Yesterday, RW and I hiked in a couple of hours to this beautiful lake in a gorgeous little cirque that featured jagged little picturesque peaks in the round. The North Cascades are still growing and you can practically see them waving their stony fists in the air, reaching closer and closer to the sun. We had the place to ourselves and we made the most of it! You’d have loved it. Oh! I almost forgot! The lake was flanked by a larch forest! I strolled about for quite a while, petting the needles on those trees. They’re soft as kittens and one of my favorite sorts of conifers.
We love fishing these kinds of lakes. The trout that inhabit them are starving little things that can’t afford to pass up any food that lands in the water. As a result, a girl and boy will bring in a fish on nearly every single cast. They aren’t big fish, like I said, they’re starving, but they put up a lovely little fight with their tenacious spirits, and once held in hand a lady can fully appreciate their coloration, speckles and softly flashing sides before she removes the hook and sets them free once more.
Additionally, alpine lakes are a great place to fly fish, there’s hardly anything to snag with a back cast!
Farley did a bit of swimming and managed to get water in his ears.
I inspected, quite closely, dozens of beautiful little cutthroat trout.
Gorgeous wonderful fish.
I watched RW do his business.
He was born to fish.
I’m convinced of it.
I basked in the landscape
and then laughed out loud when RW caught two trout at once!
He’s really that magical — a mythical beast of sorts.
We stayed until the sun dipped down beneath the overhanging peaks that wrap around this lake and then hiked back to the truck and made the trek back into town.
And then we fell asleep in each others arms
and everything felt right with the world once more.
*Disclaimer*
I have to apologize for the quality of some of these shots — super bright, mid-day, neon sunshine lighting for most of them. Ick.
Mmm, I'm living vicariously through you on this trip!
(boooooo, cubicle life)
Oh Jillian, what a brilliant day…the light and water glow, as do your faces and the supple sides of the trout. Thanks for sharing this! Your writing coupled with the photos really brings one in.
x
D
Everything is lovely but that Penelope stole my heart…what a cutie! xoxo
This one has me scratching my head. I consider fishing "for fun" a cruel and unnecessary pastime. You are putting a hook through a fish's mouth, pulling it out of the water (its very own element) on its own body weight, just to look at it for your own pleasure, then rip out the hook and throw it back in? Even if the poor thing survives it is injured, and you are putting it through all this stress and pain just for your own fun??
I am especially baffled since you usually present yourself as such a kind and caring person. I don't get it…
Love the pic of Penelope looking at the two fish…I'm surprised her tongue isn't hanging out! She's such a lady.
I assume you're eating the fish. Maybe the last post is from someone that doesn't realize there's a size requirement on most fish. If not, then common sense does the trick.
Thanks for sharing!
Penelope and Farley look ALMOST as happy as you do to spend time with RW–what an amazing way and place to spend time together!!! And those trout are just lovely, jewels of the alpine zone….
All the best to you and RW, in these final weeks of fire season!
Alexandra: Thank you for taking a moment to so staunchly share your opinions on the topic of catch and release fishing!
Everyone else: thank you for your lovely comments!
I want to come fishing and hiking with your two. We are going to make it so!
This is just too bad. Why the acrid derision?
I don’t think my comment was insulting, it was just critical and I expressed my surprise/confusion about you indulging in what I (and all animal advocates) consider a cruel sport. If you put publicly out here how much you enjoyed “inspecting these gorgeous wonderful fish”, isn’t it quite the legitimate question to ask, quasi on behalf of the fish?
Is an honest question about something I feel strongly about too much to handle? Is there are "no criticism, no questions" policy posted here somewhere that I overlooked?
Oh <3, what a lovely day! Love the look on your face with the fish, you look so delighted! And <3, little P on the rocks with RW, gorgeous! 🙂
*snort*
ahem
I love seeing you and Rob together, fishing, in your element.
What gorgeous pictures and you certainly have nothing to apologize for. Hugs to you, RW, Farley and Pene:O)p.s. How does one get their status to show up on the Facebook badge?
Plume,
There is an entire passage I would like to share, but not enough room to do it here! A piece…
From "The Inward Morning", Henry Bugbee:
"It is a glorious thing to know the pool is alive with these glancing, diving, finning fish. But at such moments it is well to make an offering in one's heart to the still hour in the redwoods ascending into the sky; and to fish in one place, for one fish at a time…If one receives this fish as purely as the river flows, everything is momently given, and the very trees become eloquent where thy stand."
