Sunday was our day to hike up to Barnaby and Southfork Lakes in a quest for golden trout. We had met some people on Saturday who told us where the trailhead was which helped an incredible amount. We got up Sunday morning, had a quick breakfast and finished packing up our bags before starting our trek. Fist thing was fording the river which was incredibly cold at 8:30 am.
We dried our feet and legs, put our pants and shoes on, and started bushwhacking to get to the trailhead.
The hike stated off quite pleasantly, there were many raspberries down in the trees along the trail which was quite different than other hikes I've been on. Then we went up, up and more up. It was almost vertical, or so it felt. The steepness was incredible. We kept going, slowly, but continuing upward, and kept ascending the ridge. We saw some people on the way down who gave us some advice for the fishing but we still had some grueling uphill to go.
Finally we created the ridge, and crossed to the other side where it was completely different. It was much more lush with bigger trees and more vegetation.
The way going was flatter (although still up) and we finally made it up to Barnaby Lake.
We had our lunch and worked around to the windward side of the lake and then tried our hand at carting a few into the water. It was completely unsuccessful. There was a female duck out in the water diving down and seemed to be much more successful getting something than we were.
The scenery was second to none though; Mike took a bit of a nap and I kept unsuccessfully fishing. After about an hour we decided to head up to the Southfork Lakes and see what they were like. It only took about 15 minutes to go up the extra 100m.
We dried our feet and legs, put our pants and shoes on, and started bushwhacking to get to the trailhead.
The hike stated off quite pleasantly, there were many raspberries down in the trees along the trail which was quite different than other hikes I've been on. Then we went up, up and more up. It was almost vertical, or so it felt. The steepness was incredible. We kept going, slowly, but continuing upward, and kept ascending the ridge. We saw some people on the way down who gave us some advice for the fishing but we still had some grueling uphill to go.
Finally we created the ridge, and crossed to the other side where it was completely different. It was much more lush with bigger trees and more vegetation.
The way going was flatter (although still up) and we finally made it up to Barnaby Lake.
We had our lunch and worked around to the windward side of the lake and then tried our hand at carting a few into the water. It was completely unsuccessful. There was a female duck out in the water diving down and seemed to be much more successful getting something than we were.
The scenery was second to none though; Mike took a bit of a nap and I kept unsuccessfully fishing. After about an hour we decided to head up to the Southfork Lakes and see what they were like. It only took about 15 minutes to go up the extra 100m.
As we had been warned by a couple of people, it was really windy up there. Mike didn't even get out his rod to try, but I had my sights on a golden trout so put on my waders (since I had hiked then up this far), grabbed my rod and headed in.
The fishing was tough on a couple of aspects. The lake has a shallow area around the edge, but a deep drop off in the middle. I was trying to cast over the drop off, but I didn't want to get too close and slip or stumble into it; also there were some good boulder piles that made it more challenging to wade. Secondly was the wind. With the wading, it made the water's surface so ripply that you couldn't see where you were stepping. For the fishing I couldn't cast into the wind and had to wait for the near constant wind blasts to ease for a quick second or two to cast.
All of the trouble seemed to be worth it. On a cast, during a lull in the wind, that got out over the drop, I had a strike on my fly and a fish was hooked. I had used a bead head like a few people recommend, and it paid off. I had the fish on for 10-12 seconds when it made a run and jumped and shook out the hook. While it was in the air, I could see the bright red running down the side of its body, confirming my hope that it was a Golden Trout; however, losing the fish was not quite how I wanted to see it.
Golden trout are native to the Kern River system in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, but were transplanted by gold prospectors who hauled them between lakes in coffee pots to expand their range. They arrived in Alberta in the 1950s and 1970s as part of an agreement with the US, and were stocked into 6 high mountain lake systems. The US banned the export of them and their eggs in the 1980s, so these are all the golden trout we have in the province and the country. The provincial government carefully manages the fish population by taking eggs and fry from the lakes with more fish, and putting them in the ones with less. The last time was in 2010, and some people say it was quite a sight as it was all done by helicopter. Golden trout are identified by their golden yellow colour, with red gill covers, 10 dark oval marks on each side on the lateral line, and red slash down their side and belly.
Golden trout are native to the Kern River system in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, but were transplanted by gold prospectors who hauled them between lakes in coffee pots to expand their range. They arrived in Alberta in the 1950s and 1970s as part of an agreement with the US, and were stocked into 6 high mountain lake systems. The US banned the export of them and their eggs in the 1980s, so these are all the golden trout we have in the province and the country. The provincial government carefully manages the fish population by taking eggs and fry from the lakes with more fish, and putting them in the ones with less. The last time was in 2010, and some people say it was quite a sight as it was all done by helicopter. Golden trout are identified by their golden yellow colour, with red gill covers, 10 dark oval marks on each side on the lateral line, and red slash down their side and belly.
After a few more casts with pausing for wind in between, my feet were almost going number, so it was time to get out of the water. We took the 5 minute trail up to see Upper Southfork Lake, and got a great view of both of them.
At that point we were tired and decided it was time to begin our decent back to camp.
We worked our way back down to Barnaby Lake and had a snack then went in the nice part of the forest valley. We came back across onto the top of the ridge where the wind picked up, the trees disappeared and we were presented with the very, very steep slope again. Going down was easier on the lungs and with less sweating than going up, but it was still tough on the legs and knees. At the very bottom of the hill we both ran out of our water, which worked out fine as we were almost back to camp. We continued on the flat part of the trail in the river bottom with lots of raspberry bushes. We got to the trailhead and completed our quick bushwhacking to our river crossing. The water was just as cold in the morning, but felt way more refreshing.
At that point we were tired and decided it was time to begin our decent back to camp.
We worked our way back down to Barnaby Lake and had a snack then went in the nice part of the forest valley. We came back across onto the top of the ridge where the wind picked up, the trees disappeared and we were presented with the very, very steep slope again. Going down was easier on the lungs and with less sweating than going up, but it was still tough on the legs and knees. At the very bottom of the hill we both ran out of our water, which worked out fine as we were almost back to camp. We continued on the flat part of the trail in the river bottom with lots of raspberry bushes. We got to the trailhead and completed our quick bushwhacking to our river crossing. The water was just as cold in the morning, but felt way more refreshing.
We made it back to our site where it felt good to have a good sit in the lawn chair and celebrate the day with a cold Strongbow. We tried some fishing in the last bit of sun, but didn't have any luck. We made up supper before heading back to the river for some evening fishing at last light. There were a few chases and I managed to hook one but the line snapped right at the fly. While this was happening and we were watching the couple small fish rising and taking bugs off the surface, the nearby beaver hopped over a log break in the river and slapped his tail. We both jumped and were quite shocked after the small splashes from the fish.
Without any other luck with the fish we went back up to site and made a fire to enjoy before heading off to bed. It ended up being much windier than the night previous. The wind would get gusts throughout the night that would shake the tent. It would push in on the walls which would lift the floor slightly, so I was jostled awake quite a few times.
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