2009 Woodbury Man-Trip

Last week we had annual man-trip. We did a 46-mile trip back into the Sawtooth National Forest. The fishing and the weather was great! We caught just over 300 trout and the temperature dropped below freezing just once.

(pictures can be seen here)

Day 1
Destination: Yellowbelly to Toxaway Lake

Distance: 7 miles

Elevation Gain: 1500'

The hike didn't seem so tough since it was the first day and everyone seemed to have something to prove to everyone else. Later on in the week, if you are tired it isn't that big of a deal to stop and take a break, but for some reason the first day of hiking is the day to show all the others how much endurance you have. It was basically a gradual uphill climb the entire way. Fishing was good the first day, I think we caught around 60 fish the first day.

The first night was fairly cold. Ethans thermometer read just below 30 degrees if I remember right. All water bottles froze and our sleeping bags, backpacks, equipment, etc was covered in frost. The first night was the only night I was cold.

My food was terrible the first day. Dinner was something like chicken rice without the milk, butter, and everything else the package suggested I use. Like usual, everyone ate the heaviest food in their pack. The only exception was David Sherwood. He made hashbrowns from a raw potato and even carried in a dozen duck eggs from his farm. (on a side note, David had no problem hiking and pretty much ran circles around us the 3 days he was there.

Day 2

Destination: Toxaway to Unnamed Lake #1

Distance: 4.5 miles

Elevation Change: 2500'

Day two was the shortest hike of the five day trip. We started early in the morning and arrived and the lake in plenty of time to fish all the way around it. We caught around 40 fish in this lake. Randy caught two 19"-20" cutthroat trout. I think everyone slept much better this night.

Day 3

Destination: Lake #2 to Ardeth Lake to unnamed lake #3

Distance: 7.5 miles

Elevation Change: 2600'

This lake was one of our favorites. The fish were huge and plentiful. It was obvious that most people don't go this far off the trail. Combined, we caught over 100 fish this day. Three members of our group decided they had experienced enough of what the wild outdoors had to offer and went home early.

We all woke up in the middle of the night to a wolf howling. I looked over at Robert and he pulled his .38 out of his sleeping bag with a smile. I wasn't as happy as he was. Wolves scare the living daylights out of me. We only heard it howl one more time and it sounded quite a distance away. Aside from the wolves, I was in love with the campsite location and hope to return again next year.

Day 4

Destination: unnamed lake #3 to lakes #4, #5 back to Ardeth Lake

Distance: 13 miles

Elevation Change: 2500'

This day may have been the highlight of the trip. As we were looking at the map we noticed a couple of lakes that didn't have a trail into. Being optimistic fishermen we wanted to try fishing those lakes. We decided to hike in using a map and compass, fish the lakes, then get back to Ardeth Lake.

When we arrived at the lakes we were amazed at how many fish were surfacing. In fact, the fish at these two lakes didn't act as though many people made it in there to fish. We caught numerous trout and even some grayling. The lakes were both smaller than the others but quite deep. It was blazing hot and we decided to go for a swim. The water was refreshing to say the least. I don't remember the exact number, but I think we caught around 125 fish this day.

Day 5

Destination: Ardeth Lake to Yellowbelly Trailhead

Distance: 14 miles

Elevation Change: 5100'

This was uphill for only 1800' and then downhill the rest of the way. We weren't planning on going home this day, but the fishing was lousy when we returned to unnamed lake #2. It had been great the second day, but there was a huge hatch of some kind of fly and the fish were gorging themselves and had no interest in hitting our lures and flies.

We decided to leave around 1pm and made it back to the vehicles by 6pm. I made it back to the house around 2:30am. When I saw myself in the mirror I knew I should have brought a hat. I have been peeling the skin off my face ever since.