4th of July Backpack

Cathy, Jaimie and I went on a multi-day backpack with the Resers over the 4th of July into the Zirkel Wildness. We took the trail into Rainbow Lake, and did some day hikes up to Slide lake. I was hoping to avoid the people but it turns out that is a pretty popular area. It's hard to find a decent campsite too. Most of the good sites are illegal due to proximity to water. We thought we had an OK place but the rangers came though and booted us out. Due to cooperation we didn't get fined but others in the area did. Some even got multiple fines for fires, and illegal campsites. The mosquitos were unbelievably bad up there. We spent most of our time fighting them off, and it caused a lot of stress with the kids. Think I'll have to invest in some of those bug suits.

Saw the cutthroat trout spawning in the stream. Tons of them herded up in pools trying to get upstream. They weren't biting very well although I did manage to catch a few. They were so thick you could throw a hook into the pack and snag them if you were desperate. I was releasing them, but Saturday when the crowds moved in it got ugly. Kids were wadding in the stream trying to catch them by hand, and really churning up the stream. No wonder the cutthroats are having a hard time sustaining in the high country.

There's an amazing amount of snow still up there. Huge drifts 10 feet deep are still common. Guess they weren't kidding when they said the northern mountains got an above average snow pack. Check out Gary demonstrating the frontal chest slide. Lots of cool glacier lillies as well.