This was a trip that I had been waiting to go on for several years. I had made plans to go one time, but then at the last minute, I couldn't leave work to go. Finally, this year I was able to make it. It was well worth the wait!

Ray and I met Russ, Dave and Justin at the Molas Pass trailhead on a friday morning. It was during the monsoon season, so we were all concerned about getting soaked before we got to camp. It sprinkled a few times on the way, but never enough to get on our rain gear.

The first stretch of the hike was really easy because it was all downhill. We hiked all the way down to the bottom of the valley where the Animas river runs. The Durango Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad also runs through this valley. We crossed the river and headed south for a while. Then Russ took us through a swamp to find the right drainage to go up into Garfield Lake.

Going up the side of this mountain was kind of difficult. There was no trail so we were either following game trails or bushwacking the whole way up. It was about 3,000 feet up from the valley floor to Garfield Lake. I was in great shape, so it wasn't that difficult for me, but a couple of the other guys were having a hard time. We finally got to where we would camp, got everything set up and then it started to rain. It rain off and on throughout the night.

The next morning we all got up, had breakfast and headded to the lower lake to fish. Russ and I stayed there for a couple of hours before heading to the upper lake. The other guys were too beat to try and climb again. I was doing ok, so I decided I would go for some big fish!. It was a lot farther up than I thought. After getting another workout, we finally reached the upper lake. I cast my line into the lake and pulled out a nice 14 inch cutthroat trout on my first try. We walked around the whole lake catching fish.

After getting back to camp we had dinner and then hung out under the tarp to stay out of the downpour. We cooked the fish we had caught in the coals of the fire, the best way to cook fish! The next morning we got up, packed up camp and headed back. Going down that mountain was almost as hard as going up! We had lunch by the Elk Creek bridge and it started to rain on us.

The rain didn't last that long, but it was enough to keep my pack covered. We headed back up the last stretch to Molas Pass. All of us kind of got spread out waiting for the guys having a hard time. I met half the crew for a minute and then took off to try and catch up with Ray since he was my ride home. I was not too far from the truck when it started pouring on me. I figured I was close enough that I didn't need my water-proof jacket. But after about 20 minutes, I realized I was farther away than I thought. By that time I was soaked so I just kept walking.

I reached the truck soaked and hungry. We headed back home to a warm shower and hot food. You don't realize how much you take a shower and hot food for granted until you spend several days in the wilderness with no shower and mostly dehydrated food!