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Olympic Peninsula August 2025 – Day 3

May 21, 2026
Adventure, Beer, Bucket List, Coldwater, Exploring, Fish, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Food and Drink, Freshwater, Hiking, Outdoors, Scouting, Travel, Wade Fishing
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Lake Crescent

A visit to the Olympic peninsula wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Olympic National Park. Of particular interest to me in the Park, was a form of coastal cutthroat trout that was found only in Lake Crescent and it’s tributaries and distributary. Lake Crescent has an interesting history having been formed by a massive ancient landslide. The coastal cutthroat that found themselves in this new lake were cut off from the surrounding watersheds as the outflow of the lake also sported a sizable waterfall which prevented upstream migration. The trout evolved on their own here and though they haven’t been classified as their own species, research suggests they are a distinct form, sporting the highest number of vertebrae and gill rakers among all coastal cutthroat. The history, the fish, all of this was reason enough for me to want to check out the area while we were on the Olympic peninsula.

The ferns, the moss, the big trees – I really enjoyed the hike in to this creek. My photos were taken so that you wouldn’t see the other Park patrons, but trust me, they were there. We hiked far enough to where we figured we were beyond where most people would venture and hit the creek there.

I happened to pop into the creek just upstream of a sharp bend where a large amount of woody debris was stacked up. This was purely by accident, but it worked out in my favor, as everything I know about trout tells me that there were some tucked under this timber pile. It didn’t take long to entice a couple of willing trout out from their hidey hole.

I got a great fight from the second fish, he was probably the largest trout I’d caught on the trip so far. It was a great way to start the day.

We caught a few fish here and there, but the fishing wasn’t stellar, which is usually how it works when you catch fish in the first spot you try. It’s some sort of fisherman’s law that in the moment we refuse to believe in, but as the day progresses you remember. God has a great way of keeping you humble like that. Still, it was an absolutely beautiful creek to have spent a day on. When we met back up with the trail that ran along the creek we were ready to head out.

On our way back to camp we stopped in at Waters West fly shop in Port Angeles and got a little more local intel on the fishing – the guy working the front desk was super nice and helpful, it sounded like another angler in the shop at the time had himself a day on another river not far from where we were at. It was another positive fly shop experience, definitely check them out if you’re up that way. We then headed over to Barhop Brewing where, both, the pizza and the beer were awesome. I had left us enough time to try once more for a sea-run cutthroat at some beach access on our way back, but we decided the better option was more beer back at the camp.

Southern Rockies Trip Wrap Up

May 12, 2026
Adventure, Beer, Coldwater, Exploring, Fish, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Food and Drink, Freshwater, Outdoors, Scouting, Travel, Wade Fishing
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We wrapped up our tour through the Southern Rockies on another beautiful stretch of water. No natives were targeted here, but I had heard word from a friend that we should fish here if we had the chance, and given how it looked on aerial photography, I couldn’t disagree with that statement. It looked fishy as hell.

I started off the day with a rough looking rainbow and Blake got himself a couple of browns early on. About an hour in I started to get dialed in, and caught a lot of browns when that happened. They were small to start the day, but seemed to pick up size as the day progressed.

At some point during our day we were the subject of many a passing tourist’s camera as a train rolled on by. I was able to catch another ugly rainbow and even a brook trout shortly after – that’s a slam back East, lol!

Blake motored through some tough fishing and ended the day with a solid brown. It’s rare when it happens, but I think I topped him in size and numbers that day. We made the long walk back to the car, cleaned up as best we could, and then made the drive back towards Colorado Springs – passing through a rogue hail storm along the way.

As is customary on all of these trips we found a couple breweries to try out before calling it a night. For those interested, I thought the Bristol set up in the old school with the other vendors was pretty interesting, as was their crowd – very eclectic – Urban Animal had the better beer though – either are worth the stop.

Northern Idaho – Day 5 – One Last Hurrah

October 12, 2023
Adventure, Beer, Camping, Coldwater, Exploring, Fish, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Food and Drink, Freshwater, Outdoors, Travel, Wade Fishing
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Packing up to leave is always bittersweet for me. On the one hand I’m usually ready to be home and see my family by the end of every trip. On the other hand getting back home means getting back to the daily grind and the stresses that go with it. Plus I hate the activity of packing up, I’d rather be fishing.

We did do a little more fishing before we headed out. I had to make one more try at a bull trout before putting the fly rod up to travel home. I chose a juicy looking roadside run to pick apart with a streamer and did manage to fool a cutthroat, but no bulls were raised.

Up above the juicy run was this cliff face that produced several fish for Marcus and I, much more productive than the run below. We headed out shortly after fishing those two spots. It was time to head back to civilization and talk to the families we had not spoken with since arriving at our campsite.

Milk shakes were secured at the nearest gas station and breweries were visited once we were back in Spokane – milk shakes and beer – staples for any western native trout trip! Stay tuned for a report from this year’s trip to Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado!