GrandDaddy Daughter Date

 Chelane is so busy with school and work and rotations that we hardly ever see her, and when we do, it is just for a brief moment. She has her own washer and dryer, so we don't even see her on wash day anymore. So it was something of a miracle that she and I got to go backpacking together. We headed to one of my favorite places - the Granddaddy Lakes Basin for a hiking and fishing excursion late in the season. Our trip included Granddaddy Lake (above), Betsey Lake, Mohawk Lake, Heart Lake and... almost Lodgepole Lake.

 After fishing on Betsey Lake, we each caught a fish and we were stymied by two foot long native cutthroats that had no interest in any fly we could give them. I even tried my hand at a few spinners, to no avail. It was freezing (literally) cold and I don't think they wanted to leave the warm water. It was so frustrating to watch them turn their noses at us like that. We ended up at Mohawk for lunch and a nap. I have a favorite nap rock at each of the lakes I visit. It wasn't long before both of us were zonked out in the warm sun.

 We should have been tired after getting up at 4:00 AM and then walking seven miles at that point. You can see that Chelane really knows how to enjoy her beauty rest. We then headed back to Betsey and around the east end of Granddaddy to where we started down the trail to Lodgepole. Holy cow! It is about a 1000 foot drop off from Granddaddy to Lodgepole. I have been there with my dad, and my brother says it is a nice place to stop if you are going to Fern Lake and the really big fish. We decide not to head down that canyon. We were too tired to think about coming back up.

We turned around and continued all the way around Granddaddy before heading back up over the pass before we were done. That lake is so dang big, that it took almost three hours to walk around it. I think I wore my poor girl out, but we had a lot of fun, we talked about all sorts of things - everything from how she wanted her wedding to be ( got to get a man first) to what Grandma Marie was like before Chelane was born. She has only known her after she got sick. Pretty good date if you ask me. And we only had to hike 12 miles to do it.