[Vanguard]

This is my first trip report, and a pretty short one to boot. Anyways, I along with my buddy Sam backpacked to Isabelle a month and a half ago and the lake was ice free and the ground clear of snow, it was a little cold, but a pretty good trip, so much so that we planned to return again soon. Fast forward to this last Friday. Our plans were to return to the lake, but this time with our buddies Chase and Lisa. Lisa is a veteran backpacker, but new to the PacNW scene and this was Chase's first time ever camping. We decided that Lake Isabelle would present a challenging but rewarding hike to both ourselves and the newcomers. Getting to the mountains is a bit tricky when you are a student and don't own a vehicle. So we left Friday afternoon on the 860 eventually transferring to the 271 to Gold Bar. We got off at the end of the line and began our trek to the trailhead at Rieter Pit. By this time it was dark and we were still miles from the trailhead, but we kept our thumbs out while we were walking and fortunately were picked up by a kind lady who drove us practically out to the pit. Rieter pit and the gravel roads above it are definitely the most happening place in Gold Bar on a Friday night. It seemed there were 4 parties occurring in the hills that night, and a lot of traffic on the logging road we were using to hike up to the lake. We kept our thumbs out and one truck full of high-schoolers slowed down and offered us a ride for "Cash, ass, or grass" It seemed like a decent deal to me and I offered to take them up on it, but then we were told that we would have to share the back with the pitbulls...Needless to say, we declined. We all were pretty happy not to be riding with the pit bulls and soon were picked up by another truck and driven to the mine at which point we cut into the woods and truly began our hike up to the lake. The rest of the hike was rather uneventful, the final section was a bit sketchy in parts, but we made it to the Lake at 1.30 and set-up our tarp tents, hung our food, and bed down for the night as it began to rain, the place was snow free, clear, and warm. The next morning I awoke at 6.05 to a world of white. It had begun snowing in the night and wasn't stopping. Chase was ill-prepared and judging by his chain smoking all morning, cold and miserable, and the fire that we had made was unavoidably dying due to lack of dry wood. By noon that day the snow had not let up, rather, 6-8 inches had accumulated so we decided to cut the trip a night short and head down in time to make the last bus out of Gold Bar, which is what we did. Overall it was a great trip, especially enjoyable was the walk along May Creek road through the outskirts of Gold bar on Saturday Afternoon. It had turned into a fantastic day and the scenery from within the valley was incredible. What was not were all the beer cans and bottles in the ditch along the way. It seemed to be that every 7 feet there was a Rainier, Bud Light, Busch, and then another Rainier. My buddy Sam even found a Mickey's tall can unopened, which he of course prized. Anyways, I postulate that if there was no open container law then people would not be throwing out all their empty beer containers onto the side of the street, and the result would be a less trash along the road. Anyways, thats about it. Overall, the whole trip was less than 24 hours.

The falls

The falls

The lake

The crew

Lake Isabelle's valley from Gold Bar

[whitebark]

Hi Vanguard, Great trip report and welcome to nwhikers! That was a pretty radical bus hike you did. I've done a few myself. With bus hiking, just getting to the trailhead can be half the fun. Here some info that I've put together on Seattle bus hikes: http://www.eskimo.com/~pinyon/bushike/index.html

[jackchinook]

Great report on Isabel. Bold move taking a brand new camper on a trip like that. We had a similar experience about 10 years ago when I was in college...took a bunch of people up by Verlot in March, including one never-have-been-camping girl. It rained the whole time, turned to wet snow, tents leaked, beer and booze ran out too fast, etc. It was her first and last camping experience.

[Vanguard]

Yeah. Getting to the trailhead is half the fun on bus hikes. On our last trip to Isabelle we 4*4'd up a ways towards Isabelle in a Samurai with some guy we met, It is unbelievable where those vehicles can go. We were also heckled by some hungry Russians on their quads. They were asking us some pretty unusual questions such as "Does anyone know you're up here?" and "Do you have any guns for protection?" We brandished our combat knives as an answer. Thats a good story about your trip to Verlot! I think my buddy enjoyed it enough to want to go backpacking again though, he figures if he managed to have a good time on this trip, any would be fun. So I imagine we'll be heading back into the hills in a couple of weeks. I know of a cool spot above Gold Bar where you can see the Seattle skyline, and the whole Skykomish Valley, I believe it is snow free too. Van

[GeoHiker]

Cool report. Isabel isn't the best place to take a first time hiker, but if they liked that trip then you can't find much worse. Climb down the falls must have been fun in that new snow. That road up is about the worse you'll ever see and the 4x4's make it all the way to the side trail and beyond. 20 some years ago I used to drive my Rambler station wagon all the way there, so that road was decent at one time.

