PP,

Not all places are bothered by pressure. Some of the spots are self-limiting with pressure because of the distance of the hike, or the steepness of the side trip from the trail to the lake. Also, not all lakes have trails to them.

The "sidehill" from Trout Lake to the Copper or Malachite (which ever one it is) keeps some people out if they try that hike either in the afternoon or on a warm day. Same thing with the "side hill" between Pete Lake and Spectacle. That "side hill" is known as the "stair steps" as it's 1500 feet of straight up switch backs. First time I did that I needed two hours to recover at the campsite at Spectacle.

Joe and Alaska are about 10 miles in, one way, and then there's the trail down the rock slides to the lakes. Both lakes are full of fish, and they get fished some, but not as much as if they were closer to the road, or the side trail to the lake was easier.

Sometimes I throw a lake name out as a teaser as I would like to see how committed the person is on good fishing. That lake might be a long hike.... or a steep downhill... or some other quirk that keeps most fishermen away.

One lake I went to was what appeared to be an easy 8 1/2 mile hike, but when the hiking boot met the trail, it proved otherwise. It was an 11 hour hike in. Not sure what the problem was, but I suspect it was the heat as the temps ran 90-100 degrees. There was a nasty "side hill" involved too.

Some lakes put out good sized fish but don't have a large population of fish. I don't pass the names of those lakes out freely. There's some off of the Snoqualmie that are good fishing.... and some over around Lake Chelan, but those I'm kinda quiet about.

Some acquaintances of mine take a weeklong trip each year and do a combo hiking/fishing trip. Usually they don't meet with many other fishermen/hikers when they're out. They do slide shows of their trips for the Hi-Laker club.