Tadpole Lake: Skye and I went into Tadpole Lake to do some fishing on Tuesday; see the Tadpole Lake page to see how to get there. I ended up driving to the trailhead (.75 miles past the trailhead) on Monday evening so I didn't have to get up so early on Tuesday to drive to the trailhead and also to beat the 100 degree temps forcasted for the day. There is a nice place to park the truck along the stateline road with a great view. A couple years ago I bought a truck bed tent to do this sort of thing. It was 70 when I parked the truck and it didn't get much below that overnite. We were up at 5 as the deer were stomping and snorting at the truck. I am kind of a lollygagger in the mornings so we didn't get coffee, breakfast and camp put away until around 6:30. We got down to the lake before 7:30 just as the sun was hitting the far side of the lake. I was using lures and fishing was excellent as it was 20 minutes between putting up and taking down my spinning outfit. If I would brought my fly rod I probably could have caught a fish almost every cast. Mosquitos were very thick everywhere except right on the shore line and they stayed with me most of the way up the hill on my way out. My goal was to get out of the lake by 10 so we didn't have to climb out in the heat, and I did get back to the truck right at 10 and a temp of 75 degrees.
Copper Lake: On Thursday I went for a ride on my Scrambler 400. My plan was to take a road from the Stevens / Lone Lakes trailhead that would take me to the stateline and almost to the top of Stevens Peak. Unfortunately, the road turned pretty ugly about 3 miles in; very steep and very rocky. I would have needed a proper dirt bike to make it. However, on the way up I caught up with a fella on a bicycle riding the same road. As it turns out he was a ski patroller (Ian) from Lookout Pass that I spent a lift ride during the winter talking about my website to come. I gave him a card. I don't know how far he made it, but would've had to walk or carry his bike up the section that stopped me. On the way back down, I saw a cow moose with a yearly calf but they didn't stick around for pictures. Part of my other plans for the day was to check on some of the huckleberry patches that I have picked in before. I also decided to ride the bike to Copper Lake and also to the St. Regis Lakes trailhead. The ride to Copper Lake was uneventful, the bike did fine despite it limitations (tires, suspension travel and ground clearance). I just have to keep in mind that the 400 is not a dirt bike and not over extend its capabilities. It is nice to be able to ride down the freeway and also ride comfortably up these old roads. There was a pickup at the St. Regis trailhead and I met a gal & dog hiking in to the St. Regis Lakes from down by the bottom of chair 2.
