[Tom]

WARNING: long winded trip report! I had always been intrigued by the 100 hikes description to Turquoise Lake, sprinkled with phrases like "mean and nasty", "too strenuous for most folks to reach in a day", "a nice bit to sucker you in", and ending with the question "was it worth it?" This weekend I decided I would find out. After a leisurely Friday morning getting my pack weight below 27 lbs I left the house at 9 AM, reaching the Icicle Creek trailhead just before noon. As I hiked down the trail I sampled delicious red thimble berries, my favorite. In a little over a mile the trail reaches the confluence of French Creek and Icicle Creek and a beautiful picture spot. After snapping a few pictures I headed over the footbride and turned left on the French Creek trail. Less than 4 miles from the road the 100 hikes book says to look for an inviting campsite on the left and fill up with water for the steep hot climb ahead. I did so, being swarmed by flies and wondering if I was a fool for not bringing my headnet in my zeal to cut pack weight. A little further on I noticed another, much larger campsite with easier access to water. 5 miles from the road I noticed a trail heading right, marked only by a yellow piece of paper labeled "temporary sign" with no information other than the (obvious) direction of the French Creek trail. I guessed the trail heading right was my turn off, the "back door" entrance to the French Ridge trail. This part of the hike is steep and hot but nowhere near as bad as the 100 Hikes book makes it sound. About half way up the flies had disappeared and the views opened up. Eventually I reached a small basin and an unmarked junction heading left to Turquoise Lake. The rest of the way is a little overgrown in spots and has some ups and downs, but again is nowhere near as bad as the 100 hikes book suggests (particularly since the majority is down hill). A little before 7 PM I reached the windy shores of Turquoise Lake and the largest firepit I have ever seen erected in the backcountry, no doubt left by horsemen. I found the lake quite unimpressive and must admit to growing disappointment as I scoped out the two meager campsites on the brushy northern shore. I crossed the polluted logjam hoping to find better, muttering "standard 100 Hikes lake fare". I noticed a small peninsula on the south shore and crossed my fingers. Upon reaching it I was delighted to find a superb camp with a firepit built against a rocky slab that provided shelter from the constant breeze. Best of all, part of the peninsula is a little island, easily accessible by a hop on a log. My sub-par opinion of this lake began to change. After dinner I decided to take a dip in the lake and was amazed at how deep and warm it was. This is a very swimmable lake. Then next morning I awoke at dawn to find quite a spectacle. Gone was the constant breeze of the night before that had whipped up foam on the rocks and made you glad you brought a water filter, replaced by a lake as clear as glass if not for fish jumping everywhere. I got out my camera and started snapping away. Once the sun had risen high enough in the sky the wind returned, making for far less scenic picture taking. After some hot chocolate and a bagel I decided to try my hand at fishing. Earlier this year I found a tiny Dick Nite spoon on the way back from Delta Lake and decided to give it a try. On my first cast I reeled in a beautiful 10" cutthroat with a reddish underbelly. I wasn't up for eating fish or lugging any extra weight home so I decided to throw him back. Removing the hook was a major pain so I decided to crimp the barb after that. Over the next couple hours fishing was amazing - I was hooking feisty 8-10" trout on every fourth cast or so. After a while this got old so I decided to try out my new 2 lb. Curtis Raft. Wow, what a fun way to enjoy a lake! I brought along my pole but found fishing from shore to be more relaxing since I didn't have to worry about drifting onto a sharp rock or branch. I laid the fishing pole down only to find fish hooking themselves on my lure dangling in the water. OK, now before the fisherfolk get too worried, let me reiterate I am not a fisherman, really , and normally I wouldn't mention fishing in a trip report, but after talking to Brain Curtis it sounds like this lake has too many reproducing trout and would benefit from a few more fishing poles. In the mid afternoon the wind started picking up so I decided to raft back to camp before whitecaps formed. I did a little more fishing from the shore to kill the time - unfortunately one fish swallowed the hook very deep, so I had to eat him. He was quite tasty, but next time I think I'll leave him for the bears unless I bring another pot - fish flavored hot chocolate doesn't taste too good. Since leaving the trail junction at Icicle Creek on Friday I had not seen another soul and was beginning to wonder if I would until my return, but was surprised to spot another fisherman at the logjam late Saturday afternoon. After eating dinner I hiked over to say hello but his dog was more talkative than he so I bid farewell and headed back to camp. Sunday morning was more of the same. Pictures, jumping fish, solitude, and eventually wind. I packed things up and was on the trail by 10 AM. About a half mile before reaching the junction with the French Ridge trail I noticed a path heading northwesterly cordoned off by a few small branches. I figured this must be the trail to Lake Cuitin and decided to check it out. It climbed steadily in a mile or so to the pass above Lake Cuitin and offered some excellent high country roaming. I would highly recommend this detour, assuming you have the energy. At the pass I was greeted with some excellent views to the north including Glacier Peak. I was wondering why I had heard so many choppers in the last couple of days and now it became clear - a large fire was burning on the other side of the ridge. I was glad I hadn't gone to Square and Swallow Lakes (per my original plan) as it looked to be in that general direction. After taking a few pictures I dumped the heavy gear out of my pack and descended the steep slopes to Lake Cuitin. This lake is nothing to write home about and I wouldn't recommend descending unless you are a fisherman, lake bagger, or just want some exercise. After a brief fishing stint I headed back to the pass and eventually the junction with the French Ridge trail. I decided to make a loop out of this hike and follow the ridge trail on the way back. Just before reaching the site of the old lookout a chopper passed directly over me, immediately made a sharp u-turn, hovered for a bit, then proceeded to land at lookout site. At first I figured they mistook me for a lost hiker, but in the 5 minutes it took me to hike briskly to the lookout I began to wonder if perhaps the fire was spreading rapidly and they were planning to evacuate me. That would be cool I thought, and what a view I would have on the way down! However, just before reaching the lookout I was disappointed to hear the rotor speed up and see the chopper lift off. I did not look for evidence, but my guess is someone just needed to take a leak bad. As far as the lookout site, it was a bit disappointing. The surrounding trees have grown high enough that there are better views from the trail. Not much else to say, other than the ridge trail has lots of long, unnecessary switchbacks. Reached the car by 6 PM and Zeke's just before 8 PM. So overall, was it worth it? You bet!

