A Martin Photo: July 2019

After recovering from South America for literally two days, it was time to hit the road again and finish off this year as it started- in the van, in the west.

Our first mini trip involved heading down to the Deschutes River for what was supposed to be the peak of the salmon fly hatch, but even more exciting than large, disgusting bugs that trout love to eat, was spending the weekend with our dear friends, Brett and Hannah. We arrived a day early and fished in some of the windiest conditions I've ever fished down there, but despite the wind challenges, we had a productive day catching several trout but only one off a salmon fly. The next day we had much better weather and our friends were with us! The fish were still feeding mostly under the surface, but we visited a familiar bucket we've fished successfully in the past and found amazing conditions, fishing conditions anyway- the weather was cold and rainy, but you don't really notice when you're hooking fish on nearly every cast. We all caught fish, even Hannah on her first time out fly fishing... ever! The weather broke and we enjoyed a great dinner, some drinks, and marshmallows. We fished together for a few hours on Sunday before they had to head back to Seattle. After lunch Shaun and I headed to an area that is only accessible by foot. It was about 55 degrees, cloudy, and then the rain and wind started. After investing time to reach our spot, we decided to wait out the weather and an amazing thing happened- a drake hatch. When drakes hatch, the fish literally go nuts for them. They feed on them without a second thought- presentation of the fly to the fish hardly matters, they just eat, out of instinct. Think see fly, eat fly! Even more incredible was that this was happening on a pretty cold, rainy day. I don't even know how many fish we caught, but it was a lot, and the only limitation was how wet we got and some thunder and lightning moving in that forced us off the water. We decided to walk the mile and a half back to the car and find some food. We headed back to Olympia the next day to finish switching out our gear in the storage unit, and then it was time to make our way toward Yellowstone.

Early mornings on the Deschutes

The one second the wind wasn't howling

There's a lot happening here

Never regret a sunset here

Friends on the river

Shaun with a nice rainbow

Fish seeking salmonflies are often under tree branches and overhanging vegetation

We always catch tons of fish in this spot. It doesn't get tons of pressure because of the effort to wade out to it. Moral: people are lazy.

Same expressions!

These pics make it seem like Shaun didn't catch any fish, which we all know isn't true

Brett with a fat redband

Hannah hooked up!

Fish friends!

And then the Drakes went nuts!

The fish were very into these flies!

After regrouping one last time, we headed out to Idaho Falls as a stopping point and to photograph some waterfalls. We have driven through Idaho Falls I don't know how many times, and every time I say "we should stop at Shoshone Falls" and every time we would just keep driving, usually because we were ready to be home. This time, however, we stopped, and while it's not my favorite type of waterfall (hydroelectric controlled), there is no arguing that it is indeed impressive and worth the stop and short walk to a few viewing platforms. After stopping at one other waterfall nearby, we headed on our way, destination Henry's Fork River in Ashton, Idaho.

Finally made it to Shoshone Falls. Was hoping for a lively sunrise but it wasn't to be.

We arrived in Ashton and stopped at Three Rivers Ranch fly shop (there are several in the area as well as a resort) because I needed new wading boots and some other things. A future blog post will go into detail about our favorite fly shops we visited this past year, and it's safe to say the group at Three Rivers Ranch is up there at the top. So helpful, welcoming, and most importantly, willing to give solid information to match our objectives. We were looking for good fishing with some opportunities for solitude despite the busy holiday weekend (Memorial Day), and they told us where to find good camping and even better fishing. We had arrived right on the cusp of the salmon fly hatch, for which people travel all over the world to pursue catching hungry trout on big bugs. After feeding on small midges deep in the slower water all winter, these fish are hungry and ready to eat! Our first day, we hiked about a mile on a trail called Bear Gulch to where it ran into the Henry's Fork as it cut its way through a high elevation canyon. An otter swam by as we prepared to negotiate the steep hillside to access our desired section of water. Early morning, we caught most of our fish off nymphs (also known as wet flies), but by the afternoon we had fish rising to dry flies, though not to salmon flies as we had anticipated. Depending on the stretch of river, the hatches can vary in terms of when they start and stop, and while we saw some salmon flies, they were mostly on the bank and not flying or hitting the water yet. Still, we had a great afternoon of fishing and made our way back to the car as an early summer storm started to roll in. After napping in the van, we ate dinner and decided to walk to the end of the campground and down a foot trail along the Warm River, which flows into the Henry's Fork. We found a couple of fish upriver, and something I had never seen- the fish I caught actually puked up a bunch of worms while in the net. It was so gross- it literally burped and then vomited. Needless to say, there was no grip and grin of that fish! As we walked back toward the campground in fading daylight, we stopped to fish one more spot that looked intriguing- slower moving water but with enough of a current to possibly hold fish. The fish were feeding like crazy- so enthusiastically that when they went to attack the flies, they missed more than half the time. Still, Shaun managed to pull a few nice brown trout in, and once we could no longer see, we ended up back at the campground, pleased with our day and ready for tomorrow.

