Hart Lake (Following Footsteps)

I have hung around a fly shop for almost three years now. Every person who walks through the doors has a story to tell. Some stories are good, and some are not. Me, I have a lot of stories of my own. I've been all over, had my share of good and bad days, and even occasionally caught a fish or two. Someone had told me last year about big Cutthroats in a high mountain lake last year. "How big?" I had asked them? O, up to about 16 inches. I was really planning on going there, and 16 inch Cutts excited me. Until I saw Erin's post on Hart Lake. And I knew right then I had to go. I called up a buddy of mine, and asked when his next available day was. Not knowing anything about the place we were going other than we had a long hike ahead of us, we head out to the Lake. I had never hiked so long in my life, and I really thought I was going to die. And I thought of the blog, and how all the people saying they thought I died... well they would have thought right. But somehow, some way, I made it up to the lake. During the hike, I actually thought I saw a large octopus in the middle of the trail. As my friend told me later, my exact words were, "Big fucking octopus." Nothing else. But once we got up there, it was totally worth it. I mean, look at these pictures! Totally, right?