Bob Marshall - Koessler Lake

We got back from a backpacking trip to the Bob Marshall last Monday. It was by far the most fun and exciting backpacking trip I have been on.

Below is a summary of the trip and what happened each day.

Location: Bob Marshall - Koessler Lake
Total Days: 5 Days and 4 Nights (August 6th, 2009 - August 10th, 2009)
Total Mileage: About 35 Miles
Who Went: Doug Roane, Chris Roane, Mike Tommerup, Tyler Dean, Josh Crunk and Amy Crunk

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Day 1 - August 6th, 2009
We arrived at the trail head at around 9:00 AM. It was raining and no one was looking forward to hiking in the rain, and so it was a little depressing in starting the trip this way. We started hiking at around 9:30 AM, regardless of the rain.

The hike wasn't too difficult, but we did gain over 2,000 feet in elevation gain. It stopped raining within 30-60 minutes of the hike, and so it was pleasant for most of the way to Upper Holland Lake. We saw some pretty waterfalls and great views of Holland lake.

We arrived at Upper Holland lake at around 1:00 PM. It was fairly sunny at this point and we went off to look for a campsite. There was no one else camping at the lake, and there were quite a few good camping spots. The view was not spectacular, but there were some pretty high mountains around the lake. We setup camp and at about 3:30 PM people were fishing or hanging out.

Josh ended up catching four fish that were a mix between Cutthroat and Rainbow Trout (fly fishing), and Mikey caught one fish with a lure.

It was my 2nd cast into the lake when the tip of my rod caught on a branch (or something) and I ended up casting the fourth part of my fishing rod into the lake. The lure broke off and so I basically lost that piece of the rod, and a lure. This was the 2nd time this had happened to me (the last time this happened to me was at Sylvan Lake last year), and so I was pretty bummed out about this. The good news is that this did not prevent me from catching fish later on the trip.

Not only that, but my dad ended up dropping his camera into the lake. It wasn't until day 4 when the camera was able to dry out enough to start back up. It was a bummer that this happened, but I do think he was able to get some quick shots of Koessler Lake before we took off.

It did end up raining when it was about to get dark (maybe around 9:00 PM or so), which was good timing because that was when we were going to bed. It ended up raining all night.

All in all, I considered this a good day. Pretty good weather and a great campsite.

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Day 2 - August 7th, 2009
We woke up to a lot of rain. I don't think it stopped raining until around 8:30 AM, but then it started up again at around 10:00 AM. Luckily it was not cold, but it was pretty miserable this half of the day. It isn't very motivating to get out of the tent when it is raining, but it also beats a day in the office! :)

Someone found a forest service cabin that was in the area, and the people who were staying at it told us when they left that we could go in to dry. This was a pleasant surprise to a very damp morning. We took some of our gear and all hanged out in the cabin at around 11:00 AM.

Since the forecast for the weekend didn't appear like it was going to be good, Josh and Amy decided they were going to head back to the trail head at around 1:30 PM or so. By this time it had stopped raining and gave us a chance to pack up camp and get ready to move onto the next spot in our itinerary. What we did not realize at the time was that we should have left the camp no later than 11:00 AM, which you will find out why below. :)

Right before we got started on the trail, Tyler found some wild chives that were growing in the area, and we grabbed some to cook in the fish we would catch later on. This was a turnaround point for me this day, because they smelled really good and I never found wild chives before.

We started the hike up to Gordon Pass, which was not too bad of a hike. At the top of the pass was a very large and spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, even with the cloud coverage. Going down the other side we were pleasantly surprised to find a massive amount of huckleberries along the trail. I literally eight handfulls of the fresh berries. At this point the trail was all down hill.

At around 4:00 PM it started to rain pretty hard. Not only that, but the part of the trail we were on had very large puddles we had to work around to make progress. This not only slowed us down and made us very wet, but it did end up working some muscles that I was not anticipating using that much on the trip. Luckily the rain stopped at around 5:30 PM and we were able to make more progress on the trail.

When we were in a very dense part of the forest, we were startled with a very large "snap!!!" and watched a tree fall right onto the trail. Luckily, we were given maybe three seconds to react and Tyler (the last person on the trail) was able to get out of the way and avoid the falling tree on the trail. It was actually a blessing that Josh and Amy were not on the trail at this point because this would have probably caused someone to get hit by the tree (or at least it would have been a close call). My dad said that these falling trees are called widow makers. Based on my dad's reaction when all of this was happening I thought we were being attacked by a bear or something and he actually almost pushed me off of the hill when this was taking place...and so this added some humor after the fact. ;)

After the disturbing interruption on the trail, we continued on our path. It seemed like the trail was never ending because we were wet, cold and hungry. We ended up getting to a forest service cabin that had some staff working there. Luckily enough, Tyler was smart enough to check with them to see if we had passed the trail. Sure enough, we had passed the junction for the trail that we were supposed to take a right at about a mile back. It was 6:30 PM at this time and we new that there was about three miles or so left before we would be at Koessler, and so we decided to book it.