Trout don't live in ugly places

Fooled this guy on a purple haze

Yes, bear spray. Also, how about that hair??

Fishing the Warm River

The disgusting fish who vomited in the net right after this photo was taken

Brown trout at dusk

Upper Mesa Falls

Lower Mesa Falls

The next morning, we headed along the Fisherman's Road, a popular stretch for guide boats to launch and fish as they floated the river. We saw lots of boats but no one wading like we were. The wind was pretty terrible early on, and we contemplated giving up as we cycled between fishing wet flies and salmon flies (dry flies). After taking a break, we headed to another section of the run we fished. A fat brown trout exploded out of the water and gulped my fly. After battling the fish running down the bank, Shaun helped me net it and we both were awestruck by the whole experience. We removed the fly and let the fish go quickly- after fighting a fish, it's important to keep them in the cold water and release them as soon as possible so they don't suffer any excess stress. Some people would want to keep fishing and try to catch as many fish as possible, I'm more of a catch a nice fish and then just sit and soak it in, which is exactly what I did. I walked up the bank to the roadside so I could watch Shaun fish and be ready to help net if needed. I certainly didn't expect to see a moose up there (about 100 yds away). She saw me, too and seemed a little unnerved, so I headed back down to the river, and I could see her cross the street and into the willow bushes for a nap. Shortly after, Shaun hooked another nice brown, and at that point, we decided we were pleased with our fish and elected to have lunch and head toward Yellowstone.

My first big fish off a big salmonfly

Pretty textbook brown trout

My fish on the release

Shaun also got in on the big buy action

We rolled in the Tuesday afternoon after Memorial Day and noted scores of RVs and cars to be leaving the park- a great sign. We had to deal with ignorant, rude people who don't know how to wait in line, but we were rewarded with a great, and more importantly, level campsite. At National Forest campgrounds where we usually stay, it is self register, but in Yellowstone, the camp host assigns you a spot, so it's always a good idea to be patient and polite. There was a little karma served when one of the groups who jumped in front of us in line figured out they couldn't use electronic payment and had to drive 45 minutes to the nearest ATM only to arrive back and find the campground full. We settled in, had dinner, and made preparations to get out early in the morning to spot animals. One of the upsides about visiting earlier in the season is the crowds, while still present, are relatively manageable if you go early or late and avoid the hot spots, aka all of the thermal features. One of the downsides is that many of the trails are either still covered in snow or so muddy that it's not really worth it if you are used to hiking in quality conditions. We did plan one early morning waterfall hike only to be faced with miles and miles of traffic attempting to access Grand Prismatic at 730 AM, so needless to say, we bailed on that nonsense and de-prioritized hiking and emphasized animal viewing, fishing, and relaxing.

Coyote through the morning fog

Bison calves roughhousing

I think he sees me!

