I finally made it up to one of my favorite places to go in the Wasatch this summer. The hike up was perfect temperatures and the flowers were out everywhere. A few bugs, but not intolerable. After I started up the Red Pine junction I found myself shooting pictures of a Pika in a small boulder field on the slope. I made a very brisk pace to the Maybird/Red Pine junction. Took a small water break them moved on. Got to the lake shortly after and was amazed how green it all was up there, and how many wildflowers were still blooming. I headed to the south side, and 5th cast had a fish. Nice Cutty's up there. I landed 16 fish today, and one that was easily 16". The hike out was awesome, beautiful light and a nice breeze and more flowers! Nice day shooting photos and being up there again. It is days like this that remind me that what I am looking for is in my own backyard! Love the Wasatch!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Twin Lakes Trail- Big Cottonwood Canyon- Aug 12th, 2011
My original plan was to hit Red Pine today. But I got to the trail head and realized that my battery was dead on my D90. I went back home, and charged it, and made a destination change. I arrived to Silver Lake, and the usual tourists were there. I started in on the trail, and on the way in, I saw some fish jumping in the stream. So I got my rod out and on my third cast, nailed a nice little rainbow. After all the kids oohing and ahhing that I caught a fish, I pressed on. Once I hit the junction for Lake Solitude and Twin Lakes I was all alone. Perfect! Nice hike on the way up, and the flowers were for sure putting on a show. After a bit, I arrived at Twin Lakes and headed for the inlet just below Twin Lakes Pass. I landed quite a few small ones, 8-10" and got one probably just about 11". Nothing too big, but fun little buggers anyhow. I did see a monster size Lake Trout cruising the shallows, this one would have been much bigger, but alas, he wasn't interested in what I was offering. After a great afternoon up there it was time to head down. Great hike out, and ran into a Chipmunk that did not seem to mind I was there, so I took his picture. Wonder if I need a model release? hehe! Good times once again in the Wasatch!
Catheirne Pass to Lake Catherine- Little Cottonwood Canyon- Aug 9th, 2011
The Albion Basin road finally opened for the year, so I headed up to Catherine Pass to head to Lake Catherine on Tuesday. It was a sunny day, very few clouds and the temps were awesome. The wildflowers were everywhere! After reaching the pass, I headed down to the lake, and caught a couple of small brookies. After fishing and some pics, It was time to leave, and made a good push back to the pass. It was a great day up there, and it reminds me that some of the best adventures are right here in the Wasatch which is my backyard.
Ruth-Hayden-Jewel-Cutthroat-Teal Lakes Loop- Uintas- Aug 6th- 7th, 2011
Well, after a long week at the Outdoor Photo Expo and Outdoor Retailer, It was really ready to get out of here for a couple of days. Since our crew did not have a lot of time on our hands, we all decided to head out to the Ruth Lake area and loop the basin. I pushed in from Ruth to the ridge in about 30 min, then I dropped down to Hayden Lake to shoot some photos. Quite empty out there for it being a weekend, and the weather was sweet! After a short visit to Hayden, I pushed on. After a nice walk, I ended up at the boulder field that drops you down to Jewel. I could see Collin and Barley fishing on the lake, which was a welcome site. The other half of our crew had not shown up yet, so we decided to fish Jewel, and wait to see when they would show up. I got a nice Tiger Trout on my first cast. After fishing for a while we were talking about maybe moving on to another lake when Mike and Muskie roll up. They apparently made a wrong turn on the ridge above Ruth Lake, and made the full loop up to Lofty and Kamas Lakes, and came down the basin via Cutthroat Pass. Wow, we felt bad that they had been on the move like that, and they looked really beat, so we decided that Jewel was gonna be our home for the night.
