Introduction
A journey up to a high altitude alpine lake to film some fishing? Oh yeah, that’s right up our alley.
The catch was (no pun intended), we’d have to ride horses to get there – and neither of us had ever ridden before. But that just added to the adventure!
This shoot was months in the making.
Not only do trips like this take extensive planning, but we had to be weary of water levels since we were going to come across multiple river crossings.
This year was quite rainy so we were just hoping the river would remain low enough.
When we got the green light in mid-August we were stoked.
This is the journey of our horse packing trip to catch some Westslope Cutthroat Trout in the Alberta Rockies.
Day 1: The Meetup
Waking up in the truck at a campground in the woods is the best way to start a shoot.
Keelan and I met up near Ghost Lake, Alberta the night before, then convoyed 2 hours down a gravel road to reach our first camping spot. It was directly across from the staging area where our horse packing adventure would begin.
It was a great evening catching up and doing any last minute preparations. We didn’t have cell service and wouldn’t for the duration of the trip, so there were no distractions – just good old camping.
A peaceful way to start the adventure – sitting around the campfire and looking up at the expanse of the night sky with more stars than I’ve ever seen.
Day 2: The Journey Begins
The Ride
The next morning we woke up ready to begin filming the trek with our wilderness guides Neil Beeman and Lance Schneider. Both of them used to own outfitting companies and have ample experience in the outdoors.
Neither Keelan nor I had ridden a horse before so we were a bit nervous about that, especially since it was roughly a 3 hour ride to camp. We’d also have to focus on getting the shots we needed throughout the journey.
We drove to the staging area and met Neil, Lance, and the nine horses that were going to make up our group. They brought four horses for riding and five pack horses. This was definitely new territory for us.
While they got the horses and gear ready, (it’s a lot to organize onto the pack horses as the weights have to balance out on each side), Keelan and I started getting familiar with our horses.
Chuck Norris. Well, more accurately Chuck and Norris.
These two brothers were going to be our rides for the trip. They were very relaxed and both sported the same brown colour, almost like caramel. We walked them around to graze and slowly got more comfortable around them.
We got a crash course on how to control these guys and then we were off.
It felt so strange at first. The ride is a lot more bumpy than a vehicle, but you really do get used to their movement after a while.
After only about five minutes of riding, we had our first river crossing. The water rushes below you as your horse glides across, taking careful steps to get across safely. They seem unstable at times, but have much more traction than you’d think!
You learn quickly that horses really do have different personalities. My horse, Norris, kept a pretty slow and steady pace, rarely falling behind or getting distracted. Chuck on the other hand, would dawdle, trotting to catch up and give Keelan a nice whack into any low hanging branches nearby.
It was a captivating and special way to experience the wilderness.
“Being outdoors is my sanctuary – it’s my peace,” Beeman said. “Every time you’re on a trip like this you have memories. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, but you never forget them. That’s another reason why you like to do them. For the memories.”
Once we got through some of the more steep parts and crossed all the rivers, we reached some meadows and began to film. It was tough to keep all nine horses organized, so we tried our best to be quick with our shots while getting some nice angles.
Soon enough we reached camp.
Camp
Through the trees we could spot our camp. There was a fire pit made from stones with tree stumps to sit on, plus a couple fallen tree trunks to use as beams for drying out saddles and other gear. It really felt like we were characters in Red Dead Redemption stumbling upon a camp for the night – how surreal.
We set up our tents and organized our gear.
As the sun slowly started sneaking below the mountains, golden hour was in full force so we took advantage and got some really nice footage during this time.
It almost feels easy filming in such beautiful places. Mother Nature paints the scene, all we have to do is turn our cameras on and capture it.
We ate some homemade salsa, (which was very tasty), and had dehydrated meals while chatting around the campfire. It was a satisfying end to the first part of the journey.
And we knew we had lots more adventure to come.
