Chasing Golden Trout high in the Cascades

Thanks for sharing your quest for goldens, Jason. Echoing your comments, I'm glad you made it out with minimal injury. That's a lot of yellowjacket stings, though.

I've done some pretty nutty things in relation to trout quests, and understand the mentality. At 65, I'm getting more and more careful--though some of my thirty to forty year-old fishing buddies wouldn't join me in a few fast riffles this spring, and called me crazy later. No swims this season, though. Years as a whitewater guide usually show what is doable and when to back off. And a staff helps.

With your well balanced prose, you took me step by step to a lake I'm sure I'll never see in person and the photography for your narrative is, as always, breathtaking. I look forward to your next adventure, and only hope it will be a little less infused with risk. Tight lines.

Jason, spectacular photos from a spectacular adventure! Risky? Sure, all such ultimate adventures are. You just have to keep your head about you. I once found myself in 5-foot waves on Lake Superior in my little yellow kayak - all of 11'6" long. On top of that, while trying to troll with a heavy spinning rod and diving Rapala, I hooked something - either the bottom or a big lake trout, but whatever it was, it wouldn't move! So here I am in my tiny yellow boat bobbing about stuck to something getting smacked in the face by ice-cold waves...I cut the line and paddled like a mother! Little did I know that I was dragging my landing net behind me like an anchor too...as you did, I lived to tell the tale. And as with you, I'M NOT DOING THAT EVER AGAIN!

The difficulties make it all worth it, though, especially with scenery like that, and ya even got a few fish, including your target species! So, after you're done beating yourself up over it, give yourself a pat on the back for being tougher than you think you are. I sure did after that Isle Royale trip, actually both of them. That's what those crazy adventures are for!

Jonathon

Thanks Jason, that is a wonderful story with great pictures to show us the difficulty of you endured. Makes me wish I was about 30 years younger, I would have loved an adventure like that. I admire your fortitude, its the things that test us that make us better.

Mike.