After they got their shop pitched, we decided to take a walk up to Cutthroat and Teal lakes to see about catching some dinner. I landed a nice Cutty up at Cutthroat and Muskie was killing them on a Blue Fox at Teal. We did a crazy traverse from Teal back to camp, full on off trail hiking, route finding and bushwhacking. We finally returned to Jewel, where the evening fishing was in full swing. Chris was killing it with a dual fly set up, nailing them right on the strike. We all settled in, got the fire going and I decided to set up my camera so I could shoot some night photos. This was way fun, doing some long exposures, playing with light, and catching a huge meteor burning up on one of my long exposures. I actually counted like 10 meteors burn up on entry that night, but this was the one I captured. We all finished our frosty beverages and crashed out. Morning arrived with some brisk temps and the skeeters were out like mad! Everyone made a mad dash for the 100% deet and coffee. As the sun rose, the winds picked up and the skeeters retreated, but the deer flys were still hanging out unfortunately. No matter, we decided that fishing was in order, and we all fished for quite a while.
After some time, we decided that it was time to head out, all of us wanted the colds ones in the car, and Uinta Drive Through cheese burgers and shakes were sounding delicious. A great time out there, and nice to be on walkabout in the woods again with the crew.
After they got their shop pitched, we decided to take a walk up to Cutthroat and Teal lakes to see about catching some dinner. I landed a nice Cutty up at Cutthroat and Muskie was killing them on a Blue Fox at Teal. We did a crazy traverse from Teal back to camp, full on off trail hiking, route finding and bushwhacking. We finally returned to Jewel, where the evening fishing was in full swing. Chris was killing it with a dual fly set up, nailing them right on the strike. We all settled in, got the fire going and I decided to set up my camera so I could shoot some night photos. This was way fun, doing some long exposures, playing with light, and catching a huge meteor burning up on one of my long exposures. I actually counted like 10 meteors burn up on entry that night, but this was the one I captured. We all finished our frosty beverages and crashed out. Morning arrived with some brisk temps and the skeeters were out like mad! Everyone made a mad dash for the 100% deet and coffee. As the sun rose, the winds picked up and the skeeters retreated, but the deer flys were still hanging out unfortunately. No matter, we decided that fishing was in order, and we all fished for quite a while.
After some time, we decided that it was time to head out, all of us wanted the colds ones in the car, and Uinta Drive Through cheese burgers and shakes were sounding delicious. A great time out there, and nice to be on walkabout in the woods again with the crew.
Outdoor Photo Expo and Outdoor Retailer Summer Market- Aug 4th- 5th, 2011
Day 1
I got a double whammy this year. I was invited to Outdoor Retailer, and was attending the inaugural Outdoor Photo Expo. The speakers at the Outdoor Photo Expo were awesome. Mark Fisher, Moose Peterson, ect. Really educational, and awesome to be able to talk to Nikon and many other photo companies about photography. It was a huge knowledge base get together, and I felt like today was really a lot of fun and very educational. I also had a pass to Outdoor Retailer. I popped over there for a couple of hours to browse around. Katadyn has a new filtration bottle called MyBottle which not only handles all your bacteria concerns, but also kills viruses too. Primus, which gave me a couple of these, has a new spice/salt and pepper shaker that is awesome, super light weight, and packs in three of your favorite spices. Gonna put that to use this weekend. Got new Merino socks from Darn Tough, and pancake mix from Vasque. Camelbak has a new built in steri-pen type light in a filter bottle that is coming out this year. So you don't need the pen, the light is built into the lid of the bottle-crazy! A ton of other swag from a bunch of other companies, and a party with free Sierra Nevada's and food for the masses. All in all it was great to see a lot of my friends in the industry, and all the new gear for next year. Back at it tomorrow, it is my Birthday, probably get loaded up with more stuff.
