After a long day to get to Lambert Lake, we took it easy on the morning of Day 5. We made no rush to get up and hit the trail. I had packed my Tenkara rod, The Sierra from Tenkara Rod Co. and I decided to give it a whirl before coffee in the AM. I went lakeside and on my first cast I had a nice brookie on! It was such an organic fishing experience on the Tenkara rod! I quickly got that fish back in the water and not shortly after that I got a big brookie, twice the size of the first one! I took its picture and put it back! I then returned to camp for breakfast and coffee and packed it up while Jim went fishing! He also caught some fish on his Tenkara rod as well! We then threw on the packs and hit the trail for Lake Fork! The trail drops you all the way down to the Lake Fork River then you make a ascent of the head of Lake Fork. This section was so hot, we made a water stop at the last spot for water before we headed up Red Knob Pass.
If you were to ask me which pass was the hardest pass, I would for sure say Red Knob Pass. Now if it were just the switchbacks to the top not a big deal. I'll get to that in a moment. I moved slowly up the switchbacks trying to conserve my energy for the pass. Jim and Michael were ahead of me and made it first, followed by me just a few minutes later. The views from the to of Lake Fork, and West Fork Blacks Fork and Deadhorse Lake were unbelievable! I had to drop the pack and just take it all in. We spent some time up there, shooting photos, snacking, just enjoying the view. It never got old. there was so much amazing nature to witness up there it literally felt timeless. Eventually, we made our way to the part of this pass that I consider to make it the hardest on the trail. The descent to West Fork Blacks Fork was over two miles on top of cliffs with loose rock, scree for miles, and it never let up on the quads as you made your way down. I was never so happy to be on flat ground when we hit the basin. It dropped us into the trees and a short but steep up to Deadhorse Lake. We set up camp and then gave fishing a try. Jim landed a nice tiger and we ate it as a second dinner that night. I went to bed early because we had to climb Deadhorse Pass in the morning and I wanted my energy for that.
Morining came and we did breakfast and coffee and then put it together. Deadhorse Pass goes up through a steep and sketchy moraine where there are sections I call "No Fall Zones" but the actuall pass is .07 miles from Deadhorse Lake so it was nice to get our climb over right out of the gate so we had good energy to work with the rest of the day. The top of Deadhorse Pass is incredible! The views are spectacular! We took time to shoot photos and take it all in! We then descended to Rock Creek as we had only one pass left to climb, and that is Rocky Sea Pass!
We made our way into Rock Creek and had to navigate the burn scar. We stopped and took lunch at the Jack and Jill junction by a creek. I forgot I had packed a Apple Pie so that was a treat! We moved on to look for a camp at Jack and Jill Lakes. The camping was horrible if you had to stay there. Not many spots and trees are all potential widow makers. But we could see a ton of action on the lake so we dropped the packs and tossed a fly with the Tenkara rods! Jim struck first with a very nice, fat, colorful brookie! I shortly after got a nice 14" brookie which I cleaned up and had for dinner! We put the cleaned fish in a ziploc with some water and moved on down to the next lake. I am so glad we did! Ouray Lake would be our home for night six! We got shop set up, then Michael wanted a nap and Jim went down the river to bathe. I cleaned up a bit too, then went fishing for hours! All the tributaries and Ouray Lake itself held fish! I caught so many fish I lost count! See the YouTube video I post below for a great recap! Eventually dark set in, we had dinner, and cooked out fish and boy were those tasty! We all turned in with full bellies and were off to dream as the rain came in at bed time! If you are enjoying this post, look for Day 7 & 8 Uinta Highline Trail to read about the conclusion of this adventure! I have linked a YouTube video for this adventure below! Please like and subscribe! More adventures to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment