just got back from the great state of wyoming...........the backcountry in particular. we went to the wilderness area in the shoshonee/arapaho reservation outside of lander, wy.
from dallas, wyoming is an 18 hr (1150mi) car ride. that part sucks. elevation from here to there goes from 600 to 6500.......more on that later.
getting ready for the trip i had been doing cardio of some sort 6 days a week. got my heartbeat to 61 at rest(from 71). for a 38 yr old i thought i had it covered. i was a little worried about carrying a 50lb pack up the mountain due to last yrs mx related blown up achilles. the achilles wasnt a problem but the altitude still jacked with me.
we spent the night in lander in an effort to let our bodies catch up to the altitude. the next morning we made our way up the mountain to the trail head. we got out at 8000ft and put on the boots and packs. off we went. the first part of the trail is uphill.......for two miles. we gained 2100ft. then we dropped back in over the next 4 miles and lost about 1000ft. the objective was the many lakes containing many fish.
at a junction in the trail, i said bye to our group because i wanted a few days by myself. we made plans to hook up in three days at a predetermined point. by midafternoon, i had made my intended destination and boy was i wiped out. this is the earliest that i have made this trip and it was the hottest and not to mention the mosquitos. they were horrendous. i kept sweating the bug juice off and didnt have a head net. (first time i have ever forgotten it). they ate me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. i set up the tent and had to resort to climbing into my rain gear for relief from the buzzers. i figured its better to sweat than lose my blood. after setting up camp i broke out the ole flyrod and commenced to whooping the fish. brook trout (prettiest freshwater fish alive) were up to the task as i caught one right after the other. there is nothing better than a stream no more than 2.5ft deep full of fish. it was like fishing in a swimming pool. you could see every strike. awesome as it was i started feeling bad. a general malaise if you will. i knew it was related to the altitude so i popped some asprin and tried to take it easy.
the next morning i still felt crappy and had lost all of my appetite. those who know me, i assure you i did not want to eat anything. for some reason everytime i get in the mountains my body refuses to eat. i call it fat camp for outdoorsman. i usually lose 10-12 lbs on a weeks trip up there. if there is anybody who can tell me why this is so, please speak up. we do disinfect our drinking water with tincture of iodine......may be related? still battling the mosquitos and more of the brookies made up the rest of the day.
the next day found me on the trail again as i moved in another 2 miles. i was feeling a bit better but still not eating. i made camp by another gorgeous alpine lake called mohvo. did some more fishing(catiching). next morning moved up the trail on a dayhike to fish another lake with spinning tackle. i wiped em out. while on the streams, fish counts of 300 fish per day are not uncommon. they are usually small though 4-14". in the lakes the fish are bigger. i caught 40-50 and they run from 10-20". big brookies, rainbows, and cutthroat trout are the norm.
i had to pack up and head to the rendevouz point which was called raft lake. i met up with the rest of my party. i had 5 days of solo and was ready to meet back up with humans again. while soloing i had come across bear tracks several times and let me tell you that is the sort of thing that can keep you up at night. the four of us gab a bit about what we had seen/caught before heading down the river to our last camp. that camp is at twin lakes. its still just us. we have been in the woods for 5 days and still havent seen anybody but our party. they had packed in their fishing tubes and hit the lake. i headed to my favorite......the little wind river for two more days of perfect fly fishing. the weather was awesome and the bugs were less intense at twins. then it was over. time to go home. we headed up the hill so we could go down the mountain. four hours later we are pulling off packs and piling in the truck discussing what we were going to eat when we got to town.
in general, backpacking is a fine activity, but i dont do it for my health. its all about the FISHING. i can get a whole year of fish catching done in one week. being away from civilization makes you appreciate things like real food, washer machines, air conditioning, your spouse and kids..ect. backcountry does have a way about clearing your head and getting you out of the rut. if you have never done it, give it a try. its not easy but the rewards are equally bigger.
now for the very best thing about the end of this trip is that I CAN RIDE MY DIRTBIKE AGAIN. i havent been able to ride since memorial day! i was put on a no dirtbike diet by others in my party due to last years snafu. i got hurt on the mx track 10 days before we were going to leave. that messed up some peoples vacations and i never heard the end of it.
from dallas, wyoming is an 18 hr (1150mi) car ride. that part sucks. elevation from here to there goes from 600 to 6500.......more on that later.
getting ready for the trip i had been doing cardio of some sort 6 days a week. got my heartbeat to 61 at rest(from 71). for a 38 yr old i thought i had it covered. i was a little worried about carrying a 50lb pack up the mountain due to last yrs mx related blown up achilles. the achilles wasnt a problem but the altitude still jacked with me.
we spent the night in lander in an effort to let our bodies catch up to the altitude. the next morning we made our way up the mountain to the trail head. we got out at 8000ft and put on the boots and packs. off we went. the first part of the trail is uphill.......for two miles. we gained 2100ft. then we dropped back in over the next 4 miles and lost about 1000ft. the objective was the many lakes containing many fish.
at a junction in the trail, i said bye to our group because i wanted a few days by myself. we made plans to hook up in three days at a predetermined point. by midafternoon, i had made my intended destination and boy was i wiped out. this is the earliest that i have made this trip and it was the hottest and not to mention the mosquitos. they were horrendous. i kept sweating the bug juice off and didnt have a head net. (first time i have ever forgotten it). they ate me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. i set up the tent and had to resort to climbing into my rain gear for relief from the buzzers. i figured its better to sweat than lose my blood. after setting up camp i broke out the ole flyrod and commenced to whooping the fish. brook trout (prettiest freshwater fish alive) were up to the task as i caught one right after the other. there is nothing better than a stream no more than 2.5ft deep full of fish. it was like fishing in a swimming pool. you could see every strike. awesome as it was i started feeling bad. a general malaise if you will. i knew it was related to the altitude so i popped some asprin and tried to take it easy.
the next morning i still felt crappy and had lost all of my appetite. those who know me, i assure you i did not want to eat anything. for some reason everytime i get in the mountains my body refuses to eat. i call it fat camp for outdoorsman. i usually lose 10-12 lbs on a weeks trip up there. if there is anybody who can tell me why this is so, please speak up. we do disinfect our drinking water with tincture of iodine......may be related? still battling the mosquitos and more of the brookies made up the rest of the day.
the next day found me on the trail again as i moved in another 2 miles. i was feeling a bit better but still not eating. i made camp by another gorgeous alpine lake called mohvo. did some more fishing(catiching). next morning moved up the trail on a dayhike to fish another lake with spinning tackle. i wiped em out. while on the streams, fish counts of 300 fish per day are not uncommon. they are usually small though 4-14". in the lakes the fish are bigger. i caught 40-50 and they run from 10-20". big brookies, rainbows, and cutthroat trout are the norm.
i had to pack up and head to the rendevouz point which was called raft lake. i met up with the rest of my party. i had 5 days of solo and was ready to meet back up with humans again. while soloing i had come across bear tracks several times and let me tell you that is the sort of thing that can keep you up at night. the four of us gab a bit about what we had seen/caught before heading down the river to our last camp. that camp is at twin lakes. its still just us. we have been in the woods for 5 days and still havent seen anybody but our party. they had packed in their fishing tubes and hit the lake. i headed to my favorite......the little wind river for two more days of perfect fly fishing. the weather was awesome and the bugs were less intense at twins. then it was over. time to go home. we headed up the hill so we could go down the mountain. four hours later we are pulling off packs and piling in the truck discussing what we were going to eat when we got to town.
in general, backpacking is a fine activity, but i dont do it for my health. its all about the FISHING. i can get a whole year of fish catching done in one week. being away from civilization makes you appreciate things like real food, washer machines, air conditioning, your spouse and kids..ect. backcountry does have a way about clearing your head and getting you out of the rut. if you have never done it, give it a try. its not easy but the rewards are equally bigger.
now for the very best thing about the end of this trip is that I CAN RIDE MY DIRTBIKE AGAIN. i havent been able to ride since memorial day! i was put on a no dirtbike diet by others in my party due to last years snafu. i got hurt on the mx track 10 days before we were going to leave. that messed up some peoples vacations and i never heard the end of it.
