couple pics of a duck dog - mostly fish and flowers.
The photos are from our family trip to WY. The trip centered on a backpacking trip in the Wind River Range, but we were also able fit a few other things in too. We have not been backpacking since Gus was born, and we wanted to spend some time in the backcountry on this trip to start back at it. In 2012 we spent a couple months in WY and camped and fished all around the lower elevations of the Wind River Range and left with the plan that we needed to get up into the mountains in the wilderness when we got back.
Here is the view of the mountains as we were driving through the sage headed to the trailhead.
We dropped the camper near the trailhead the evening before going in. Having the camper at the trailhead for a shower and cold beer the night before and the night after going in to the backcountry is sure nice.
The trail we took had us starting just under 9,000 feet and our plans were to get up to camp in an area among the peaks at over 10,500. This is one of the meadows we passed through.
The first lake we camped on, just 6 or 7 miles from the trailhead. Carrying gear and food for 2 adults and a kid for 10 days on your back means some heavy packs and moving slow since an 8 year old eats a lot, but can not carry much. Our planned route would take us past a number of lakes and into the alpine. We wanted to hit the higher elevation lakes soon after ice-out. The ice broke early this year, and the earliest we could get there with the 15th of July, which worked well. This lake seemed to get a lot of pressure, but we camped around the back side and the fishing was excellent.
View of the lake with our camp in there.
Better view of camp.
Pretty little bay.
It was just about a fish on every cast as long as you kept moving after you caught a couple.
Here I am unhooking a Cutthroat that Gus hooked.
Gus with one of many Brookies.
Careful release. When handling fish be sure not to disturb outer layer on fish and be sure not to splatter butter on your clothes.
Nice view for dinner.
Yum, trouts and instant potatoes.
We stayed on this lake a couple days. The weather was low and wet, but cleared after the front passed, the high elevations where we were headed got some good snow.
We got frost most nights, this was a heavy one.
Frosty flower.
Skeet on the trail. We left Pete behind, it was tough, but in the end it was really nice having only one dog. Skeet carried all his food, his pack was 12 pounds.
Gus with his pack.
Heck of a nice campsite.
Fished this lake for Golden Trout, scenery was better than the fishing.
Stingy lake would only give up this little minnow.
Nice meadow.
View from the divide at about 11,500 feet. Our tent is in there in the center.
Ate lunch on the divide. This is a standard lunch for us. Cheese, dried fruit, and venison sausage that we made.
Gus on a snow field.
We moved on to explore some other lakes a few miles away. It was a little tough to find a camp as nice as the previous one. Here is Skeet guarding the tent from potentially marauding Pika and Marmots.
Pika about to commence marauding.
Marmot deciding if he should commence marauding.
Gus fishing in a lake full of hungry, but stunted Brookies.
Makings for a feast.
We had some really, nice clear weather there. Airing out day.
We fished another lake and I had determined it nearly void of fish, but Jen got this one and we ended up catching a load of very nice Brookies in this lake.
Gus caught a nice one, I think this was his last fish of the trip, he was done and ended on a good note.
I got into the action too. Real diversity in the body condition of the fish, some real chunky and some real snaky.
nuther chunky one.
A bigger one.
Still life (by Gus) of two for dinner.
Nearly as pretty as a Sockeye.
Even prettier now.
On our way out, second to last day. Bushwacking a few miles does not always save time.
Next stop was to go to some hot springs and do some stream fishing. Camper dropped at a campsite.
The stream we camped by.
Visit by local wildlife.
First Snake River Cutthroat. Only about 12 inches, but I was giddy as a school girl to pull it out of the stream right by camp on my second or third cast.
Bigger one. I was doing well with soft plastics on a 1/32 ounce jighead
.
Cutthroat po’boy.
Last major stop was in the desert for petrified wood. Here is a branch protruding from the bank (right of pole, little below center).
Gus and I digging a larger branch out. We found some neat stuff.
Doing some shooting his .22 in the badlands.