Life is tough

Brown black bear

A bison lumbering through the Hayden Valley just after sunrise

A grizzly feeding on a carcass

We watched this coyote catch several mice

Two pronghorn locked up in the distance

Bald Eagle overlooking the Madison River before a storm

Mother black bear and cub from very, very far away

Just your basic roadside attraction in Yellowstone

We lasted here about 5 minutes- way too many people, even closer to dusk

Saw it and will never go back again

Double rainbows forming over the Madison

Bison crossing the Lamar River

All told, we fished the Firehole, the Gibbon, and the Madison rivers and found fish in each, though our most successful haul was on the Madison as it winds its way through the meadows near the West Yellowstone entrance. We enjoyed relative solitude except for the occasional bison herd passing on the road behind us and the jerks who tried to low-hole us (with their dog in tow, side note: incredibly illegal to have dogs in the park in that capacity). When fishing, it's proper to try and avoid other people fishing, especially in such an expansive area. There are plenty of places to fish, no need to walk up on someone and crowd them. They didn't stay long as they watched us catch fish after fish while they caught nothing. Vindicated, we decided to call it a day and share the spot with anyone else who might happen by it. A couple of days later, a family came and literally tried to get into the water right next to me to fish. I told them "no", but only one of them spoke broken English, so I had to keep shooing him down the river until he was a more appropriate though still annoying distance from me. After watching them cast a few times, I knew if there were any fish in that section, they would be spooked by all the splashing and flailing attempting to get the fly our to the water, we elected to move on again. I know they didn't mean any harm, but it was so annoying. I just don't understand driving down miles of open, empty river and then deciding to try and fish right next to another person.

A mother grizzly was separated from one of her cubs in this area, so the trails were closed. Every day it was lined with photographers. Unfortunately, I doubt that helped the sow reunite with her cub.

Not a bad place to throw some flies around

One of the prettiest browns I've caught, such unique spot pattern

Keeping the fish in the water helps keep them from experiencing increased stress

We caught a lot of fish here and stepped aside to share info and space with a fellow Tennessean who came down to talk to us about fishing (a much better strategy than low-holing or crowding)

Fishing among the bison

Long, slow days

Storm clouds moving in

Dodging sensitive thermal areas

A little off trail exploring

After spending a few days in the park, we then set off for Casper, Wyoming to do some fishing on the North Platte River and spend some time with Shaun's cousin, Mike, and his wife, Susan (and their doggies). We really enjoyed our time in Casper last summer, and this was no different. For one, it was great to be with family (and doggies) and two, the fishing was incredible. It really is amazing what you can find when you put in a little effort. Atop the canyon wall, we could see several large fish through the crystal clear water. Though there are fish throughout, it's always nice to know going in that you've found a collection of them. We scrambled down into the canyon, rods in tow, finding easy hand and footholds, using stealth as much as possible so as not to spook the trout in the nearest pool. It had such a slight current that it was almost glass-like. These fish were smart, and we couldn't entice a single one. They were feeding below the surface but not quite on the river bottom, so we utilized flies that would sit just below the film in the water and also a wet fly to trail off the back to get further into the feeding zone. Fish after fish would start toward our flies and then turn away. They knew exactly what they were looking for, and it wasn't anything we had, despite multiple fly changes. When the weather warms, fish often seek water with more of a current as the current brings food and also provides more oxygenated water. For that reason, we decided to move down river just a few yards to a small rapid that was flanked by large boulders which are another feature that fish look for to provide cover from ospreys, eagles, and other birds of prey that peruse the canyon. Because of the water clarity, it would be easy to spook fish despite a little bit of whitewater which usually acts as our ally. So, we decided instead of utilizing a plastic indicator (too heavy and makes too big of a splash) or a wool indicator (not sturdy enough in the rapid) to use a large foam grasshopper imitation fly with a wet fly dropped a couple of feet behind it. We had seen a few grasshoppers as we traversed down the canyon, so it wasn't out of the question that we might have a fish take the surface fly, and in addition, the grasshopper fly is more stable on the water, so easier to detect a fish strike in this situation. We could have not even seen a fish but the picturesque scenery would have been worth the effort, but as a bonus, the fish were very active, and we hooked several and were able to land a couple of massive trout each, all were around 20", with Shaun catching the largest at 22". In addition to the ones we landed, we had several leap out of the water and break off, taking our flies with them. That's not the ideal scenario as we don't want to leave anything behind, especially in the lip of a fish, though fish do possess a certain acid that can dissolve small metal fish hooks. In order to avoid this, you try to use as strong of a tippet as possible (tippet is what connects the end of your fly line and leader to the actual fly; this keeps the thicker, heavier line from hitting the water, which the fish could see and therefore avoid). Satisfied with our day, we climbed back out of the canyon and sat in the hot sun for a few minutes before heading back to a house with a shower!