Day 3: The Alpine Lake
Were we sore the next morning after riding horses for the first time? Yeah, a little bit I’ll admit. But that didn’t stop us from hopping right back on the saddle to head up to the lake. This is why we came.
A steep and narrow hike to get up near the lake, it’s amazing how nimble horses are. They do get tripped up a bit, but can navigate these intricate trails with ease.
We tied up the horses and unloaded the fishing float tubes.
They blew them up, strapped them to their backs and we hiked the last few hundred meters to the lake by foot.
Above the treeline, we could see the mountain ranges all around us. It puts things into perspective. Not a single soul around us besides our group. The peacefulness is hard to explain.
As we came over the top of the ridge, the lake was right there in all its glory. A small, but gorgeous blue lake nestled in a basin near the top of a mountain. I’d never seen anything like it before.
“Every high mountain lake is unique in its own way,” Beeman explained. “I like this lake because it’s really up in a high alpine bowl. It’s really beautiful – super nice water. It would have been probably 25 years ago when I did the first trip up to this lake and there were fish in it then.”
Without wasting any time while the sun was shining, Beeman and Schneider got their fly rods ready and hopped on the float tubes while Keelan and I started filming.
You could see the different depths of the lake and we were on the lookout for signs of fish. Beeman realized they seemed to be in the deeper water, so he switched from a dry fly to a wet fly.
And soon enough, he had the first catch of the day!
A beautiful westslope cutthroat trout. A decent size and a nice silver colour with the bright red marking near its gills.
“I like to fly fish, but spin casting works really well on these lakes too,” Beeman told us. “Pretty much the challenge of it. I think a fish caught on a fly gives more fight than a fish with a spinner in its mouth. I think it’s kind of exciting to see them jump.”
It was really special to see these fish because this lake is only stocked once every few years by the Government of Alberta. They release the fish from a helicopter when they’re pretty small, so by the time we caught them they’d reached full maturity.
It’s great to have recreational fishing opportunities like this provided through the stocking program. It’s the only way we’re able to experience fishing in such a unique and remote location.
“These fish in these lakes, they’re not huge fish by any means,” Beeman said. “They’re trophy fish in my mind, but they’re only ice free, some of these lakes, for three or four months of the year. So, they don’t have a big growing season.”
The fishing didn’t stop either! Beeman and Schneider were on the water for hours, catching trout quite frequently. At the end of the day they caught (and released) around 17 fish between the two of them.
After a long day at the lake, we hiked to the horses and made our way back to camp.
Day 4: The Trek Back
After a few days in the wild filming, fishing, and taking in the natural beauty around us, it was time to head back. After packing up camp – and leaving it cleaner than when we arrived, we got on our horses and started riding back.
There was a bit of rain to start the morning, but not long into the ride it dissipated and we were left with another beautiful sunny day.
Now that Keelan and I felt more comfortable on Chuck and Norris, it allowed us to get into the rhythm of the horses walking and our minds could wander. We were thankful for the opportunity to explore this region and to film some great fishing.
It’s important during shoots to stop once in a while and just take it in – to appreciate the journey and the adventure that we’ve found ourselves a part of.
In the three days we were out in the mountains we didn’t even see a single person. It’s crazy how we can experience wilderness like this only a few hours from the city.
“The memories you make on these trips and the people you’re with is probably the best part,” Schneider explained. “The crazy thing about the Alberta outdoors and the outdoors across Canada is that so many people haven’t seen them. So many people don’t understand it, they don’t know it’s here.”
Once we arrived back at the trucks, we took a few photos of ourselves (to prove we rode the horses) and said goodbye to our new friends.
Conclusion
We had a great time exploring the wilderness with Beeman, Schneider and all the horses. We had a chance to learn how to do basic riding and got to film some fishing in a remote alpine lake.
It was a special experience and I’d suggest trail riding to everyone! It’s really fun riding and I could totally see us doing it again if we had the chance.
