The Wyoming Saga: In Search of Golden Trout Day One

Planning For Adventure

For many years, I've kept a rather loose bucket list. Unlike most people who have a bucket list, I'm not particularly organized. I've met more than a few people who are carefully working through a list, checking off adventure after adventure. That's not me. Rather, I have a vague mental collection of places I would like to someday visit. Since I'm well beyond the young footloose stage of life, these adventures are almost always intentional, but generally rare. Adult responsibilities are always getting in the way, so most of my adventures these days are a little more tame than in my younger years. That is clearly a problem I need to rectify, and I've been working at it little by little.

A backpacking trip in the Wind River range of Wyoming has been high on my mental bucket list since, well, probably just about since it occurred to me that I even had a bucket list. For many years, I thought the whole notion was kind of goofy. Then, one day, I realized that I really wanted to do a trip in the Wind Rivers. Next, it occurred to me that I also really wanted to visit New Zealand, mostly to fly fish, but also to hike and soak in the scenery. Even if my bucket list is only two destinations long, I now have one.

If I think long enough, I can come up with quite a few other places I want to visit and revisit. Some of my dreams are vague and unlikely, like spending every summer in West Yellowstone. Others are specific and easily attainable, I just need to make them happen. These are things such as finally visiting Hazel and Eagle creeks in the Smokies. Those are the only two major Great Smoky Mountains National Park drainages I haven't fished. 

My buddy John had been to the Winds. After his first trip, I started contemplating attempting a trip. Not long after, I found a rather dangerous interactive map online. With all the knowledge I would ever need to plan a golden trout trip in the Wind Rivers at my disposal, I started the process that would ultimately lead to the kind of adventure that I'm always craving. 

Golden Trout in Wyoming

The main problem with planning a golden trout trip (and one I'll perpetuate) is that no one who knows anything is saying much. There is some information out there on the inter webs, but most of it requires some sleuthing to figure things out. While golden trout are scattered around a few different western states, Wyoming is THE place to fish for them unless you want to chase them in their native California in the Sierra Nevada range. There are at least a handful of other western states where they can be found, but the Wind River range in Wyoming is the most similar to their native Sierra Nevada. 

At one point, golden trout eggs were brought to Wyoming and the rest is history. Apparently, the golden trout did so well in Wyoming that the Wyoming Game and Fish started their own hatchery program. Wyoming is the best place to obtain some golden trout if you are a state or other entity in the market. They have the only genetically pure brood stock hatchery program with golden trout.

While they can be found in streams, these fish are best in the high alpine lakes that they prefer. Anyone who has ever fished a high alpine lake knows that they can be finicky at best. When a high country lake is fishing well, it will make you feel like the best angler in the world. If it is fishing poorly, you might conclude that it simply doesn't contain any trout. 

Once, when I was fishing a high country lake in Arizona probably 20 years ago, I started to arrive at a similar conclusion. Having worked my way nearly the entire way around the lake, it seemed obvious that the fish just weren't there. Mother Nature had the last laugh when a huge bald eagle swooped down and grabbed a trout that looked like it had to be at least two feet long. 

After consulting with my buddy John who already had a rough itinerary in mind and then clicking through endless alpine lakes on the Wyoming interactive online map, I felt confident that we had a good plan. Still, we wouldn't know until we were there and fishing if our choice was a good one.

Anticipation Builds

On the drive out to Wyoming, I was almost in shock. It had been so long since I had embarked on a fishing trip out west that I had forgotten how exciting it all was. The drive is always fun in a way, because I much prefer seeing the countryside go by from up close. You never know what interesting things you might see. On this trip, however, there really wasn't anything particularly unusual about the drive. Wanting to be fresh for the backpacking trip, we timed our travel to spend a night in Laramie. That would let us get up, drive to Lander, and be on the trail in time to get into camp before dark. 

We made it to Lander in record time. The higher speed limits out west are a real treat, especially for someone with a heavy foot. We took the time to stop at the Wind River Outdoor Company as I needed some new bear spray. Next, we went to the Middle Fork for an early lunch to fuel up for the trail. If you are in Lander, do yourself a favor and stop there for breakfast or lunch. The food was excellent! I had the quinoa power bowl with scrambled eggs and it was delicious!

