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Please click here for – Part Two
Trappers Lake
“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed…” — Wallace Stegner
Thank god Arthur Carhart was visionary. He was a young man when he was assigned a project by the U.S. Forest Service (still in its childhood) to survey building a road around Trappers Lake and lay out lots for recreation cabins. While working on the project he came to a profoundly radical conclusion – it should not be developed. It should be left alone.
His reasoning and passion convinced his superiors to back his plan. “An unprecedented step in Forest Service history.”
His next USFS assignment was in northern Minnesota where he again worked on land planning. Carhart again suggested the area not be developed with roads and buildings. Although he only worked for the USFS for four years, because of his vision we have Trappers Lake in Colorado and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. But, more importantly, we had the birth of the idea that some places should be left as they are and not touched by development. Thank god for Arthur Carhart.
It was a 51-mile drive (41 on dirt) from the small town of Yampa to reach Trappers Lake. We arrived in the early afternoon, our first visit here. There are five small campgrounds (instead of one big one). All are above and away from the lake on its north side. We found very few campsites occupied – nice and quiet here - and settled into the one we liked best. In short order we needed to get the lay of the land and oriented.
The building storm clouds were impressive.
We took refuge in the camper as the storm moved directly over us. It was another wild ride. It ended with a crescendo of hail pounding down, punctuated with flashes of lightning and deafening thunder. As the storm broke, we pulled on our raingear and walked around the nearby campgrounds. We met a couple from Texas – we call them Texicans – moving into a campsite the use trail we were on came close to. We chatted for a bit. They had moved from a 37’ travel trailer to pitching a large tent. “So much easier and fun!” they exclaimed.
“Do you fly fish?” the woman asked me. “We both do,” she added.
“I do,” I replied. “And Julie’s the trout spotter and net girl.”
“You’ve heard about the trout here?” the man asked but continued. “This lake is chalked full of cutthroat trout and the trout are so dumb even a trained circus poodle could catch them!”
“That’s bold talk,” I said and turned to the woman. “And you need to hold him to it. Let’s see how he performs compared to a trained circus poodle.”
We pretty much had the place to ourselves as we took in the spectacular evening light.
I did not share with the Texicans what I had learned about the cutthroat trout –
“Trappers Lake historically was home to Colorado’s premier wild Colorado River cutthroat trout fishery. Unfortunately, a variety of factors have served to suppress the current population as well as marginalize the value of the fishery due to introgression with Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Recent genetic surveys have revealed that the remaining cutthroat trout are a hybrid swarm. Reduced cutthroat trout numbers have been attributed to a burgeoning brook trout population that is now being thinned by fall trapping efforts. In addition, whirling disease invaded the population in the late 1990s, and has now firmly established itself suppressing recruitment of cutthroat trout further. In an effort to control the spread of the disease, anglers are reminded to decontaminate their gear after fishing at Trappers Lake particularly before heading into the higher elevation lakes such as Little Trappers Lake that remain free of the parasite.”
Source – Colorado River Cutthroat Trout
I believe it would still be fun to fly fish here and we are planning to return. This was a trip to familiarize ourselves with the area and check on accessibility of other high lakes from here. And, I did not have a nonresident fishing license.
The day ended with magical color.
The next morning came with overcast skies and still air.
This area was burned in the 2002 Big Fish Fire. I suspect you have all noticed the standing – and fallen – burned trees. We talked with a young Forest Service employee the day before about it. He said, “Yes, it’s hard to look at it but, with time, it will come back. But there is a benefit. With the trees gone, it is amazing to see the complex moraines from the past glaciation. The geology really stands out.” He was right. The dramatic carved cirque in the photo below is called The Amphitheatre.
We wanted to go high and get up on the plateau to the west. Our read of the sky and weather said the thunderstorms would begin just after noon. Up the trail we went.
We kept a close eye on the sky.
At the top we were careful not to interrupt a mountain chickadee bathing in pool of rainwater.
We continued on to Wall Lake.
Wall Lake is a small, shallow, nutrient rich lake. The air was thick with hatching flies.
We snacked, relaxed, explored the area, before turning back to the trail.
Our timing in regard to the building storms was just about right.
As we descended the glacial valley, rain washed over the terrain east of Trappers Lake.
We soon pulled on our raingear and pack flies and finished our hike back to the camper. It was, again, quite a storm that we rode out in the comfort of our camper. We did not let it interrupt our game of Scrabble. One of us got whooped. Any guess who it was?
The clouds this evening opened up enough to allow dramatic shafts of sunlight through. It was another magical evening at Trappers Lake.
The Lady led us through the maze of deadfall. “Nothing like a little exercise before bed!”
We returned to our home away from home as the alpenglow faded.
The next morning, we made our way to civilization. Surprises are ahead.
Our adventure continues. Please click here for - Part Four.
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