After months of planning, a long drive across the country, and a major shift in plans before we ever set up our tents or started fishing, it was nice to wake up in my tent the first morning in Wyoming's Wind River Range. Anxious to get started, I was out of my tent shortly after first light and in plenty of time to enjoy a great sunrise. This would be a theme for the early part of our trip."Red in the morning, sailors take warning." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyOur plans that day were to revisit a lake that John and I had enjoyed on our first trip in 2023. The total distance was very manageable and would be a great warmup hike without our heavier overnight backpacks. The intent was to get around 8 miles or so in to help us acclimate before putting on the heavy packs. Best of all, the target lake would enable us to get a species or two that might be difficult to find elsewhere on our planned itinerary.We hit the trail after a slow ride over lots of washboard with a healthy dose of potholes. The trailhead was exactly the same as I remembered it, and soon we left the dusty road behind as we walked through the pine forest. Hiking fast, we were soon entering the Popo Agie Wilderness and climbing steadily to our target lake. This lake is a bit below treeline, but close enough that the views open up in a dramatic way.Walking along, I noticed that some of the wildflowers that had been growing in profusion in 2023 were much less prevalent. It appeared that even though our timing was similar, lots of plants were further along than they had been on our last trip. Still, there were enough interesting blooms to keep me looking. "Asters heralding the changing seasons." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyAs the trail approached the lake, it skirted a lovely meadow where the stream carried enough water to suggest trout might be hiding in the undercuts. Sure enough, I pitched my Parachute Adams in and quickly found the first trout of the trip, a brook trout. These generally small fish overpopulate in the Rockies unfortunately where they are looked down upon as interlopers. My Smoky Mountain natives are invasives out west and generally treated as such by fisheries biologists. I'm still glad to catch them and they have saved a day of fishing for me on more than one occasion."Mandatory first fish picture." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyLeaving the small meadow behind, we were soon soaking in views of the lake. The odd rise was visible as well, so we knew there were fish active. On my last trip I had only fished the lake with a tenkara rod when we were passing by with full backpacks on our way to our campsite. This time, we had carried full fly rods and even had some sinking lines packed away just in case. Thankfully, we wouldn't need those. "High country lake views are the best." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyIt took slightly longer to start finding fish than the previous trip, but we were still into fish within minutes. There was some chop on the surface that made spotting fish a little more challenging, but if you could get a good angle to see into the water, you would also see fish. This particular lake is fun because of the variety it offers. We caught plenty of brook trout but also found cutthroat and tiger trout. Some of them ate nymphs and some ate dry flies."Cutthroat on a dry fly." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyI didn't really intend to walk around the whole lake, but before I knew it, I was at the inlet with a decision to make: push on across the inlet stream and finish circuiting the lake or retrace my steps and call it a day. Being my first day at altitude, the second option was probably the smarter of the two, but not knowing if or when I would be back pushed me onward. "John casting on the inlet stream." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyMy buddy John was game to keep going, so we were soon climbing over boulders on the north bank. I stopped for a feast on wild blueberries, the first of many on this trip. It was over on that far bank that John got an epic dry fly eat from a nice cutthroat. We had been leapfrogging each other and he was slightly ahead of me. I saw the whole thing out of the corner of my eye. Being a dry fly fanatic, John was in his element when the nice cutthroat rolled and sipped in the most cutthroat of ways possible. I could tell it was a nicer fish and quickly reeled my rod up and raced over to be ready to help as needed. Turns out John had things under control, so I just took a few pictures to document a neat moment. "John landing a nice dry fly eating cutthroat." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyBy this point, I was wondering where Elam was. He had been catching fish so steadily that he hadn't moved very far from where we started. Since he hadn't been to this lake before, he wasn't in as big a hurry to see the next cove as I was. This was more a chance to see the whole lake for me. The distance added bumped our daily total up near the 10 mile range. What was intended as a short warmup hike was quickly turning into a real hike. Still, we were all feeling good. "Tiger trout on a dry fly." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyThe day was getting late, however, and we wanted to be out before dark. The next day would truly be a big day. We intended to hike at least 12 or 13 miles with some significant elevation gain, loss, and more gain. Oh, and all this while hauling 40 pound backpacks laden with our gear and food for the next few days. Yes, we needed a good night's rest. "Last glance at this beautiful lake." ©2026 David Knapp PhotographyWe somewhat begrudgingly turned our steps back towards the truck. It had been a good day and I don't think it would have hurt our feelings to spend the night at this lovely lake. Little did we know that the daily adventure had some big surprises ahead back in camp that almost upended our entire trip... "Lupine on the hike out." ©2026 David Knapp Photography
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