Hike # 24: Louie Lake or Bust...

I finally made it! On Saturday, my husband and I hit the trail to Louie Lake!

The trail was steep, to say the least!

.81 miles up. For some that might not be a big deal, but for Mert and I ... it was heart pounding. This is what I imagine that training for hiking the Alps is like... lots of hikes to high Alpine Lakes like Louie.

The trip was worth it! Even though it was a gray and overcast day, the hike was made more tolerable by cool air, gentle breezes, conversation with my hubby, and a great hiking stick.

After stopping to take this picture... Mert disappeared. No word of where he was headed. No thought of the wife he left behind. No care in the world, except to fish! (I just read about this same fly fisherman's habit on Erik's Fly Fishing blog "Over the Hills" flyfishingboise.blogspot.com - guess it is a common phenomenon. And yes, it is rude!) Fly fishermen - you either love them or  want to smack them upside the head. 

In my case... it was both!

So, I went in search of Mert. I reasoned, "He couldn't have gone far. The entire lake was supposed to be walkable." I caught my composure, and realized that today was about my 24th hike. I figured that I'd find him along the way. 

(I wasn't too worried because our cell phones got 4g coverage up there. Not that he could access his cell phone, because it was in his back pack, which was on shore... ahhhh,

but this blog is not about being the wife of a fly fisherman, it is about hiking.)

After about a 1/4 mile hike, I rounded the bend and found a lone (highly satisfied) fly fisherman on the east side of the lake, tucked into a small bay. 

There he was... pulling in cut throat trout like they were coming for dinner.

"I have a great idea," said the fly fishing husband to his hiker wife, "Let's hike around the lake and I'll stop periodically to fish and you can take pictures of the fish I catch!" So that is what we did...

Besides the smile on his face, these were my favorite shots....

One more thing about being married to a fisherman... you can never be too sure if the stories they tell are... well, a bit enhanced for joy of storytelling. This is what I thought was the case when Mert shouted, "Cutbow!"

"What?", I asked.

"Cutbow! Look at how pretty it is! Look at these colors!" Mert could hardly contain his enthusiasm.

"Cutbow?", I thought my hearing was going. "What is a cutbow?"

"It's a hybrid... a cross between a cut throat and a rainbow trout."

And there it was. I am posting this picture to see if other fly fishermen feel that this is an actual fish. To me, the jury is still out. But if you know this to be a cutbow - I need to hear about it!

The day ended as it started... only it was downhill this time.

 .81 miles downhill, steep, toe nail screaming steep. But ohhhhh, it was so worth it!