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Leafguy
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Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 525 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wenatchee
Leafguy
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PostWed Sep 17, 2003 7:17 pm 
A friend from Holland was going to be over in June and wanted to backpack to a high lake. At 6761' I figured that Lake Ida would be high enough, since he lives about 25' above sea level! I had gone to Ida in 88 on a day hike and still had memories of the beauty of the place. The Chatter Creek (#1580) trail will eventually get you near Lake Ida via the Icicle Ridge trail (#1570) to the Carter Lake junction, but it's a long haul. We had planned to take the same shortcut I took in 88, but due to the loss of many brain cells since then, I took us off the Chatter Ck. trail way too early and we busted a lot of brush instead of going up a rockslide. Thank goodness Daan is a very patient guy. Due to the bad guide, and the fact that we hadn't left till about 5 PM, we camped along one of the many snowbanks on the way. From there we had great views of Mt. Cashmere and the surrounding peaks to the south. Next morning it was up and over the ridge (7000') to the lake. It was every bit as beautiful as I had remembered. Daan was speechless. It was really neat showing him some of "our" part of the world and seeing his reaction. The lake was 90% covered with snow and slush, which was receding quick due to the 75 degree air temp. We camped on the NW side of the lake. There is a good spot at the outlet on the NE side but it was still covered with snow. The bugs were eager to see us. They did respect DEET thank goodness. When we approached the waters edge, a school of 10-12 cutthroat swam slowly out from an ice floe that had blown into the shore. As we watched from shore, another larger school cruise by periodically. They were probably cruising the edge of the open water feeding. I did observe lots of caddis on the bottom near shore. We fished and caught 6-8 fish from 9-14". Surprisingly the females were already showing spawning colors. A dayhiker and his son came in to fish and had decent success with spinners as did Daan. I was flyfishing but had no caddis imitations and couldn't interest them in anything else I had to offer. Although a very nice man, the dayhiker "graciously" left 2 fished he had killed using treble hooks, although we had already turned down his initial offer at which point he had said he would take them home. Those fish were already full of semi mature eggs. I don't have anything against people keeping fish, just don't waste them. Especially in a lake like this where it isn't overpopulated like so many high lakes in our area. I hiked up the hill on the north side looking down to Carter Lk. and Painter Creek. The trail to Lake Augusta (still on my to do list) was still covered with snow. The pics looking back down to Ida were spectacular with the snow and slush still on the lake. We found the right route on the way down. The brush busting was even flagged from the bottom of the rockslide over to the trail. Next year's trip will be a little later, but taking the right shortcut to Ida should allow me to go onto Augusta for a night and exit via the Hatchery Creek trail. I can hardly wait.

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