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Hiked up Bells Canyon Saturday. It was the hardest hike of my life. Had a 30LB pack on, it took 7 hours to get to the top. Fished for an hour, the lake was 80-70% iced over. Caught 2 nice cutts 15" & 16", cooked em and they were good. Camped out and hiked back down, which only took 2 1/2 hours. My friend got seriously injured on the way up, we were too far to go back down, then on the way down my injured friend fell through the snow and ice into the river chest deep. It was a crazy backpacking good time for me, not so much for my buddy who I had to take care of most of the trip.
There is a lot of snow up there, the terrain was nothing like I expected, it is beutifull but difficult to get to. I am glad I did it, I wont be doing it again soon. Now its time to hit the Uintas.
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If you liked that hike, try hiking to lake blanche, lily, and florence up big cottonwood. I visited all three on sunday, and the fishing wasn't too bad. The lakes were high and the water was COLD, but we were catching a bunch of fish still. If you go, take plenty of water, and lots of spoons and lures. we had our best fishing with kastmasters and daredevle type lures down deep, but I was also catching them on wooly buggers and prince nymphs on my fly rod. Lake lilian was fishing the best.
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I havent made the Lake Blance, Florence & Lillian hike before. How long is the hike and how steep. Is there any rock scrambling, and how many miles/feet gain?
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I think that's only about a 3 and a half mile hike. It's a hard hike, but I think the Upper Bell hike is much more difficult. I used to go up there a lot as a teenager and it was always pretty enjoyable. The fish are small, but they're easy to catch and it's a pretty area.
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Its 2.8 miles up the mountain just to lake blanche. There is a bit of rock scrambling, but really only near the top, so when you reach the boulder field, you'll know your near the lake. The fish are small, but some were beautifully colored.
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Sounds like my kind of lake. I will definitely make it up there very soon. Did you see a lot of backpackers camping out up there. Are there a lot of camping spots up there.
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I didn't see hardly any backpackers. Most were just day hikers. I only seen one other guy fishing the whole time, and he was bringing in some dinks on his fly rod as well. There are plenty of spots to camp. Some of 'em look like they're straight out of a movie. I'm sure you will like it. Maybe even take a frying pan and do the lakes a favor by removing some of the trout you catch.
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A frying pan eh! I can take that, and I can certainly help the lake out by eating some trout. I love fresh fish, I wrapped the cutts I got at the Upper Bells in tin foil, threw them in the fire and they turned out great.
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