Ice-Out Report

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    • #81213
      Cliff Church
      Participant

        “This is not really a fishing report, but I have a buddy who is a mountain climber and reports ice conditions to me on whichever lakes he sees while climbing. Here’s his latest report:^^Yesterday I was on the top of Surprise Mountain [6330] and can report on the^^ following lakes:^^^^ Surprise Lake [4508]: Ice free with snow around most of the shoreline.^^ Trail to lake mainly snow free until the last half mile from lake.^^^^ Glacier Lake[4806]: Same as Surprise Lake^^^^ Deceptions Lakes [5053]: Some ice floating on the north end with snow around^^ the shoreline.^^^^ The tail to Surprise Gap is totally snow covered requiring the use of ice^^ axes. There were minimal bugs which was a pleasant surprise.^^^^”

      • #84472
        Dave Weyrick
        Participant

          “Thanks for the report Salish. Could you have your friend climb Mt. Chaval this weekend so I could have an ice report on Boulder, Crater, and Chaval? (grin). Really, what does anyone think of these lakes being open by Monday? What about Bench, Woods and Slim? I suppose I better stay in the Olympics till hydro weekend, just to be certain of fishable water…..then again I do have my Curtis icebreaker…. (grin).”

        • #84473
          DJH
          Participant

            ” I bet Bench has some open water, but I am certain that woods is covered. Two years ago in mid August, Woods had only a 30ft ring of melt with huge logs laying in the middle of the lake(on ice).^^ Does anyone know of the condition of the log crossing after 6 mile? I think I’ve had my fill of Bench, thousands of 10 inch cutts. The few we pulled out of Woods were scrappy and around 14 in. Didn’t go to slim I’m sorry to say. “

          • #84474
            Anonymous

              “Dave,^^^^I’m headed into Boulder Lake tonight after work. This via the ridge that divides Buck creek from Tenas. I’ll give a report out Monday.^^The normal route into the Lake is in fairly good condition. The first 3/4 miles have been cleared of some brush (gee, I wonder who did that?).^^I wanted to get a look at some bear activity on the slopes of Peak 5856 and Boulder, thus, the divide route in. I should be able to see Pear and that sliver of a pot off the NE shoulder of Boulder Peak.^^^^Regards,”

            • #84475
              Brian Curtis
              Keymaster

                High lake trivia: That little sliver of a lake SE of Pear Lake is called Bivouac Lake. Pear Lake was originally called Pearl Lake.

              • #84476
                Anonymous

                  “Thank you Brian.^^^^Has Bivouac ever been stocked with anything? Will it even support fish?^^It’s sure small. Heck, so is Pearl for that matter.^^^^I’ll know by tomorrow evening or Sunday morning if anything is in those!”

                • #84477
                  Brian Curtis
                  Keymaster

                    “Bivouac has never been stocked with anything. At just over 1 acre it is plenty large enough to hold fish, but I’ve never been there and I don’t know if it is deep enough to support fish. Pear/Pearl is nearly 8 acres.”

                  • #84478
                    Anonymous

                      “OK, Thanks Brian.^^^^Now, here comes a question out of sheer ignorance:^^^^When I get to Bivouac tomorrow, what should I look for (survey?) to determine if it has good trout habitat?^^Of course it will probably have to be ice free to make any kind of meaningful observations. Luckily it’s a lake with an SE aspect.^^I was at 5,200 feet last Sunday, just a few hundred yards south of the old lookout (Peak 5856 , a.k.a. Huckelberry Point) and the snow was a couple of feet deep still.^^Bivouac sits near 5600.^^ ^^Are depth of lake, plant life and cover a few of the common sense, obvious things that should be looked for?^^^^”

                    • #84479
                      Brian Curtis
                      Keymaster

                        “Those are exactly the things to look for. Also look for amphibians (alamanders, frogs), and zooplankton (red copepods) in the water. ^^^^All of the above observations will be valuable, but since it has no stocking history we will most likely never be able to stock it. “