I am very good at pushing my body to the limits. However, given the very difficult hiking on that day (which was mostly caused by the wet conditions), and the fact that I did not eat very much food that day (a small breakfast and lunch), my body was starting to shut down. So in my infinite wisdom I led the group at a very fast pace back up the trail a mile to where the junction was at. The reason we had missed it was that the sign was partially covered with some branches and the trail was actually going the opposite way we were going, and so it was difficult to spot from that angle. I think we made it to the junction around 7:00 PM.

The first part of the trail at this point was not to bad. We got to the creek that required us to ford across. My dad was the only one that changed from his hiking shoes to his Crocs in order to cross the river. The rest of us were soaking wet and decided to just cross with our shoes on. I ended up partially falling into the creek, but luckily I did catch myself and only dunked the bottom part of my pack into the creek. The bummer was that I did have my down sleeping bag at the bottom of my pack and part of it did get soaked. But luckily I don't think it was in the water long enough to effect the down, which was a concern to me at the time.

So we continue onward. At this point the day was really starting to wear on the group. My body was starting to shut down and I was feeling shaky and a little light headed (due to not eating dinner). Tyler's feet were also bothering him and I was worried that Mikey was going to eat me. We also were wanting to get to the lake to setup camp before it got dark.

What seemed like forever, we finally got to the lake and started setting up camp at around 8:15 PM, which was just before it started to get really dark. We even were able to start a fire to warm up a little before eating dinner and heading off to bed.

What really lifted our spirits was actually seeing the lake. Pictures cannot describe the grandeur beauty of this lake. It had a bluish/greenish color to the lake, since it was fed by a glacier. There was a mountain that was literally at the edge of one side of the lake....it was massive and added to the scenery. There only was one campsite at the lake, but it was a really good campsite and we were the only ones there, so it worked out well.

It was a pleasant surprise that it did not rain since mid-afternoon that day. Everything was still pretty wet and this was by far the most difficult day of the trip, but getting to such an incredible lake made all of the pain and suffering worth it for me.

What made this day even more interesting was what happened at night. Several times during the night I was woken up by noises near the camp and by hearing animals run around and near our tents. I even heard what appeared to be a tree falling in the middle of the night, which startled the crap out of me. Did we setup camp in a zoo? Was tonight going to be my last night? These are the thoughts that entered my mind while I was in my sleeping bag. All I could think of was my wife and baby girl.

Come to find out most if not all the noise was caused by a lot of deer in the area. Three bucks and three doe ended up coming into our camp that we saw and this ended up making the nights at this lake very interesting.

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Day 3 - August 8th, 2009
The plan for this day was to stay camping at Koessler and do whatever we wanted.

This worked out very well because day 2 was very difficult and we all seemed to enjoy this day very much.

This was my favorite day of the trip. The fishing was spectacular and the sun was shining bright for most of the day. I ended up catching about six fish (I kept three, lost two and one was too small). Mikey caught two fish, Tyler caught two fish and my dad also caught two fish. We really didn't fish all that long and could have caught much more if we wanted to. My ability in not being able to cast very far did not effect my ability in catching fish, which was a big relief. I think the biggest fish we caught was about 10 inches or so. All the fish were either Cutthroat trout or a mix between Cutthroat and Rainbow trout. The trout was delicious.

My dad spent most of the morning taking photos with Mikey's camera, since his camera still was not working. The rest of us spent most of the morning drying out our shoes and clothes from the previous day and the sun helped a lot with this process. It did get a little windy during parts of the day, but I will take wind over rain on a backpacking trip any day. :)

It was a very laid back and relaxing day. Looking back, I do wish I had a little more motivation and energy to explore around the lake. There was a glacier at the other side of the lake that would have been really cool to explore, but my dad was the only one that wanted to go there midday.

In the evening we sat at the fire, smoked some cigars and had good conversations. This was by far the high point of the trip for me.

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Day 4 - August 9th, 2009
Miraculously my dad's camera recognized the battery and he was able to snap a few photos of Koessler before we left. He was very excited at this point, since photography is his primary hobby. We were all relieved since we knew it would be great to get some really good photos from this trip. :)

This was the day when we started to head back up the trail to Upper Holland Lake and then onto Sapphire Lakes. We got on the trail at around 9:30 AM. I had thought that this would be the most difficult day, but it actually was quite a bit easier than day 2 of the trip (mainly caused by the rain and missing the junction).

My dad was able to stop a few times during the hike to take some photos of the scenery, which I'm pretty excited to see when they get processed. The weather going back up the trail was way better than it was on day 2. We got some pretty good views of Upper Holland Lake when we made the steep ascent up to the Sapphire Lakes.

The Sapphire Lakes themselves were not that scenic (especially compared to Koessler), but it was a good change. Tyler was the only one who attempted to fish in this lake, and we did not see any signs that there were fish in the lake (we guessed that it could have been a cold winter that killed off the fish).

We got to the lake at around 3:30 PM and immediately started to look for a good campsite. There really weren't very good options, and we ended up settling for setting up our tents in a field of grass and having our meals/fire not too far off.

