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The Adventure Continues! We've now been on the road for
over 2 months. Our first newsletter covered primarily our travels to and stay
in Taylor Park, Colorado.
August was a great months for us. Since August 6, we've been on the move,
visiting some of the great trout waters of the Western US. This issue brings
you up to date on our travels in August and some of the interesting things
that have happened to us along the way.
Eat, Sleep, Fish.
We've included this short summary article for those of you who don't have time
to read the whole newsletter to see what we've been doing. That's about it.
Then we drive for 2 days to the next place and do it all over again. It's a
tough life, but somebody has to do it.
Fishing the Flaming Gorge. The Green River flows through the Flaming
Gorge Canyon below the Flaming Gorge Dam near Dutch John, in northeastern
Utah. This is right up in the corner where Utah, Wyoming and Colorado come
together.
A series of very enlightened decisions on the part of the people who manage
this dam have resulted in a world class trout fishery. The water in the Gorge
is crystal clear and fishing there has been described as being much like
casting into an aquarium. There are literally trout almost everywhere you look
in the river. But, fooling them into eating your fly is a challenging, yet
rewarding experience.
The Green River provided us with a perfect river for our boat. Our 14'
cataraft was a stable casting platform for floating in the whitewater rapids,
which are rated in places up to Class III difficulty.
Cyndie and I floated this beautiful red canyon three days on our own and 1 day
with local guide, Mark Nielsen. We enjoyed good fishing each of these days and
took in some awesome scenery and wildlife viewing at the same time. The fish
we caught included rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout. Most were in the
14"-18" range but we landed a couple of brown trout around 20".
The Green River is definitely going to become a favorite location for us. It
has just the right combination of fishing, scenery, floating and support
services to ideally meet our needs. It would be a great place to come visit
and fish with us. We'll let you know when where headed there next and you can
make your plans.
Not Everyone Fared so Well.
[Clearly, we enjoyed our trip to the Flaming Gorge. However, it didn't work
out so well for everybody on the river. What follows is a story of what can
happen if you fail to respect the forces of Mother Nature and don't plan
properly before you visit her. It started off as kind of humorous to watch
this event unfold. But, before it was over, it was downright scary.]
One afternoon, we put onto the river with a group of 9 guys in 4 canoes. These
guys were from Nebraska and were very misinformed about the type of water they
were about to float. Two of their canoes were fiberglass and two were very
beautiful handmade wooden canoes that had been built by one of the men in the
group. This group planned a 3 day float to the confluence of the Green River
and the mighty Colorado, so they were loaded with gear.
The ranger at the put-in warned them that they were overloaded and that the
Green River had a reputation for being a tough river to float in a canoe. They
had no river map and were under the impression that there were no serious
rapids on the river.
Just around the first bend, we met one member of this group. He yelled across
the water to us "Anybody know how to remove a fishing hook from my finger?".
After learning they he had not debarbed his hook, we yelled some vague
suggestions and floated on past.
At the first major rapids, we saw a second canoe headed off to the left. All
the information we had seen on running this rapid had said to stay right. So,
we were not terribly surprised, but pretty amused, to watch them swamp the
canoe. One flyrod and some other gear was lost into the river. They even
managed to put a hole in the side of the wood canoe. Bummer! But, they had the
universal repair material, duct tape, and used it to get the canoe floating
again.
We watched one of the fiberglass canoes, heavily loaded with gear, come
through the next rapid, taking on water each time it crossed a wave. By the
time it got to the bottom of the rapid, it slowly sunk while its occupants
tried to look like they had it under control. This event climaxed with the
draining of the video camera and a complete inventory of the gear they had
lost.
By now, we were pretty much rolling in laughter but trying to keep a straight
face as we warned them about what lie ahead. We suggested that they may want
to reconsider their plans to float on past the first take-out and abandon
their mission at that point. But, they would have none of that.
The next event took the situation from amusing to scary. As we floated into
Mother-In-Law Rapid, we saw the remaining wood canoe wrapped around a large
rock in the middle of the river. People were suspended out near the canoe
trying to get each other and gear out of there. Very powerful hydraulic forces
were destroying property and endangering lives. All of the canoeists were
soaking wet and getting freezing cold. Now that they had dodged the bullet of
drowning, they were getting close to being hypothermic. It was not a good
situation.
To bring this story to conclusion, we floated out and reported the groups
predicament to the Ranger. The guys had to camp at this spot for 2 days.
Eventually, the canoe had to be cut out with a hatchet, dragged out with ropes
and ended up in halves next to a dumpster. The remaining canoes and gear were
floated and hiked out to the nearest takeout. Our unknown friends left with
their lives, a small portion of their gear and a hell of story to tell.
A Visit to Yellowstone.
