My son James and I made our first Alpine hike of the year today. We decided to hike to Fisher Lake, in the Alpine Wilderness. This lake is described as having been planted in years past (by I assume the Hi-Lakers). The trail is not maintained by the Forest Service, so I was a little anxious about it, but after talking at the Ranger Station decided it was a “go”.

The hike is pretty good. The first 3.5 miles are a gradual assent along the Tongas Ridge trail. A very nice warm-up. At 3.5 miles we reached Sawyer Pass. This is where it gets a bit tricky, but the guide books I checked had it well described. Go right, go left, climb a steep, rocky, rooted trail. Climb some more, crest a ridge, and one more, and then a 400 or so foot descent and we hit the shores of a beautiful crystal clear lake. Oh, and the bugs – horrible! Bring bug spray and hope for a breeze.

We found a nice rocky shoreline and there ten feet off shore sat a brook trout just waiting to be caught. So I tossed out a spinner and bam, first cast, first fish. Typical 7-8" Alpine Lake Brookie. Beautiful colors. I sure do wish I had gotten a better picture. Hopefully he’ll be clearer in the video.

Anyway, after that I had a few bumps and switched to black leach patterns off a sink float but again, just bumps. James and I finished our lunch and refreshed, headed back from where we came. Total hike came in at 9.8 miles and I think around 1,100 ft of elevation gain. Lots of nice views of mountain peaks – I would recommend the hike, but make sure you have a map or GPS. I was spent when we got back to the car! We have another hike, this time an overnighter, planned for next week.

BTW, I added scenery pictures for Fisher in the Lake Overview.

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