[Dean]

One of the best trip reports I've seen. Great job of reporting Tom.

[hikerjo]

You should learn how to fly fish! Thats what I am trying to do. I bought a fly rod for $1.00 at a garage sell, and tried to learn how to use it over the weekened. Every time I tryied to cast all the string piles up about 10 feet infront of me. And I got a big blister on my thumb. Good trip report.

[MtnGoat]

beginner mistake #1: trying to "throw" the line with the rod. #2: reversing direction too quickly. you want to move the rod between 10 and 2 and stop it sharply, then watch as the line sails past and do *not* reverse direction until the line is fully laid out in the air but before it starts to fall. too early and you "crack the whip", too late and you cast a pile of nothing and it all tangles up. paradoxically, the more line you have out, the easier it gets to cast, to a point anyway, because some added weight helps smooth things out. Also, counterintuitively the more line you have out, the *slower* the rate of your rod reversals, because of the time it takes for the longer length to lay itself out for the next reversal. forward to 10, hard stop, wait for line to lay out, reverse to 2, hard stop, wait for line to lay out, and repeat. Watching is crucial when you are learning. Eventually you will learn by feel when the maximum loading is reached, but it takes time, and even so often you must watch anyway to make sure your backcast is not in danger of getting hung up in the bushes. It helps to pay attention to the physics of what is happening, the rod is acting as a spring and the maximum deflection of the tip occurs right when the line is stretched out straight for or aft. This is also why you want a good grip and solid "stop", the line should load the tip and if you allow your wrist to bend instead of the line bending the rod, you're losing the spring action. with all due respect to brian, I personally prefer a lake loaded with decent 10 inchers to one you fish all darned day for two lunkers.

[Brian Curtis]

A lake full of reproducing 10" fish can handle a lot of fishing pressure because the lake is at maximum capacity, and no matter how many you pull out the following year's progeny will fill the holes left by the fish that were caught. So basically no matter what you do the lake will always be full of 10" fish and a bit of publicity won't change that. It is very difficult to fish a lake full of stunted fish down.

[hikerjo]

My fly rod is more of a whip, then anything else. Once I got annoyed at not being able to cast, I found out quickly that the line can easily break the sound barrier, making a nice loud CrAcK! Thanks for the help, ill have to give it another try. Like I said I bought my rod, string, and reel as a package for $1, so I dont have much to loose.

[MtnGoat]

you're pretty close to my place, if you're interested we can skip up to the Md Fk Snoq some nite after work (or day if you're available) and get in a couple hours of practice. It really helps to get the pointers in person and a bit of demo.

[hikerjo]

All my stuff is at my vacation home. When I go over there next week i'll give it another try and see what I can do.

[brownster145]

Great trip report, Tom. I just spent my week at a similarly productive fishing lake. Flyfishing is more challenging, isn't it? Andrew

[salish]

Tom, that was a really great report. I think you should stop reading hiking books and start writing them instead. As for fish, I'm just as interested in big fish as anyone else, but sometimes I do love to fish these lakes where you have a fish on almost every cast. Next time you can put a couple of split shot on that line and troll your Dick Nite from your raft and catch a big boy. Anyway, great report, thanks. Cliff

[Backpacker Joe]

Great report TD. Hey, did you ever go on that other trip? If not, do you want to? TB