The word that the grasshoppers were on the Yellowstone River, and the lure of
the longest free flowing (no dams here) river in the US took us to Montana in
late August. But the "You should have been here yesterday" truism of fishing
once again reared its' ugly head. By the time we got there, they had 3 days of
rain and the river turned the color of coffee (Black thank you, no cream).
Not to be deterred by adverse conditions, we set up to float the Yellowstone
anyway. Over the next couple of days, we floated 25 miles of the river between
Gardiner and Livingston, Montana. One day we floated by ourselves. The other
day was spent with Austin Angler owner Jim Adams and Austinites Mickey ? (what
was his last name anyway) and Robert Floyd.
With the water so dirty, the grasshopper fishing just wasn't on. But, we
figured out how to catch fish anyway, using big streamers thrown at the bank.
We both caught quite a few native Yellowstone cutthroat and brown trout.
One of the things that made this trip so enjoyable was the nice campsite we
had. We were located right on the banks of the Yellowstone, with the river
only 20 feet from our door. The Yellowstones Edge RV Park is a brand new park
that is operated by Pam and Chan Libbey, two real nice folks about our age.
Our trip to the Yellowstone was a success, in spite of the bad water
conditions. As a bonus to the nice fish we caught, we also saw deer, elk,
moose and black bear. A good time was had by all. All two of us anyway. Oh
yeah, and Rowdy had a good time too.
Whitefish Don't Jump!
When Robert Floyd of Austin hooked and landed his first fish on a flyrod while
fishing with Jim Adams on the Yellowstone River, it was a pretty exciting
event for him. At least it was until Jim and Mickey told him it was a Rocky
Mountain Whitefish, considered a "trash fish" by locals. Never mind that it
took his fly, gave him a good fight and was a nice looking fish. Just the
opinion of fellow sportsman made the difference between thrill of victory and
the nuisance of a "trash fish". Oh, bother. A whitefish.
Fortunately, Robert tasted success on the day we floated with him, Jim and
Mickey. He landed a Yellowstone cutthroat on a flyrod. His first "real" fish
on a fly.
Just Takin' A Break on the
Snake. After Yellowstone, we headed over to Jackson Hole and the Snake
River. Fortunately, we arrived just as Bill and Hillary were leaving, so we
didn't have to put up with them during our visit.
The Snake River is by far one of the finest floating rivers in the country.
Numerous floatable sections provide a variety of water conditions, from glass
smooth to raging whitewater. The scenery and wildlife viewing along these
floats is just awesome. One section floated us right under the Grand Teton.
The trout in the Snake are both wild and native, a combination not found many
places anymore. They are also amongst the most challenging fish we faced this
summer. We felt fortunate to have been able to share a little time with
several nice cutthroat that were, and still are, in the Snake.
While at the Snake, we floated and fished with guide Paul Bruun. In addition
to being a well know professional in the flyfishing industry, Paul writes for
the newspaper and is a former Jackson Hole city councilman. Paul has fished
with many of the modern legends of flyfishing. He told us a story about
guiding former President Ronald Reagan on the Snake River.
We spent two days with Paul. One day we fished while Paul floated us through a
section of the Snake just south Jackson. On the second day Paul fished out of
our boat while Jeff rowed through Grand Teton National Park. What a pleasure
to be able to sit and watch a real pro handle a flyrod. It was a pleasure and
an honor to be able to share some time with Paul. It was a blast to float the
Snake River.
Big Horn Battles. The Big Horn River
below Yellowtail Dam in eastern Montana is home to big trout and Crow Indians.
This land and these waters have been the subject of numerous turf battles
throughout its' rich and colorful history. Custer lost his life here and the
Crow Indians fought all of the way to the Supreme Court to try to keep white
men from fishing for the Big Horn trout.
This river is rich in aquatic vegetation and all of the right bugs needed to
grow and support lots of big trout. The brown trout in this river are known of
getting particularly large and aggressive. We found that to be true but were
also impressed with several large rainbows we enticed into chasing our
streamers.
Of all of the great western rivers we have visited this summer, the Big Horn
was by far the most crowded. Often we would be on a stretch of the river with
8-10 other boats. You had to watch where you took the boat to avoid crossing
paths with the constant stream of guide boats that were coming down the river.
I guess it's hard to keep a good place all to yourself.
But, there is a reason the river is crowded. People come from all over the
world to chase the large trout that feed on the prolific bug hatches that
occur on the Big Horn. One morning, we watched a trico [little black bugs
about the size of a pinhead] hatch that was so thick that you could see them
rising in columns, like smoke, for over a mile down the river.
We've decided to pick our times carefully, to avoid the crowds. But, we'll be
back on the Big Horn again.
