I’m going to need to enjoy a beer while my toes sink into a brisk alpine lake after we finally finish ascending this mountain pass, I was thinking.We were trying to make it to the top of Summit Pass at over 10,000 feet. We had been sweating and hiking fast up hill for what seemed like forever but what would turn out to be only three miles. Three miles up hill with 2,000 feet altitude gain in the hot sun in the middle of the day is a rough journey.
Thank god at the end of that journey there would be beer and sandwiches.
The top of the pass was totally worth the killer hike as we rested at the top, staring at the red jagged mountain peaks in the distance and inhaling sriracha bacon jerky. ( Is there a better snack on a mountain top!? I think not!)
After the bacon snack we slowly made our way down the long twisting rocky trail; day three of vacation and we had hardly done any fishing yet!
It was time to fish Virginia Lakes!
We had hopes that even though it was mid afternoon the fish at over nine thousand feet would be a little hungry. They were jumping none stop as we cracked the first beers, inhaled sandwiches and set up our fishing lines.
It should have been the perfect situation to fish but try as I might I kept getting my line stuck in weeds or tangled in the deep rocks or breaking off in the depths of the lake!
I was getting so frustrated and felt like my line would never stop getting caught in the weeds ringing the bottom of this pretty alpine lake!
All around me the fish were jumping like crazy but all I managed to do that afternoon was lose a ton of tackle in a gorgeous lake.
I think I set a new record for snapping fishing line and destroying my whole set up.
Maybe I was just tired. I did hike to over 11,000 feet that afternoon, plus that was the second mountain pass I conquered in three days. I may not be back in the shape I was four months ago but my calves are getting more muscular by the day, feeling the burn of hiking in the high sierras.
Now if only my horrible asthma would just calm down a bit and I could stop coughing for a few minutes. It’s hard enough to hike at high elevations over nine thousand feet, it’s really hard when you are coughing none stop!