Your pictures fill the imagery created by his words!
Very attractive trip, beautiful place, beautiful people!
Gorgeous shots, noonday sun notwithstanding! You make everything look like an art. Even fishing.
Alexandra:
If I had a problem with you expressing your opinion and asking your question, I'd have deleted your initial comment — for which I thanked you, if you recall.
There are only three things I have to say in response to the two comments you have now left for me on this blog post:
1. I love fishing.
2. I always say what I mean and mean what I say. When I said thank you for sharing your opinion, I meant it. Your interpretation of my tone is inaccurate and insulting.
3. I try not to give fights to people who come looking for them. In point of fact, not fighting such fights gives me great satisfaction. I DO care, very much, to discuss this topic but I do NOT care to discuss this topic with you.
______________________________________
BC: We'll try to keep our schedule clear for that future wilderness date!!! Let us know the state and the time:)
Elly: It was a lovely fish. 🙂 xx
M: Wheeeeee!!!!!!!!!! xxxxx
Sal: I'm not sure what you mean by your Facebook question…are you referring to the Facebook badge?
Emmy: Thank you for sharing that beautiful BEAUTIFUL quote! Love. Recording in my journal this afternoon:) xxxxxxxxx
Chris: Why thank you, sir!
Alice: Thanks for swinging by dear girl and thank you for being so sweet. x
Penelope is the cutest!! So good to see you and RW together, looking happy, basking in the sunshine. Lovely images! Nevermind the neon sun, that's what the day gave you, and you celebrated it.
HI LOVER.
i just want to say that i'm so proud of you for refusing to be brought to a level that is not becoming of anyone or befitting to you as a child of light. it's hard not to get tangled up in a carefully laid net, it takes a lot of character to go the extra distance to step around it. but you do, time after time, and it busts my buttons to witness it. well done, my friend.
secondly, and more importantly, i echo what almost everyone has said about this post. it is beautiful. the landscape, the sentiment, the visual part, the love between you and tarbs — it's all beautiful. thanks for sharing it with me (i know thousands of people read this, but sometimes i pretend i'm the only one). thanks for being true and real about what you're up to, the things that are changing you. we ourselves are changed when we see what is changing those we love.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…
she
Yes, I was referring to the FB badge on your blog page. Sometimes I notice that you have an entry on the status area and it appears to come from an entry on FB. Mine always says NONE no matter what is on my FB entries. I don't know what switch to flip to get something to show up in that status section – sorry it is so confusing but I've checked everything I know to check to get it to work:O) Thanks so much!!
Your photography is beautiful and you caught some really great action shots. The one with the double catch of fish is amazing! Your photos make me want to be there!
aah, how wonderful! i've been thinking it's time i try fishing again. the last i flirted with it was a decade ago, when i dated a boy whose parents went often. one of the trips may have included me LOSING his father's fishing rod. oops.
ALSO:
penelope is adorable. the two of you are adorable. and my respect for you has grown (yet again. goodness, woman!)
Where in the North Cascades?
Denese
beautiful post! no ick about those photos– when you're given a neon-bright life you just enjoy it!
🙂 Thanks for these BEAUTIFUL comments everyone!
D: We were just Northwest of Winthrop, where RW's North Cascades Smokejumper Base is located. We drove up a few old Forest Service roads and then hiked in a couple of hours to this lake.
It's quite the spot. Just beautiful!
Nice CATCH!
(in reference to all the above)
🙂
xx
Lynsey
Thanks Lyns.
x
Mrs, I'm in awe…. because the last time I went fishing (I was about eight) with my grandpa – and I couldn't entice any fish my way but did reel up a hunk of seaweed and an old shoe – which now I think about it is pretty cool because we all know the sea is full of fish, but of boots? I think not! In short – I love to see you by bodies of water, it so becomes you… and I love seeing those beautiful, gleaming fish.
GUFFAW!!!!!
I caught a boot in New Zealand once! I thought I had a big fish. But when I pulled it in, it was a boot!!!
And sadly, I must correct one thing, our oceans are NOT full of fish. Not at all. Not compared to how full they once were. I get glum just thinking about it….
xxxx