautiful red and purple tapestries on the mountainside.

   The following morning I awoke early (5AM) and thought I'd be able to out smart the mosquitoes by getting up before they did. Not so. The heat of the day must have been keeping them at bay...during the early morning hours, they were worse than any other part of the day. I packed up quickly and heading towards the trailhead at Rainy Pass.

  During my trek back to the car, I met two PCT thru hikers. Butters (Bread and Butter), and Charlie Dayhiker. I later googled Butters PCT 2014 and found an entertaining video he and Wet Burrito posted. I've entertained the thought of thru hiking the PCT, but it seems that even short hikes have so many adversities. I suppose the difficulties "iron themselves out" and one week of hiking isn't really enough to get good "trail legs" so...maybe next year.