Cyndie's Wildlife Sightings
Report. I always keep a sharp eye out for wildlife while we are out
fishing. Here's what I've seen over the past month and a bit about each
sighting:
Black Bear, Bull Elk, Moose and Buffalo, all in the same day. We call it a
Yellowstone Grand Slam! Also saw Trumpeter Swan, Raven and Hawk in "The Park".
HUGE BULL ELK which we rowed the boat within 10 feet of on the Snake River.
The elk was the calmest of the bunch.
Beaver were swimming in the ponds we fished at Nelsons Spring Creek.
Bald Eagles were diving into the Snake and pulling out trout right in front of
our eyes.
Four otters were swimming playfully around the boat on the South Fork of the
Snake River in Idaho.
A Great Horned Owl was in the trees watching us fish the Big Horn.
A little black and white Mountain Chickadee flew into our trailer one day on
the Yellowstone. We caught it, got a good look at it and put it back outside.
We call it "Catch and Release Birding".
Jeff spotted a Snake eating a Frog along the banks of the Yellowstone.
Canadian Geese are fly over us almost daily now, starting their trek south for
the winter. Bluebirds and Hummingbirds are daily visitors.
Campground Recap. When you last heard from us, we'd just pulled into
the Montrose, Colorado KOA campground. Since then, here's where we've stayed :
Grand Junction, CO, KOA - Real nice big park. Took a great sunset drive
through the Colorado National Monument and visited a dinosaur museum.
Dripping Springs Campground, Dutch John, Utah. Home base for our trip to
the Green River. I picked this site over the phone and felt like I had won the
lottery when we saw it. A large, isolated site that was conveniently located
to float the river.
Salt Lake City VIP RV Park - This was a great big park. RV's stacked
one right next to the other and it was near the airport, so it was noisy.
Idaho Falls, Idaho, KOA - A real nice camp on the banks of the Snake
River. We woke up about 4:00 AM when Air Force One flew Clinton out of the
Idaho Falls Airport back to Washington from his Yellowstone vacation.
Dillon, Montana, KOA - Another nice park. This one is on the banks of
the Beaverhead River. But, we didn't fish here. Instead, we visited the
Patagonia Outlet store and picked up some great deals on outdoor clothing.
Yellowstones Edge RV Park, Livingston, Montana. - This park framed up
the Yellowstone River in our living room window. We stayed 6 days at this
nicely designed, brand new park that was the perfect headquarters for our
float trips on the Yellowstone River.
Snake River KOA, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Located South of Jackson and
right on the banks of the Snake River. Base camp for 5 days of floating over
50 miles of the Snake River.
Ponderosa RV Park, Cody, Wyoming. This was just supposed to be a stopover
on our way from Jackson to the Big Horn. But Cyndie discovered a great museum
on Buffalo Bill Cody and the grave of Jeremiah Johnson. That, and a flat tire,
made for a whole day in Cody.
Cottonwood Camp, near Ft. Smith, Montana. This campground, located way out
in the middle of nowhere on the eastern slope of the Wyoming Rockies, served
as headquarters for 5 days of floating on the Big Horn river. General Custer
met his end just over the hill from here.
FLYFISHING - The pursuit of the difficult, but obtainable. A never ending
series of occasions for hope. (Loosely quoted from an unknown author)
Learning to Drive the Big Rig.
Before we headed out in June, I was pretty apprehensive about towing our
trailer. After all, with the truck hooked to it, we are almost 50' long and
weigh almost 20,000 pounds. Couple this with our desire to roam around in the
most remote places in the Western Rockies, and you've got a driving challenge
ahead of you.
Our trip into the Flaming Gorge was quite an experience in towing up and down
very long steep grades. We quickly learned that towing uphill is really not
that big of a deal. You just slow down to the speed that your truck is able to
pull. It's going downhill that gets interesting. You find yourself pointed
down a grade that looks more like a cliff than a road. Then you add a 12,000
pound trailer pushing on you from behind and a curve at the bottom that you
swear is Turn 2 at Daytona. Gravity suddenly takes on new meaning. You can't
just ride the brakes because they quickly get hot and start smoking. You
finally slow down by downshifting, pumping the breaks and praying, while you
round the corners about 10 mph faster than you wish you were going.
Actually, I'm finding the driving not to be that much trouble. We try not to
travel more than 200-300 miles in any one day. Having your home right behind
you allows you to take breaks during the drive. Once you get out on the
highway and up to speed, you are hardly aware of the trailer behind you.
While backing the rig remains the biggest challenge, we've managed to put it
into some pretty tight quarters in some remote places. We don't always hit it
the first time. But, with a little patience and a few tries we get it.
The advantages of traveling this way clearly outweigh the difficulties driving
the rig. Each day we get more experience and it gets easier.
Hope to see you all again soon.
Let's go Fishin'!
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Contents:
Green River Disaster
Yellowstone
Snake River
Big Horn,
Montana
Wildlife Report
Truck Driving Blues
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