Lake Constance trip

[moocher97]

So this weekend I made some reservations and stayed a night and I have to say it was one of the coolest places I've ever been to!!!! It started off getting to the parking lot/place and then made the 3.5 mile hike to the lake trail head which would have been mighty easy if I had a bike but was only one and a half hours of the 7 and a half hour trip to the top. We started the trail which was rough at best. We kept going and made it to more of a easier thick timber hike which was quite pleasant compared to the first part. That was the first 1.5 miles, only .7 more, that can't be that hard... So we thought.....After the timber came a really thick and steep part that wasn't fun and after that came the hardest hike I've ever done that was borderline rock climbing. But after it was done and the sight of the lake made it all worth it. The 5.7 mile hike came to an end and the fun began. We got there at 7  so we didn't have a lot of time and was raining and I was a wee sick with a cold so we set up camp ate some Raman and went to bed. We got up the next morning, well I did, early to do some fishing. After trying different things I ended up just using a brown/tan rooster tail. I kept 5 about 10-12 inchers and let probably 8 more small ones go. By that time everyone (two other buddies) got up and had some breakfast. Apple crisp and a chicken and rice mountain home meal which was all right, good since I was hungry. We packed up because we thought the hike would be a long one so we took a few more pictures and were off. We made it down the trail surprisingly fast in a whopping time of 2:45 compared to the 6 hours up the hill. We got back to the truck and took the 50lb pack off and felt like a new man. Then ate at the geoduck in brinnon (which was nice, big burgers too) and headed home. Overall the trip was excellent and can't wait to get up there again and would recommend it to anyone but I warn you it is an extreme hike and if your going to, stay there for at least two nights giving you one good day of exploring. Thanks for reading









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[bankwalker]

Great pics!!

[pashok23]

Amazing pics

[Bronson]

Awesome!  Thanks for sharing.

[Nature Boy]

This hike has been on my must-do list for a long time.  Wish I had done it before the road washed out.  I may give it a go in August.  Did you have much company up there?  Have you done Lake of the Angels or Mildred Lakes?  How would you compare the Lake Constance Trail to either of those?

[cdriver]

The hike up to Lake Constance is tougher than either of those.

[pd]

Moocher, that is a fine picture of a fat old Brook trout.  Notice the oversized head: This is a sign of old age.  The brookies don't grow large bodies there, but their heads to continue to grow.  All of the trout that I have caught there had huge heads.

Compare your photo to one I took of a brookie in May of 2009.  That year the ice cap held on much longer, and only 10% of the surface area was open.  The trout literally starve through the winter, and you can see this in the malnourished body.  The ice cap usually holds from November through April or May, so the trout only feed for about 6 months per year.  2015 is an exception, and the trout have been feeding non-stop all Spring.

For those who don't know, Brook trout were planted in Lake Constance at the turn of the 20th century, and are considered an invasive species by the Park Service.  No license is required to fish, and there is no bag limit (catch & kill suggested).  You just have to get there first!

[moocher97]

Thanks everyone! And no I haven't done those hikes but I would like to. I can't imagine anything worse trail conditions besides rock climbing. And yes I caught 5 but they didn't seem too hungry I had to try different lures. Yea that fish in the picture had a HUGE head and big teeth to. There were a lot of color differences in different fish to. This one was particularly darker then the rest different food you think? I would highly highly recommend it to people that are somewhat athletic and have good leg strength because its all up hill. The washout was repaired as in the stream. Like I said it was a 3.5 mile hike to the trailhead that would be ALOT easier with a bike. As for foot traffic there was more than I thought. When we were hiking up there was a couple coming down and the next morning there was a guy flyfishing that also left at the same time we did but wasn't there the night before? He must have gone up early early or he walked a long way for little time. And on the way down there was a family of 4 going up to. But this was also a weekend.

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[Shawn Ryan]

I haven't been there for about 26 years, but I remember the amazing lake, the goats, the steep climb, and the limbs and roots rubbed smooth as furniture from being used as handholds.

[pd]

I haven't been there for about 26 years, but I remember the amazing lake, the goats, the steep climb, and the limbs and roots rubbed smooth as furniture from being used as handholds.

I go every summer, and have been climbing there for more than a decade.  I have yet to see a goat.

[Shawn Ryan]

I wonder if the goats were the "too friendly" type of goats that the Park removes. They hung out mostly near the camp site on the north/inlet side and let us get very close.  I was probably too naive at the time to have concern, but given some of the goat problems over the past few years in the Park, I would be more concerned these days.

[pd]

Here is another one (from this week).

[moocher97]

Nice one! Was this Constance too?

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[pd]

Nice one! Was this Constance too?

Yes.  This is a typical eastern Brook trout, taken from Lake Constance on Saturday morning.  The weather was challenging this year, unusually cool for late July.  We spent 2 nights, 3 days in the canyon, and had rain both nights.  We were caught in a fog-out just below the summit block of Mt. Constance.  The lake is lower than I have ever seen, but still beautiful.  There are plenty of trout left for anybody to take home a creel full.

[moocher97]

Very cool! I would like to make one more trip but with hunting coming up I don't know. We got rained on to but the fog wasn't too bad. What were you using up there?

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[pd]

Very cool! I would like to make one more trip but with hunting coming up I don't know. We got rained on to but the fog wasn't too bad. What were you using up there?

I am strictly a dry fly man.  Not a snob at all, but have no interest in wet flies, nymphs, lures, or bait.  If I can't catch a trout on a dry fly on the surface, I will quit fishing.  (I like to see the fish take my fly.) 

This year I took a ten-kara rod with me.  Basically, it is the same as a fly rod, without a reel or a fly line.  The leader/tippet combination is basically the same length as the rod (3.5m), and used just like a traditional fly rod.  My partner used a Rooster Tail, with little luck.

The fish in that lake are so hungry, I think anything would work.  A spinning rod with a weighted fly or a lure, cast long and retrieved slowly from the depths would be perfect.  Bend down the barbs on your hooks, as there are so many fish you will get tired of releasing them.

[moocher97]

Yea I've heard of the tenkara rods actually very cool !!! I tried dry flies for a little bit but the rooster tails did better for me for some reason. Looks like from the picture to were fishing the north end by the campsites?

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[360outdoors]

Loved that hike. Definitely a challenge.

[Kit Carson]

Beautiful area   

[huntingbaldguy]

This is on my need to do list also.  I did Lake of the Angels and found it pretty moderate, but i had done Upper Lena, Flapjacks and Mount Ellinor twice prior to doing Lake of the Angels.  I never got up to Constance because i started scouting for elk every weekend so early that it ate up July and August.  This year again, i don't know if i'll make it because i have a big home project, but maybe i'll head up there solo after work on a Friday.