After lunch, we headed up the mountain towards one of several trailheads. On the way, I had to stop at Rise of the Popo Agie to view all the monster trout. 

Places like this make you try to figure out how to sneak in and fish! The pictures naturally don't do justice to the scene, so I'll just say the fish were huge and plentiful. The scenery was dramatic as well, ample reward for the months of anticipation. 

Hiking Into the Popo Agie Wilderness

Both of us had only minor preparations to make to hit the trail, our packs already being packed. We started out at a surprisingly good pace considering that we both were coming from the flat lands of Tennessee. Thankfully, the elevation didn't bother me on this trip, although it might be hard to convince my buddy John of this. More on that shortly. 

While we were on the far southern extend of grizzly country, we both had our bear spray strapped on and easy to hand. I also had a DSLR clipped on my shoulder strip using a Peak Design Capture system. While it does have some limitations, the benefits mostly outweigh any negatives. I foresaw the primary potential problem of having too much weight pulling on one shoulder strap over the other. My solution was simply to buy two of the Capture clips, one for each shoulder strap. I was able to switch the camera back and forth, balancing out the load so to speak. While I didn't get any crazy special shots, I did get a few that I wouldn't have been able to get if the camera was buried in my pack as usual. 

My favorite, while not a great shot, was a moose. I also managed to get a picture of a deer before it ran, and made the time to snap some other shots that would have been skipped if I had to dig my camera out of the pack. Here are a few of my favorites from the hike in.

Mule Deer ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Popo Agie Wilderness Sign ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Fireweed ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Moose ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Someone had lunch here! ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Fishing in the Popo Agie Wilderness

I had prepared for both dedicated fishing days and also quick pit stops. I had a Tenkara USA Rhodo in my pack for quick sessions along the way and an actual fly rod for the more dedicated all day fishing excursions. One of the lakes we were passing was supposed to have tiger trout. Having never caught one, I figured this might be one of my best opportunities. 

Reflections ©2023 David Knapp Photography

When we dropped our packs for a quick break, it didn't take long to start spotting trout. They were everywhere. It also didn't take long for us both to hook up. I caught a few brook trout which were a treat even if they are invasive species out west. Since they are my native trout (er, char) here in Tennessee, I always have a soft spot for them. They were beautifully colored up as well. 

A Familiar Quarry ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Another brook trout on my backpacking trip. ©2023 David Knapp Photography

The brookies were fun, but I really wanted a cutthroat or tiger. Then, finally, it happened! I caught my first tiger trout, and in fact, I caught a couple. The cutthroat were a little spookier, but I figured I would have more opportunities. Besides, I've caught lots of cutthroat over the years including most of the easily accessible subspecies, so I wasn't too worried about catching them. 

My first tiger! ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Setting Up Base Camp

While the fishing was excellent, we still had a ways to go. Strapping our packs back on, we quickly headed out. The trail continued up hill (why do trails always go uphill?) and we trekked onward towards our chosen camping spot. When we arrived, both of us were tired enough that we almost stopped too soon. However, a quick exploratory trip yielded a much better camping spot. Soon, we were setting everything up as the light grew dimmer. A good place to hang our food packs wasn't too terribly far away. 

As I started getting supper together, a migraine that had been lurking for a bit started to hit me hard. I hurried my food along as sometimes getting some food in me can help. Unfortunately I didn't get everything together quick enough. I got sick which was unusual but not out of the realm of possibility for me, but to all spectators, it looked an awful lot like elevation sickness. My buddy John was at least a little concerned. I could tell he was nervous and since I've had both elevation related sickness and routine migraines, I could tell that this was just a migraine. Assuring him that all I needed was a little water and a good night's rest, I headed off to bed. The next day would hopefully be a fishing day. If it turned out I was impacted worse by the elevation than I thought, it might be the day to hike out... 

...to be continued...