A day on ALder Lake.

Alder lake is a 5 mile long reservoir of one big river and several smaller ones. It's about 15 miles from Mt Rainier and a 40 minute drive from my house. There are only a couple houses on it and 99% of the lake is in the Snoqualamie National Forest. It also has a phenomenal view of Mt Rainier over the water. I have fished the lake for the last 20 years and know all the hidden bays, inlets and waterfalls.

My daughter wanted to start fishing and this is the lake that I have never been skunked on.

So we got to the lake at 8:00 AM and spent nine hrs canoeing, fishing and exploring. I had the "pleasure" of falling in while trying to get out of the canoe on a small rock ledge. I killed my camera and cellphone. But the SD card in the camera was fine and all the pics and video survived.

We were only fishing for 20 minutes before Jessica nailed her first fish.
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Mt Rainier 15 miles away.
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Jess checking out some springs trickling out into a small lagoon.
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Coming up to the Little Nisqually River inlet channel.
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This time of the year the water level is extremely high from all the snow melt. That does not allow much shore to find to land the canoe. But we found a very small spot to beach it for lunch.
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About a mile up the river channel the rapids start. The water was crystal clear and we could see over 20 feet down.
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Jess caught about ten fish but only two were big enough to keep. We had a great time and covered nine miles on the lake. This is the first time I took a canoe to this lake. Before it was always in my bigger boat. But we went places I could never get an 18' boat into.
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It's frustrating that I spend big money on a camcorder for high res video and Youtube degrades it so bad. The video on Facebook is much higher quality.

As always..........Breathtaking. Thank you for sharing these Brent.

The high pressure makes nice sunny days and that is when my head does the best. It would suck if it was the opposite. I hope everyone gets outside and does something fun in between mig attacks.

just gorgeous, Brent.

Before my back problems became chronic I had just started kayaking with a couple of girlfriends.

Unfortunately I can't lift my kayak anymore and hubby is afraid of deep water (in a little boat).

I really like kayaking...so relaxing. The first time I did it I was at a conference in Seattle. Loved that city!

Our whole family enjoyed the pictures and the video Brent, thank you.
Except....we are horribly jealous, and dont want to be in England.
Mind you we already knew that.

Absolutely beautiful Brent! Thanks for sharing!

Debbie

I am glad that my daughter is enjoying canoeing, mountain biking and hiking. Her friends are far more interested in video and computer games then being outside. My friends have turned into couch potatoes and have no interest in any outdoor activities. The one friend I do have that fishes has to get drunk or stoned each time we go out. I really don't want someone driving a boat in that condition with me in it.

And I am lucky to get my wife out twice in a summer to go on a hike. So me and Jessica are going to enjoy all of the great outdoors and create memories and experiences.

Thanks to FaceBook I have found a couple local canoeing and kayaking clubs. It will be great to find some others that like to get outside.

Love and alone time at the most perfect place on earth, --> with her father. She is a wealthy girl who will grow up to be a strong woman because of it. She will be forever grateful. You are a great father, Brent.

Thanks. I have a few good examples of great parents and all we have to do is make an effort. And now after the surgery I have a lot of lost time to make up since the mig attacks are fewer. For two years I was lucky to make it on three hikes each summer.

Now I went and turned her into a fishaholic and she's bugging me about going again.