A Fishing Trip Back in Time at Mineral Lake

Mineral Lake is to my husband what Hood Canal is to me: a place full of childhood memories, of long summer days spent camping, fishing, and swimming. Yesterday we made the drive to Mineral, a tiny town whose claim to fame is the beautiful mountain lake stocked with trout and wonderful views of its famous neighbor, Mt. Rainier.

Bob started coming here with his parents and their friends sometime during the last century.  The parents would set up their trailers and leave them there all summer and their boys would have a grand old time. The picture below was taken at Mineral Lake back in the days of black and white. (Bob is the cute one in the middle.)

But yesterday everything was in color for our fishing trip.  Well – his fishing trip.  I was just along for the ride.  And though it was my first time in the boat, it won’t be my last.

Okay so it’s tiny.  But big enough for two and surprisingly comfortable with the little padded seats.  We carried a snack with us of the best in junk food – Cheese Puffs, Doritos and a Hershey Bar. And some beef jerky that we both decided was best saved in an emergency kit.

Bob piloted the boat – the small electric motor kept us moving – and fished for trout.  I helped navigate – on the lookout for the occasional random stump or log sticking up –   the town was once a logging camp.  But mainly I gawked at the scenery and played with my camera.

The best views came up pretty quickly as we rounded a bend and the Mountain came into view.

It never fails to take my breath away!

As we traveled around the lake the colors changed from blue to green and variations thereof according to the depth.  Nearest to shore the water became a glorious teal and sparkly.

I found other things to take pictures of too including this fellow hitchhiking.

And just for fun I used a fancy setting for this vista.

There would be no pictures of fish though.  Bob didn’t catch any – he was going to throw them back anyway.  As for me I enjoyed the ride.  The waves lapping against the boat, the occasional eagle overhead and the changing scenery.  Though next year I may get my license and show him how it’s done.  (Just kidding, dear.)

Even without fish we had a wonderful day on the lake but it wasn’t long before we were ready for a burger.  So we headed to shore and over to Scaleburgers in the nearby town of Elbe.

And the day wasn’t over yet!  We were just a few miles from the entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park so we decided to head up to Paradise to see the wildflowers in bloom.  We’re so glad we did!

Stay tuned for that story to come.  🙂

~ Susanne