Lake X: Invite One Brother And He Will Be On Time, Invite Two Brothers Expect Delays

This Hast To Be A Painting

What a great weekend! After this trip I know my life has been truly blessed. I always love the opportunity to show off my favorite place and one of my favorite lakes to other people. On the drive up I asked Shayne if he has ever been to a mountain lake around the Mackay area, he said he hasn't so it was a great place to start off with. As we hiked up the trail and just started into the meadow just below the pass we ran into guy that was just coming off of the pass. He saw how loaded we were and asked if we were going up to the lake, after we had answered he said that it was a "little iced over but we could find our holes" whatever that meant. After hearing that we didn't hurry too much to get to the lake that might be frozen. Just before we reached the top I said that we where either a week early or we hit it just right, turns out I was right either way.

Golden Trout

Panning for Gold

Its always about hitting the lake just right but when you go up too early its just a huge let down. When we topped out and looked over to glance at the frozen lake, talk about a punch to the gut. I just sat down joining the other two as we talked about what we were going to do. After a good break, Justin and I left the sleeping Shayne to rest while we went and walked around the lake. Turns out the guy was right, there was a few spots open you just had to work at it. And by work at I mean throw the waders on that I brought and get out there and wrangle you some ice blocks. By the time I did that, I was so cold that I was done getting back into the water. I tried talking Shayne into going swimming but no luck there, I even told him that I was trained in hypothermia wrapping (Wilderness First Aid).

Men At Work

About halfway through the day with no luck and only seeing one or two fish here and there I got tried and sat myself on a rock to keep my fly in the water. After about 20 minutes or so later and getting turned down by a couple of goldens, I finally hooked into one that made me scream like a little schoolgirl. I set the hook and the fight was on, I reached for my net that had a few holes in it but that didn't stop me from landing the biggest golden to date. After taking a few pics and making a few references to Ace Ventura, "its going to be some kind of a record", I got the guys to come over and I started putting them to work. I got them set up with same fly and the same spot but still I was the only one that hooked into another golden.
I finished the night catching a few more from other spots and then we called it a night where we spent the rest of the night spending it around the campfire reminiscing over past trips and stories. After a cold cold night where the wind would not stop blowing, so cold that the lake refroze to the point where we had to poke holes through to be able to fish. That morning I headed back to the same spot where I caught all the other fish. When I got there it was only a few seconds until I started seeing fish, it was going to be another good day of fishing. After punching a hole in the ice I was set up, I missed a few fish but nothing as big as the next fish that I was about to catch. I could see a school of fish coming straight for my fly. the biggest one was in the middle with two bodyguards, one each side. I don't know how I lucked out and was able to trick the biggest one to eat but sometimes the fish gods just smile on you a little bit more than others. Once I saw him shallow the fly it was game on. Since I punched a hole through the ice with a rock it was a lot more challenging than bring him towards me to the net. The hardest part was to get him up and out of the hole but once I calmed myself and got his head through the whole I let him do the rest of the work and next thing you know he's on the ice, just chilling before his photo shoot.

Justin, Heaven On Earth

After Justin and I caught a few more Goldens we called it a day and headed on home. Let me tell you its not easy leaving a place like this one. I was tempted to climb to the pass and phone into our boss to tell him that we weren't going to make it into work in the morning but the funny thing is he probably would have encouraged us into staying longer.

"The Lord has blessed us all today... It's just that he has been particularly good to me".--Norman Maclean

Having Fun With The Camera

These Boys

Cutty Fever

River of No Return 50K: Run Fast, Everything Else Here Does

You know your an ultra-runner when you eat mustard like gel packets. I have been looking forward to this race for about 6 months now. I signed up for RONR a month before Wilson Creek and was excited even more so about it. It was the first year of the race, so it was hard to see what it was going to be like and what might be expected of it. I went into this race wanting to accomplish two goals; breaking my previous record on my personal best 50K time 7:04, and the other goal that would be tough to accomplish is to place in my age group.

Hot steep section

Looking back at the Challis Valley

The 50K race started at 7:30am and I thought it was going to be perfect weather but it was extremely hot at the beginning of the race. After Paul had gathered all the racers together the race took off around the high school track and then down the highway for about 2 to 3 miles. This is the part off the race where things started heating up. The next 8 miles or so was all open country with the sun blazing on your back but I took advantage at this point to slow down and refuel with water and to start eating solid food early so I wouldn't pay for it later. By the time I hit Birch Creek Aid station nestled in the trees, I was feeling pretty good, good enough that it just felt like another day out in the mountains. After refilling my water bottle, grabbing a few gel packets and a handful of pretzels I was off on the steep hike to Keystone Aid Station. I power hiked about two miles to the top where I continued to refuel knowing I could refill my bottle at Keystone that was only 3 miles away. By the time I reached the top I was ready to get back to running, so joining the other runners we bombed it down to Keystone where they let out a few wolf howls here and there.