[Jamin Smitchger]

Been there done that, three times. I never managed to ever catch a fish out of that lake, but I hear that there are lake trout in there. Due to the garbage problem, I really do not think that I will be back. I did my first (and last) siwash there. It was miserable. I had to keep feeding the fire every thirty minutes because the temperature was about 38 degrees and I did not have warm clothing. I huddled so close to the fire that I burned several holes in my tarp. I only recieved about an hour and a half of sleep that night due to the cold. That was a fun trip though. I enjoyed life alot when I was sixteen.

[GeoHiker]

I have many memorable memories of this lake from my youth some good and some bad. There used to be a trappers cabin near the outlet that made for a good base camp. It was something like Deliverance back then....well kinda like it is now come to think of it ......All setup in the cabin we hear a ruckus coming through the woods and a group of drunk misfits show up. Each carried a case of beer and promptly told us to "get the hell out" We moved over to the large camping spot by the outlet and got very little sleep that night. They were up all night long screaming and drinking. Early the next morning we heard a blood curdling scream. About an hour later one of the drunks came staggering over asking us if we had any first aid supplies. We walked over to see what was going on and one of the guys was sitting on a firewood round moaning with a dirty bloody rag wrapped around his hand. He had cut off at least one of his fingers with an axe. I took a look at all the blood and told them they better get some help and I didn't have first aid supplies for that kind of injury. Fingerless kinda woke up and spewed out some 4 letter words and took a long pull on a whiskey bottle. They managed to get the guy out and down that waterfall which is amazing. At least we didn't see any dead bodies on the way out the next day. That cabin turned into a garbage dump of immense proportions. It got so bad that the FS or ? came in and cleaned up everything. We went back the following year and there was not a speck of garbage, no sign there ever was a cabin. Someone put in a huge effort to clean that place up. I wonder how many truck loads of garbage were flown out of there and where all the lumber went from the cabin. There was no sign that a fire burned it down. There are lake trout in there of very big size. You definitely need a raft to fish it effectively. Isabel is over 200 ft. deep, so a downrigger would be an asset most of the year. Catch it right at iceout when the lakers are cruising the shoreline and you might pull one out. Biggest I've caught is about 8 lbs. I've heard of a 16 lber. and at one time this lake held the state record. The far end of the lake is awesome fishing, but can be a nightmare if the winds come up. This is a fascinating area to explore with wild country just a step away if you have a raft. I don't know if float planes are still allowed to land, but much of the abuse can be attributed to the easy access by them.

[Jamin Smitchger]

Doesn't it have small brookies in it too? I really do not remember too well. I saw one guy pull a small fish out of there. That lake is still trashed up every year. I fished there for six hours once and never caught a thing. I was fishing hard too so I do not know why. It really is sad. When I went there last, there was garbage everywhere.

[Vanguard]

The place was pretty clean and tidy when we were up. There is a metal locked chest full of some gear I presume has been left by seaplane pilots and a few tarps folded on the ground at one of the campsites but no garbage. I too have heard about the lake trout and an abundance of brookies. I have yet to fish it, but I can't wait as I have heard the fishing is fantastic by people that have fished it.

[GeoHiker]

Jamin, were you fishing from shore? I've always had poor luck from that end of the lake. If you bushwack to the rock slides on the N side you'll do better. Problem with the outlet end is how deep the water drops off There isn't much cover or feed other than right at the log jam. About halfway down along the N side you'll find some shallower shoals where avalance debris has come in. That side to the inlet was always the best fishing. When I was up there last year the garbage wasn't too bad. I've seen if far worse. The lock box was there along with 3-4 big tarps. One brand new tarp still in the package. There was a rubber raft that looked in halfway decent shape, so I was suprised that was left. Vanguard I wouldn't say the fishing is fantastic. There's good fishing at times, but like any large lake the fishing can be tough. You need to spend quite a bit of time exploring the water to find the fish. Wind can be a problem, so large lakes like Isabel aren't my first choice.

[MtnGoat]

it sounds like all the isabel trips, and mine, have a common denominator... rain and wet firewood. man that stuff in there is soaked and soaked good. this valley is where raindrops have their little "meet the cascades" party. the far end of the lake is the nice end... but you gotta really want it...and if you cheat, woe betide unto thee if the wind comes up. trust me, i know.

[Sore Feet]

Weather was beautiful when I went...

[Karen]

Last time I was there I left/lost my trekking pole near the waterfall. Finder's keepers. Karen

[GeoHiker]