When it got dark around the campfire is when things started to get interesting. Sometime at around 10:00 PM or so when it was pitch dark, we heard a huge splash in the water of the lake. Our fire was setup only maybe 6 feet from the shore of the lake, and the side of the lake from where we heard the splash was only maybe three feet deep in the center. This kind of freaked us all out because it was way too loud to be a deer and we thought it was either a bear or a moose. When we shined our headlamps on the lake, it was clear that it was a moose that decided to charge the lake.

Having deer roam our camp at night doesn't bother me too much. However, having a moose near camp kind of freaked me out. Not to mention my dad told us the story of "The Night of the Grizzlies" that happened at Glacier National Park a while ago. The whole trip I was a little freaked out at nights. However, during this night I was REALLY freaked out with a moose bathing near our camp.

Needless to say the moose did not drag anyone out of their tent and eat them alive.

My dad was able to get some photos of the lake that evening when the lake was still. I was pretty satisfied with how this day turned out.

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Day 5 - August 10th, 2009
We got up at around 7:00 AM and had packed up camp and were on the trail by 8:30 AM. By this time everyone was wanting to get to the trail head as soon as possible, and so we started the hike early that day.

There was a little bit of a climb to get out of the valley where Sapphire Lakes were located. When we got to the top, there was some incredible views of Holland Lake and the surrounding mountains. It was a very steep and long descent down the mountain.

We somehow ended up either missing a junction or not going far enough, and decided to bush whack our way to the lake when we got close to it. This ended up being a smart move because it took us back to the trail head.

Driving home, we stopped at a family diner at Seeley Lake and had a spectacular lunch.

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Below is meant as a list of things that came to mind that I want to make sure to remember for next year.

What I think worked very well with this trip:

• The distance and itinerary was perfect for this trip. It combined the benefits of base camping at a location and changing scenery enough that we didn't get bored or get tired of hiking too much.
  


• Everyone seemed to be in good enough condition to handle the hike, and so we didn't have any injuries and were able to keep a steady pace through the trip.
  


• Bringing the tarp at the last minute was a great idea. Thanks Tyler!
  


• The trip was a great combination of good scenery on the trail and at the lakes, combined with really good fishing at most of the locations.
  


• The size of the group was good.
  

Where I think there is room for improvement:

• Regardless of whether it is raining or not, we need to be hiking on the trail no later than 11 AM, preferably earlier than that. Trying to rush to get to the destination to setup camp before dark is not only more risky, but it doesn't give us much time to enjoy the evening (which for me is when I have the most time relaxing and socializing). This also allows us some cushion time if the conditions end up being more difficult than we anticipate.
  


• Everyone was not as prepared as they could be for the rain. A $2.50 poncho is probably not a good idea for a trip this length (lol....Mikey).
  


• After camp is setup, it needs to be a priority to get a rain shelter up before dark. It is difficult enough to get out of the tent when it is raining in the morning, but it does help to know that there is a place that will stay dry if this does happen.
  

Things that I learned and will probably change for next year:

• I really need to add a layer of clothing to what I bring that will make me warmer at camp in the evenings and in the mornings.
  


• My little cup/pot works great for boiling water to use for meals for myself. However, trying to boil macaroni noodles does not work very well in a pot this size. I would really like to invest in a larger titanium pot. The other option would be to just not bring mac and cheese or anything requiring boiling noodles.
  


• I could use an additional bowl to eat with. I probably wouldn't need to do this if I had a full sized pot and brought my smaller pot/cup to use.
  


• It would be wise to invest in rain gear (a light jacket/pants). This makes a lot of sense especially if it looks like there could end up being a lot of rain on a trip like this.
  


• Overall I think I did pretty good with my meals. I probably would have brought a little more variety of snacks to eat and definitely more hot chocolate. I also would like to bring the single serving iced tea packets that add a different option to drink on the trip (good idea, Mikey!), and not bring the Powerade powder that I brought this year.
  


• I brought enough tin foil for the trip, but the sheets were not big enough to hold more than one fish. This is important because you really want to keep all of the juices and seasoning from dripping from the alluminum foil when it is being cooked. I also brought too many sheets that I did not use.


• My fold able bottle that I used for drinking at camp worked alright, but I think it would be a better options to bring a small Gatorade bottle, and have different measurements marked on the bottle. It also might be worth looking into bringing a lightweight option for holding more filtered water at camp. It would save time and energy if I didn't have to pump filtered water so much after I get to camp (and other people could use it).


• I would have enjoyed the trip even more if I was 10 pounds lighter in my gut and was in better shape through the whole year (not just a few months before the trip).


• Four piece fishing poles are a bad idea with this kind of fishing terrain. I'm going to invest in a decent two piece pole that should work fine. I could also save some weight if I didn't take my plastic rod case. I could also save some more weight by not bringing so much tackle (I brought a lot this time and I didn't lose one lure).
  


• Possibly get trail running shoes to use for hiking.

Overall, I think this was the most enjoyable backpacking trip I have been on. We spent a lot of time planning this trip, and I think it turned out very well, even after it rained the first and second day.

Feel free to correct me if my information is wrong or I didn't include something.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT YEAR?