Mt Borah

Looking on toward Keystone

The Keystone Aid Station was filled with so many goodies, that it was hard to leave. This was the out and back portion of the race where you could see where you sized up against the other 50K runners. It was only about a mile until I saw the top elite runners running up the hill as I was heading down to Bayhorse. I thought this would be a good time to keep my mind busy and start counting all the runners that I passed on the way down and see what place I was in. This section was about 4 miles downhill and then 4 miles straight up. I took the downhill easy knowing that I needed to save my legs for the last 10 miles of the race. When I got to Bayhorse (which is an old mining town) I counted roughly 45 to 50 runners ahead of me and after I quickly asked for the time I was 19 minutes behind my 7 hour goal. I quickly took a 5 minute break and and refilled my pack with gear from my dropbag. The next 4 miles was rough for me, at this point in the race my lower back started hurting and it was really heating up so I had to take many breaks and stop at  each creek crossing to wash my face. The face washing and watching all the runners behind me run down the hill kept me going. What I have noticed about ultramarathons is the overwhelming support of runners cheering each other on to accomplish the same goal. You never really see this in any other sport, and after talking to others about this throughout the race it just seems that other races its too competitive to cheer others on when everyone is wanting to beat each other.

When I got to the top of Keystone I was falling behind on my splits and needed to be to the next aid station in 30 minutes that was 5 miles away. In order to do that I got behind a guy that I had been leap frogging and running with throughout the race. We both just bombed down the mountain. I think the only reason I was able to keep up with this gentleman is that I had him pick the route through the rocky road I was able to just let my legs run free. I knew that I would have easily stopped for breaks if I wasn't running with him but I just pushed through and hung on to him all the way to the aid station where we made it in about 6 minute miles. We decided at  the Keystone Aid Station that we would finish the race out together but I was tired after that 5 mile run so I told him to go ahead while I took a break and refueled. He ran ahead of me but I kept him in my sights so I could pace myself with someone with a similar speed. I finally broke in and knew that it I needed to put it all on the line and finish strong because that's why I do these races is to prove what my body is capable of. I finally caught up to him and then eventually took off without him, since he had nothing left in the tank. You know you finished strong when you have to walk for a bit when the finishline is in sight. I met both of my goals, which was well earned and my next race is in less than 4 weeks (Wild Idaho Endurance Runs).

Official Race Results
Chip Time: 6:51:39
Age Group (20-29M): 3rd
Gender Place: 27
Overall Place: 36/104
Things I Did Good:
Hydrated between aid stations
Fueled at aid stations
Power hiked the hills
Finished Strong
Taking my time at aid stations
Didn't start too fast

Things I Could Improve:
Hydrate a bit more (empty my bottle before every aid station)
Eat soild food early
Train long downhill runs
Train power hiking
Hydrate and eat while hiking
Lower back strength
Quad strength (knee extensions)
More miles in the week (longer runs)
Salt tablets

Deserted Copper Basin

After a weeks worth of work and putting up around 30 miles of running for my up coming race in two weeks I was spent. I wanted to get out this weekend but I didn't think I had the energy to make it up to a lake just to get disappointed by the amount of snow that would still be on it, so instead I thought I would try and scout out a few new areas to fish in Copper Basin. Granted that the water levels may be a little higher than I would like them to be, I could still cover a lot of river miles and get a feel for how the river shapes up and where the big holes might be. I didn't think that it would be too great of fishing because of the recent hatches around the area, such as the brown drake hatch but it was more of a scouting mission and some time for some R&R.
 I had brought my Honda so I could cover more ground on foot without happening to walk back to my vehicle every time I wanted to head to a new spot. This was the first time that I had done this and it couldn't have worked any better. Throughout day I probably covered anywhere between 6 to 8 miles, looking at a lot of water that day with only two fish at hand. Early in the morning I had two nice cutthroat on that got away from me. The first one that I had lost I miss took for a snag on a rock or a twig and didn't realize until I saw the flash of his cheek, it wasn't even close to a good hook-set. On the next one I wasn't going to make that mistake again so once I felt the take I set the hook quite good and just as I did that he was angling toward the rocky shore so I went with it and tried bring him on to the shore but right as he had the last little bit to go he popped off to never be seen again. Learning from my mistakes, the other two fish that I had a chance on where brought to hand. Throughout the day I had a lot of short strikes and misses which can be seen a lot when your fishing with a streamer. I would imagine that I could have caught a lot more fish if I would have fished with a smaller set up such as a dry fly or a nymph, but I'm all about the big ones.

