Nearly annually, a group of guy friends and neighbors venture out into the wilderness to have one last hurrah before the summer ends. This summer it was to Red Castle (elevation 12,700 ft/3870 m) from the China Meadows trailhead (9,400 ft./2865 m).

Hiking East Fork of Smiths Fork Trail

We left the trailhead at about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday and knew that a storm would roll through was we hiked the 12 miles (19 km) on the East Fork of Smiths Fork trail. The trail is long and gradually up hill, with the exception of a short switchback section about 3/4 of the way in. As Red Castle came into sight, the scattered afternoon showers passed and made way for clear skies at about 7:00 p.m. We set up camp just near Lower Red Castle Lake, west of the main trail in the trees and near a small stream.

Fishing the West Lakes

Thursday, we hiked up to the west lakes for some fishing. Both lakes sit above the tree line. While at Red Castle Lake, the wind was blowing hard and cold. Fishing was generally successful, but not like it was up at Upper Red Castle Lake. It was nearly "fish on" at every cast until I lost my lure to the rocks in the lake. My next lure didn't have as much luck. We could tell that a storm was coming and decided to make our way to a lower elevation. Rain and a little bit of slushy snow forced us to take cover under some rock ledges until it passed. At about 5:00 p.m., we found our way back past the pond (pictured above) and clear blue skies again. The night air found its way to nearly freezing, if not below.

Fishing the East Lakes

Friday, we blazed our own trail around the north end of Red Castle, and to East Red Castle Lake to try the fishing over there. After sparse luck, and a nap, we left that lake and ventured over to Smiths Fork Pass Lake where two in our party decided to hike up to Smiths Fork Pass below Wilson Peak to look over to Kings Peak, Utah's highest elevation (13,527 ft/4123 m). After another nap, and after the other two returned, we fished Smiths Fork Pass Lake and I had moderate success with a Rapala and Kastmaster while the others had a little less success.

When we decided to return back to camp, we followed the trail back most of the way, encountered a herd of sheep, and eventually bushwhacked our way back and eventually to camp. We did attempt fishing Lower Red Castle Lake, but didn't catch anything. It seems like it would receive the most pressure of all the lakes we fished this trip.

Hiking Out of Red Castle

Just as we were heading back to the vehicle on Saturday, our hike organizer and probably our most avid fisherman decided he wanted to fish the stream about a half mile downstream of Lower Red Castle Lake, just after it starts really dropping elevation. He dropped his line in a small pool in the stream and shorly later pulled a golden trout out—the first I had ever seen in my life.