The cast of characters for my Independence Day weekend was: Mom, Dad, Me, Sister, Sister’s Boyfriend, Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and my friend, T. We journeyed the 2.5 hours (a totally acceptable amount of time) to Marsh Lake on the Northeast slope of the Uintahs. When we arrived Friday morning we quickly set up tents, etc., and hiked over the mountain (no small feat) to the stream on the other side. I love the stream, the view from the top of the hill is a favorite!
I’ve always said, “If I were a moose, I’d live there!” Strangely, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a moose in that exact area. Nearby, yes, but not right there.
Anyways, we hiked down to one certain spot on the stream to fish. Typically we catch and release the 5” trout (mostly Brooke trout). This time, however, we actually pulled out a few keepers. And Sister’s Boyfriend, a first time fisherman, beat us all with the most catches by far. (Stupid beginner’s luck!)
But T got one (not so much a keeper, but still really fun to catch!)
And Sister got one…
…It’s that tiny thing she’s holding in her hand. Look close. And we don’t know why she’s posing like that. She’s just weird sometimes.
After fishing in the stream for a bit, a few of us followed the stream down to where it runs into Stateline Reservoir.
The walk was beautiful, everything was so green and lush. The wildflowers were out and the stream was really high!
As we got to the reservoir it started to rain which made for some tricky walking as the mud on the banks got really slippery.
The group was able to pull out a few fish despite the uncooperative weather. We headed back to camp, drenched and being chased by mosquitoes. The weather cleared up and it turned out to be a nice evening (typical Uintah weather). We made Hobo (tinfoil) dinners that night and even though we ran out of ketchup and had to make something up that included tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, vinegar, and spices, they turned out great!! (Me likey ketchup!)
The next morning breakfast was supposed to be served at 7:30 so I was planning to sleep til 7:00. My bladder, however, did not like that idea and decided I was to get up at 6:00. So, I crawled out of my sleeping bag, slipped my shoes on, sneaked out of the tent, and walked to the outhouse (not too stinky at 6:00 in the morning). Well, after that much effort at waking myself up I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. So, I decided to wander around the campground and see what I could see.
I ended up watching the sunrise over the lake. It was beautiful and it turned out to be a perfect morning because the amazing sunrise was followed up by my favorite breakfast: Pancakes, bacon and eggs cooked by my dad on his griddle. SO GOOD!
After breakfast we headed to China Lake, a 10 minute drive southwest of Marsh Lake. Marsh Lake ended up being a bust for fishing this year. Usually we pull ‘em out of there like it’s a fish farm (well, almost) but this year we didn’t even smell a fish, except for the one T had on her line but got off right as she went to pull it onto the bank. But the fishing at China Lake was great!
Thanks to mom for tying on all those hooks, thanks to me for… being there, and thanks to dad for being our fearless leader. Overlooking the few snags and lots of powerbait we went through, it was a successful day. All in all we kept 13 fish, all Brooke trout, and we had to stop fishing cuz we can only eat SO MANY fish.
T and I would like to show you the majority of our fish, after the boys had cleaned and gutted them. (I don’t do guts!)
We headed back to camp for lunch and T headed home (no, I didn’t offend her, she had planned to leave early all along). We played games most of the afternoon. Well, no, let me rephrase… everyone else played games most of the afternoon while I took a nap. It was a fabulous, glorious, wonderful nap! That evening we fried up the fish for dinner and had a special dinner guest:
This moose was munching on a nearby bush for quite a while. There’s a small pond just off the backside of our campsite and we also saw lots of momma and baby deer there during our stay. It was awesome!
Well, that was the end of the second day. The next morning I was able to sleep in longer (thanks to my bladder for cooperating, and I’m sorry if you didn’t want to know that)!
The next morning we had another wonderful breakfast (thanks mom and dad) and started to clean up camp because it was looking like another rain storm might be on the way. My aunt, uncle and cousin took off and me and my family decided to hike around Marsh Lake. Silly me, I was thinking a hike around the lake would be pretty easy but it turns out we had to go up and down quite a bit in order to avoid the marshier parts of Marsh Lake. (Ironic, eh?) But Sister and Sister’s Boyfriend make it look easy…
All in all it was a fabulous weekend. And I actually wouldn’t mind going again later this year. Anyone interested in joining me?!
2 comments:
who the heck is max?!?!?
Max is my aunt and uncle's dog. My dog, Rascal, was there, too, but he's so old now he doesn't like to do much!
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