Since owning my Honda Trail 110 for about two years now I have never wrecked it until this trip. I usually never take my bike up into the mountains because I appreciate how old it is and how it's a classic but a little dirt road here or there shouldn't beat it up too bad. When I finished up fishing I hopped on my bike and started heading back to my car. When I hit the Copper Basin Loop road it wasn't soon after that I noticed an elk that wanted to cross the road so I slowed down to let it cross. A few minutes went by and I was curious of where that elk had went on the mountain so as I was looking for it. As I was briefly looking away from the road and slowing down, I came over a little hill that hide the danger that awaited me on the other side. The other side of the hill was covered in loose grave and big boulders, a motorcycles worst nightmare. When I processed the situation it was already to late, I made the first mistake and grabbed for the front brake. From then on I knew I was hitting the road, I stuck my foot out to catch but it all happened in a blink of an eye. The next thing I knew I was on the road with my foot pointing the other way but not broken. After shutting my bike off I recorded all of the damage, the first thing I noticed was a small hole on my waders that was located on the knee. Everything else seemed to be okay and my next thought was, it could have been worse. Old red is okay and I have just a small repair on my waders, life is good.

What I enjoyed most about this trip was the remoteness and solitude, I didn't see another person all day other than the people that passed on the way up or on the way out. I literally saw more wildlife then I saw people and I believe that's how it should be when you go out on these outings by yourself. You should be able to have the river and scene all to yourself to figure and organize your thoughts.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.--Norman Maclean

Iron Bog & Fishpole Lake: Snow, Ice, and Everything Nice!

Left Fork of Iron Bog Creek

 After the last trip I'm always thinking ahead about the next outing. The beginning of summer is always tricky to get into lakes without them being frozen over but if you plan and hit it just right the fishing can be at its best. For about two weeks now I was looking forward to this trip, the opportunity to catch up with some high school friends while enjoying the great outdoors always ends in a good time. Over the two weeks I was contemplating on which lake we should go to. The options came down to Mill Creek Lake over in the Little Lost, which I was positive that it was open or Iron Bog and Fishpole Lake that had a pretty good chance that Fishpole would be frozen but probably Iron Bog would have a few spots that would be thawed off. Im not a huge fan of Antelope Creek in the summer because its so dry and and temperatures just seem to be a lot hotter but in the spring time with the peaks powdered with snow its an alright place to be. 

Trail Splits at Iron Bog Lake

Iron Bog Lake

Iron Bog Lake

Head of Iron Bog Creek

We left Mackay with a full car and hopes of a beautiful spring day with highs into the 70's, but it was nothing like that. It was gloomy all morning with cooler weather which was nice to hike in but terrible to fish in. On the way up the trail I could see by the surrounding mountains that Fishpole was going to frozen over still but there was still hope for Iron Bog. By the time we hit the top we could see that we would be able to have a few spots to fish. After crossing the snowfield, Justin and I worked are way over to the inlet. The inlet is about the only place that I do catch fish in this lake. Once we got set up it was only a matter of mintues before I snapped my line on the first cast. Losing a nymph to the first cutty of the day. After that it, it was all about circle through the nymph fly box to see what they take. After changing my set up about three or four times it came down to the San Juan Worm. Once I tied that bad boy on, I had three cutty's in hand ranging from 11 inches to 15 inches.

Head of Iron Bog Creek

Fishpole Lake

Justin Crossing a Snowfield

Iron Bog Lake

Once I was satisfied with my catch, I wanted to go check out Fishpole and to make sure that it was absolutely frozen over. So I recruited Justin to come with me because he has never been to Fishpole. After an hour and numerous snowfields that wore the both of us out we made it to Fishpole to confirm that it was still frozen over. I think that it will be thawed off enough to fish it in about two weeks of 70 degree weather. On the way back we had the opportunity to do some skiing across some of the steeper snowfields, I think its a must do at a high mountain lake when the fishing is slow. When we got back to Iron Bog Lake we talked for a bit with other guys and decided to fish for a bit longer before we called it a day. The fishing wasn't very great so I had a lot of time to ponder on how lucky we our to have all these beautiful places around us and to be able to share it with family and friends. I'm especially lucky to have grown up in a place like Mackay where a high mountain lake is just an hour drive away. 

Iron Bog Lake

The Crew