Day 2
This was my birthday, and after a really cool first day at the photo expo and OR, I was thinking it was gonna be a hard time to top that. Arrived at the Photo Expo at 8 am and had an very interesting seminar with David Stoecklein who does cowboy portraiture in all natural light. All these photographers were not photoshop geniuses, they had very simple post processes, and they emphasized being more passionate about your photography, and having fun with it. After the seminar was over, I headed over to Denny's for my free birthday grand slam. Then it was off to Outdoor Retailer. I decided to spend a bit more time seeing the new gear and taking advantage of the swag that was being given out. I made my way over to the Contour HD booth, and met one of the national sales managers. After a bit a chit chatting, She put up my video from the record breaking day this season at Snowbird. It was on a 6 HD screen video set up at OR, and it drew quite a crowd over to their booth. After a bit, she decided to get my info, and hooked me up with a free waterproof case for my 1080 HD cam. Stoked! Those are not cheap. After a great visit, I moved on and raped in the goods from all over the place. Sierra Designs has a new sleeping bag that is vertical baffles, 900 fill down, 15 degree rated, and weighs 1 lb 2 oz. Powerbar is making a gummy that tastes like coca cola gummy bottles, but has a whole shot of caffeine in them. I took those with us over the weekend and the crew was sold on them. All in all, it was Outdoor Retailer as usual, and there was lots to see. It seems that the neon 80's colors dominated the clothing lines, and that there was lots of new tech out there to be tested. My final seminar of the evening was with the Photo Editor for Backpacker Magazine. She had some great tips and ways to market yourself, and I had a nice chat after with her- Stoked! It was a great birthday, and I did not get to stay for the festivities afterwards because I was heading out to the Uintas for the weekend. Good times, can't wait until next year!
I got a double whammy this year. I was invited to Outdoor Retailer, and was attending the inaugural Outdoor Photo Expo. The speakers at the Outdoor Photo Expo were awesome. Mark Fisher, Moose Peterson, ect. Really educational, and awesome to be able to talk to Nikon and many other photo companies about photography. It was a huge knowledge base get together, and I felt like today was really a lot of fun and very educational. I also had a pass to Outdoor Retailer. I popped over there for a couple of hours to browse around. Katadyn has a new filtration bottle called MyBottle which not only handles all your bacteria concerns, but also kills viruses too. Primus, which gave me a couple of these, has a new spice/salt and pepper shaker that is awesome, super light weight, and packs in three of your favorite spices. Gonna put that to use this weekend. Got new Merino socks from Darn Tough, and pancake mix from Vasque. Camelbak has a new built in steri-pen type light in a filter bottle that is coming out this year. So you don't need the pen, the light is built into the lid of the bottle-crazy! A ton of other swag from a bunch of other companies, and a party with free Sierra Nevada's and food for the masses. All in all it was great to see a lot of my friends in the industry, and all the new gear for next year. Back at it tomorrow, it is my Birthday, probably get loaded up with more stuff.
Day 2
This was my birthday, and after a really cool first day at the photo expo and OR, I was thinking it was gonna be a hard time to top that. Arrived at the Photo Expo at 8 am and had an very interesting seminar with David Stoecklein who does cowboy portraiture in all natural light. All these photographers were not photoshop geniuses, they had very simple post processes, and they emphasized being more passionate about your photography, and having fun with it. After the seminar was over, I headed over to Denny's for my free birthday grand slam. Then it was off to Outdoor Retailer. I decided to spend a bit more time seeing the new gear and taking advantage of the swag that was being given out. I made my way over to the Contour HD booth, and met one of the national sales managers. After a bit a chit chatting, She put up my video from the record breaking day this season at Snowbird. It was on a 6 HD screen video set up at OR, and it drew quite a crowd over to their booth. After a bit, she decided to get my info, and hooked me up with a free waterproof case for my 1080 HD cam. Stoked! Those are not cheap. After a great visit, I moved on and raped in the goods from all over the place. Sierra Designs has a new sleeping bag that is vertical baffles, 900 fill down, 15 degree rated, and weighs 1 lb 2 oz. Powerbar is making a gummy that tastes like coca cola gummy bottles, but has a whole shot of caffeine in them. I took those with us over the weekend and the crew was sold on them. All in all, it was Outdoor Retailer as usual, and there was lots to see. It seems that the neon 80's colors dominated the clothing lines, and that there was lots of new tech out there to be tested. My final seminar of the evening was with the Photo Editor for Backpacker Magazine. She had some great tips and ways to market yourself, and I had a nice chat after with her- Stoked! It was a great birthday, and I did not get to stay for the festivities afterwards because I was heading out to the Uintas for the weekend. Good times, can't wait until next year!
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