Fall Creek Loop: Before I Lose My Mind

Head of Fall Creek

Fall Creek Lake #1

Fall Creek Lake #1

After every big race that I run I always take two weeks off of any running for rest but by the end of two weeks I'm just itching to go out for some long miles. So this week after our long road trip I needed to get out and get some miles in before I lose my mind. Since our trip didn't go the way we planned we ended it early, so at the last minute I decided to do the Fall Creek Loop. I have been wanting to do this trip for the last couple of years now and have done it but I wanted to do it all in one day because we did it in one day 13 years ago when I was about 10 years old. Its a hard loop to do with 3500 feet of elevation gain and decent over about 13 miles but I knew I could do it with all my ultra marathon training and racing background.

Fall Creek Lake #2

Fall Creek Lake #2

I wanted to start pretty early because it was hot the day before and it was going to be hot that day too, so I started at the trail head at 7 and I didn't get hit by the sun until 9, an hour later and I was at the first lake. What I love about Fall Creek is all the amazing views and how you never seem to run into anyone. When I left this morning there was 8 cars parked at the trail head and I only saw five people all day. But going to some remote places also helps. When I was hiking up to the head of Fall Creek I'm always on the lookout for mountain goats because its prime area for them; rocky cliffs, a few meadows and no people to worry about. I was also thinking that if I ever went hermit this would be the place where I would live. I would catch me a baby mountain goat and raise it as my own. We would hike all day over the Pioneers until one of us dies and I would be know as the man with a mountain goat. Just some food for thought, maybe after college.

Mountain Goats Point of View

Angel Lake

Angel Lake

West

North

East

When I finished the loop, it wasn't as tough as I thought it would be and I wasn't even that tired. When I got home I was comparing it to my recent ultra race and I would have to do the Fall Creek Loop twice to even come close to the elevation gain of the River of No Return 50K, and three times for the elevation gain of my upcoming race Wild Idaho. Over the years I have always been thinking about a unique race that I could come up with and this loop would be perfect for it. This race would consist of two things; running and fishing. In this race you would have to run the distant but you would have to stop at every lake and catch a fish before you could move on. I somewhat gave it a try today. I was able to catch a fish at every lake in a matter of minutes but I continued to fish because I needed to enjoy myself somehow don't I. If it was a race my time would be 10 hours, I started at the trail head at 7am and got done at 5pm, can anyone beat that?

Standhopes 60K Monster

Ultra Training

Moose Lakes

Moose Lake #2

Moose Lake

Golden At Fall Creek #1

Cutbow At Fall Creek #2

Cutbow At Angel Lake

Brookie At Moose Lake #2

Brookie At Moose Lake

After the day was over I was thinking on the car ride home about how light my backpack was and how it didn't weigh me down at all. So I thought I would write a list of what I had and what improvements I could make on it and some things I could add to make it into a lightweight overnighter. So here is what I have so far and on the side I wrote what I used. My pack weighed a total of 15 pounds and with my overnighter stuff it weighed at 20 pounds. I'm interested to give it a try, maybe this weekend if I can get someone to go with me.

My Lightweight Backpack Gear

Lightweight Backpack List
Gregory Z30--Used
Clothing:
Stoic Vaporshell Rain Jacket
Patagonia Down Jacket
Saucony River of No Return Jacket--Used
Minnesota Twins Hat
Gear:
Two Salmon-Challis Maps
Small Notebook with Pens--Used
Ruler/Earplugs
First Aid Kit--Used
TP/Sunscreen/Bodyglide/Chapstick--Used
Camera/Tripod--Used
Two Knifes/Fire starter
Para cord/Sunglasses
Ipod Nano/Yurbuds Ironman Headphones--Used
Petzl Headlamp
Wallet
Katadyn Water Filter--Used
Fishing Gear:
2x/3x Tippet--Used
Flybox--Used
Forceps
8wt Flyrod--Used
Food:
Nalgene 32oz--Used
Two PPJ Sandwiches
Two Poptarts
Two Granola Bars
Trail Mix
Pudding
One GU Brew Tablet

Stuff For Overnighter
Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Pad
3M Plastic Tarp
Pocket Rocket/Fuel
GSI Halulite Minimalist

Narrow Rough Road

Crater Lake

Maps can be a funny thing sometimes. They can either get you to the right place are completely get you to the wrong place. They can also led you up a narrow rough road but they will never say that it is a rough road. But the thing with narrow rough roads is that they can take you to really remote beautiful places and those are the places that you want to be on a busy weekend like the Fourth of July. This weekend we had planned on going in to the White Clouds for a few days but some people that we had invited couldn't make it so we postponed for a later date. So instead my father and I had planned a long road trip to a few lakes where we could either car camp at or at least day hike into them.

The White Clouds

Are first lake that we went to or tried to get to was Crater Lake. When we got to the top of Railroad Ridge the views there where out of this world, or should I say out of Idaho because you could see into Montana. You could also look over at the Lost Rivers, Pioneers and a big portion of the Frank Church. Going back to the map it says we could go over the top of Railroad Ridge and drop down into Crater Lake, well after trying a few routes and roads that petered off or still have snow on them we made the smart decision and turned around. On to the next lake we went.

Views From Railroad Ridge

A Few Elk

Part of Livingston Mine

By the time we got to Bayhorse, it was about six hours of driving and zero hours of fishing, something is not right here. By the time I walked around the lake of Bayhorse I hooked into three fish and most of the time was spent fighting off bait fisherman so we booked out of there in order to get to Spruce Gulch before sunset.

Bayhorse Lake

Challis Through The Burnt Trees

Another three and a half hours of driving and an hour an a half of hike we made it to Spruce Gulch for an hour of fishing with no such luck of catching a tiger muskie or even seeing one. Another two hours of fishing in the morning with only seeing three tiger muskie, two follow and none swallowed. Theirs too many hours being put into tiger muskie fishing without any hook up or take. It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong but I'm not going to give up. I do feel like that when I do catch bigger fish its based purely on luck, luck of being in the right spot at the right time. But my luck continues to increase by the amount of time I spend on the water and the amount of time my fly is in the water. The thing that I could take away from Spruce Gulch is that I am getting really good at taking pictures of tiger muskie, I now just need to get one out of the water.

Spruce Gulch Lake

Twin Peaks Lookout

As I worked with Phil this week and got to know him a little better. It was cool to hear all his amazing stories and adventures. After talking to him I realized that I would love to read a book about this guy, but after taking a step back and realizing that Phil and I are about the same person. Part of the reason I am writing this blog is to remember all the good times that I have had and have had the opportunity to share with others.

Spruce Gulch

Why do I succeed?

I succeed because I am willing to do the things you are not. I will fight against the odds. I will sacrifice. I am not shackled by fear, insecurity or doubt. I feel those emotions but I drink them in and then swallow them away to the blackness of hell. I am motivated by accomplishment, not pride. Pride consumes the weak and kills their heart from within. If I fall... I will get up. If I am beaten... I will return. I will never stop getting better. I will never give up... EVER.

That is why I succeed.--Unkown

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