First shot by Gus with his .410.
The photos are from our family trip to WY. The trip centered on a backpacking trip in the Wind River Range, but we were also able fit a few other things in too. We have not been backpacking since Gus was born, and we wanted to spend some time in the backcountry on this trip to start back at it. In 2012 we spent a couple months in WY and camped and fished all around the lower elevations of the Wind River Range and left with the plan that we needed to get up into the mountains in the wilderness when we got back.
Here is the view of the mountains as we were driving through the sage headed to the trailhead.
We dropped the camper near the trailhead the evening before going in. Having the camper at the trailhead for a shower and cold beer the night before and the night after going in to the backcountry is sure nice.
The trail we took had us starting just under 9,000 feet and our plans were to get up to camp in an area among the peaks at over 10,500. This is one of the meadows we passed through.
The first lake we camped on, just 6 or 7 miles from the trailhead. Carrying gear and food for 2 adults and a kid for 10 days on your back means some heavy packs and moving slow since an 8 year old eats a lot, but can not carry much. Our planned route would take us past a number of lakes and into the alpine. We wanted to hit the higher elevation lakes soon after ice-out. The ice broke early this year, and the earliest we could get there with the 15th of July, which worked well. This lake seemed to get a lot of pressure, but we camped around the back side and the fishing was excellent.
View of the lake with our camp in there.
Better view of camp.
Pretty little bay.
It was just about a fish on every cast as long as you kept moving after you caught a couple.
Here I am unhooking a Cutthroat that Gus hooked.
Gus with one of many Brookies.
Careful release. When handling fish be sure not to disturb outer layer on fish and be sure not to splatter butter on your clothes.
Nice view for dinner.
Yum, trouts and instant potatoes.
We stayed on this lake a couple days. The weather was low and wet, but cleared after the front passed, the high elevations where we were headed got some good snow.
We got frost most nights, this was a heavy one.
Frosty flower.
Skeet on the trail. We left Pete behind, it was tough, but in the end it was really nice having only one dog. Skeet carried all his food, his pack was 12 pounds.
Gus with his pack.
Heck of a nice campsite.
Fished this lake for Golden Trout, scenery was better than the fishing.
Stingy lake would only give up this little minnow.
Nice meadow.
View from the divide at about 11,500 feet. Our tent is in there in the center.
Ate lunch on the divide. This is a standard lunch for us. Cheese, dried fruit, and venison sausage that we made.
Gus on a snow field.
We moved on to explore some other lakes a few miles away. It was a little tough to find a camp as nice as the previous one. Here is Skeet guarding the tent from potentially marauding Pika and Marmots.
Pika about to commence marauding.
Marmot deciding if he should commence marauding.
Gus fishing in a lake full of hungry, but stunted Brookies.
Makings for a feast.
We had some really, nice clear weather there. Airing out day.
We fished another lake and I had determined it nearly void of fish, but Jen got this one and we ended up catching a load of very nice Brookies in this lake.
Gus caught a nice one, I think this was his last fish of the trip, he was done and ended on a good note.
I got into the action too. Real diversity in the body condition of the fish, some real chunky and some real snaky.
nuther chunky one.
A bigger one.
Still life (by Gus) of two for dinner.
Nearly as pretty as a Sockeye.
Even prettier now.
On our way out, second to last day. Bushwacking a few miles does not always save time.
Next stop was to go to some hot springs and do some stream fishing. Camper dropped at a campsite.
The stream we camped by.
Visit by local wildlife.
First Snake River Cutthroat. Only about 12 inches, but I was giddy as a school girl to pull it out of the stream right by camp on my second or third cast.
Bigger one. I was doing well with soft plastics on a 1/32 ounce jighead
.
Cutthroat po’boy.
Last major stop was in the desert for petrified wood. Here is a branch protruding from the bank (right of pole, little below center).
Gus and I digging a larger branch out. We found some neat stuff.
Doing some shooting his .22 in the badlands.
First shot by Gus with his .410.
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