                      • #84480
                        Anonymous

                          “OK, Thank You!^^^^I’ll take a look anyway since I’ll be there. Hopefully the snow will cooperate. The weather forecast looks good.^^^^Correction: I looked at my map notes for last weekend and realize now that I was actually taking recon photos from a position north of the old lookout (elev. 5483) but, not quite to Peak 5856.^^Sure is alot of snow on the backside of Green Mountain. Mount Buckindy was magnificent. ^^^^”

                        • #84481
                          Ken McLeod
                          Participant

                            “I’d be wlling to bet that most all those lakes are still mostly frozen, seeing that Sauk Mtn. Lake was 80% last Wed. july 24th. Still aot of snow in the North Country above 4,000 feet.”

                          • #84482
                            Brian Curtis
                            Keymaster

                              “I was in to Sauk Lake on July 13, last year. It was wide open on that date with some snow covering the trail where it drops down to the lake on the north side of a ridge. It is amazing how much later it is this year.”

                            • #84483
                              Ken McLeod
                              Participant

                                “Yes, I remember your read on that trip and where you were going. That was one reason as to why I went up there a few days ago, remembering your read, the wildflowers, etc. So, in essence, you inspired me to go…where sould I go day?^^Now, I look forward to te 24 photos I took, some very close-up hours work of wildflowers. I free-climbed most of the peaks left & right of the old lookout site, some were rather airy to say the least, and I am not afraid to say my nerve got shot on one of them. But what a wonderful beautiful blue-sky day! Though I saw some folks up there, most were coming down as I went up. And I was the last soldier to leave the top in the evening. At the Trailhead, ran into a couple headed up, then 3 fishermen with overnight packs…told them the lake was 80% frozen…they didn’t like that.”

                              • #84484
                                Brian Curtis
                                Keymaster

                                  “I think Sauk Mtn has to be one of the premier short hikes in the state. Another one I really enjoyed is Bear Creek Mtn down in Goat Rocks country. It is completely different from Sauk Mtn, but is another fairly short hike that offers amazing views. I love the diversity this state’s mountains have to offer.”

                                • #84485
                                  Ken McLeod
                                  Participant

                                    “Goat Rocks is one place o’l McPilchucker hasn’t been in to, except I have hunted elk down that way yeas ago, but since gave that up due to the crowds. Just too long a drive I suspect, but before it’s all said and done, me thinks I must venture down that way…”

                                  • #84486
                                    Cliff Church
                                    Participant

                                      “I’ve hunted deer in the Goat Rocks area back in the early 70s with my dad. That was my only experience with the area but it sure was beautiful. Cold, too!”

                                    • #84487
                                      Anonymous

                                        “OK. I said I’d make it to Bivouac, Pear/Pearl, and Boulder. Here’s the gig:^^^^Started at 3:00AM Saturday morning:^^^^Bivouc:^^100 % frozen over. This lake was an interesting one to solo to. This, from the parking lot in upper Tenas creek, then, via Huckelberry Point, aka Peak 5856. And, since visibility was nil, I used my compass and listened to the outlet stream to guide me in from H.P. to the Lake. Once there, I realized I was standing over the lake with no indication that there was a lake there. If it wasn’t for the outlet stream and the fact I recognized the basin, I could easily have believed I was somewhere in Greenland not the GPW. This lake has an outlet like Boulder’s. That is, it issues forth below the Lake level underneath/through talus boulders^^^^Pear/Pearl:^^About 82% frozen over. There was one good lead on the east shore. That was it. The fog was so thick that I simply skirted down to Boulder Lake and avoided Pear altogether. The divide into into the mountains…those sunsets and sunrises over the peaks.”

                                      • #84488
                                        Ken McLeod
                                        Participant

                                          “Mike, a good report! Well appreciated! As I’ve seen too, the North country hasn’t really thawed much even with the recent 90 degree weather. Appears to be a really late season with some lakes probably not even opening up this year, similar to about 3 years ago.”

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