Forums Forums Public High Lakes Forum High lakes discussion Crater Lakes- Trip Report

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    • #81265
      brownster145
      Participant

        “I spent 4 days (8/13-8/16) at Crater Lakes in Okanogan National Forest. (Trail 416). The weather was great, the bugs weren't bad, I saw no other people the whole time, it was a beautiful destination, and the fishing was superb. I got a chance to view the Perseid Meteor Showers also. ^^^^There were a few deer, some cougar tracks, and an eagle (golden perhaps?) that was fishing at the lower lake. I stayed at the upper lake, which can be reached by a sketchy trail around the southwest shore of the lower lake. ^^^^These are both high lakes, typical of the Sawtooth Range, at about 7000 ft. The lakes still thaw out relatively early, regardless of the high elevation, due to the drier climate of these eastern mountains. This was evidenced by the lack of any snow or mud, (except for a few patches on the north face of a high peak overlooking the lake) and also the well-fed fish.^^^^I caught one in the lower lake at 14″, though most of the other fish there were smaller. The upper lake had larger fish averaging 11-12″ with a couple around 13″. The fish in the upper lake were west-slope cutts (I believe). The fish in the lower lake seemed to have thicker spotting and lacked red bellies, but they still had the larger underlying spots of west-slopes. Something like a coastal-west-slope hybrid? ^^^^I also took a day hike to the top of nearby peak 8174. I snapped some good pictures which I should be able to post in the near future. All in all it was a great trip.^^^^Andrew”

      • #84889
        Brian Curtis
        Keymaster

          “Nice trip report. I went into those lakes many years ago. It was early in the year and we were heading to a lake from Slate Peak. We started hiking but soon found ourselves postholing through deep snow and the weather was horrible with snow falling. We bailed out and went down to Twisp and picked up a FS map of the area. We picked out the Craters as our alternate destination because we figured we could get there without a topo. If we had known they were over 7000 feet we probably would have figured they were frozen and not bothered. We went in and the lakes were wide open. They seem to get warm air coming directly up from eastern WA and open up very early. The weather was perfect not a cloud in the sky. I couldn't believe it, snowing on Slate Peak, cloudless on the Chelan Crest. It sounds like the fishing hasn't changed much in the last 20 or 25 years, though I don't think we caught anything nearly as large as 14″ so maybe its gotten a bit better.”

        • #84890
          Cliff Church
          Participant

            “Thanks Andrew, for a great report!^^Cliff”

          • #84891
            sooperfly
            Participant

              “Here is a pic of upper Crater Lake, as seen from Raven Ridge.”

            • #84892
              brownster145
              Participant

                “Great shot! Yep, that looks familiar.^^^^Facing in the opposite direction, could you have seen Libby Lake? It's the highest lake in Okanogan National Forest, and it reportedly has excellent fishing.^^^^Andrew”

              • #84893
                sooperfly
                Participant

                  “Yes, you can see Libby. Here is a shot of it. I grew up in that area, so I have been to a lot of those lakes. As far as Libby having excellent fishing, I guess that would depend on your definition of excellent. :P”

                • #84894
                  brownster145
                  Participant

                    “Well, here are those pictures I promised. They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but that's what I get for using a disposable camera and scanning the pics with a mediocre scanner. ^^^^Oh well. Nothing comes close to being there, anyway. :)^^^^Andrew”

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