Starting the walk down to the river

We could actually see fish from here

I think I've said it before, trout don't live in ugly places

This was a great place to hook a fish, not a great place to land a fish

But we managed

Shaun chased this one halfway down the canyon

Back you go

Very healthy fish

And then there was this weird football

I'm not usually one to go back to the well after a successful day, call it a jinx superstition, but we both couldn't help but wonder if we would have the same kind of luck, so back we headed, climbing down the now familiar route to the river. We had a few hits but were unable to bring any in for a couple of hours. Finally, I hooked a huge one, it jumped, spun, and tried to wrap the line around rocks to break it off, but somehow, I was able to get it into a small protected pool where Shaun got it in the net. It was a beautiful fish and measured at 24"- unbelievable! After a long fight to land the fish, we wanted to get it back into the deep, cooler water as soon as possible, so we snapped a couple of pics and off it went, dousing me with water from a tail slap for good measure. We hung around a little longer, but I had no desire to fish anymore. I preferred to sit back, watch, and marvel over the sequence of events.

It's now very familiar. And no, this is not a repeat picture.

Down, down, down

Spotting trout

Always easier to negotiate when someone holds your rods

This was my personal best

A beautiful trout. We keep them in the water to protect them.

The best place

Back up

From Casper, we began the drive toward Colorado, where we planned to meet up with our friend, David, to fish the Gunnison River outside of Montrose and revisit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We spent a couple of days in Fort Collins along the way, getting in a little hiking and relaxation (which included playing with our camp neighbor's baby Weimaraner) before continuing south to Denver. We met up with our friends, April and James, in Denver, crashing at their apartment and enjoying dinner at Breckenridge Brewery. It's always a lift to see familiar faces, and we were lucky to have several in succession. From Denver, we headed west on 70, the first time we've driven through Summit County during the summer (though there was more snow in June than there was when I was there in January two winters ago).

Taking advantage of the sun to charge our generator

Rocky Mountain National Park as viewed from Mt McConnel

The best store ever

Basically my whole childhood right here

Never miss a chance to eat at Beau Jo's. All pizza should be served with honey.

Still a lot of snow around in Summit County

Technically Colorado but looks like Oregon

Unfortunately, with the aforementioned heavy and late snowfall in Colorado this past year, the rivers were all unimaginably high and barely fishable. We regrouped and headed to the Taylor River which while high and discolored in some places, had some fishable water. We tried a couple of spots but with such little space and so many people itching to fish, it was crowded and not all that enjoyable. We did a quick catchup with our friend and then headed onward toward Utah.

I've always wanted to visit Dinosaur National Monument, and this seemed to be as good of a chance as any. We detoured about 30 minutes to cross this one off the bucket list. The exhibits area really quite amazing- actual dinosaur bones and a huge display of layers of fossils discovered in the area. It's kind of disappointing that so many of the artifacts have been shipped back east to various museums given they were discovered in the west, but the digs were funded by rich people, and so east the fossils went. We had hoped to camp in the area, but the crowds were pretty bad and after observing pretty awful behavior from the groups of tourists, we decided we'd rather head to one of our old favorites, Dutch John, Utah and camp at Dripping Springs instead, despite the fact that the Green River also wasn't currently fishable. There were maybe two other groups camping there but far from us, and we enjoyed the peace and quiet despite the controlled burn causing smoke to fill the skies. We also saw two newborn pronghorn fawns- the first time I've ever seen them so small.

Tourist stuff

Because dinosaurs

Layers of buried fossils preserved as a giant exhibit wall

Cacti blooming

We headed back to the Henry's Fork for a couple more days of fishing, a second chance at the tail end of the salmon fly hatch. We accessed a dreamy stretch of river via a 45 minute walk across a mix of public and private land (the landowner allows anglers to utilize on foot). We watched a storm roll across the Tetons as we fished in their shadow, wading waist deep in the gentle current of the Henry's Fork, far from the elbow to elbow fishing to be found near the public access areas. Fish were rising like crazy, and once we solved the formula, we pulled in several beautiful rainbows and browns. As we lost daylight, we fished by the light of the nearly full moon and still found fish willing to eat. We got back to the van after 930 and headed back to the campsite to eat a late dinner. The next morning, we fished a few minutes along the Fisherman's Road, but the wind and conditions were terrible, so we elected to head to Jackson and find a campsite.

Walking back into Bear Gulch

No one here because people are lazy

Little ambitious fish

Shaun tells me his neck hurts a lot. I can't imagine why.

Walking to the river and hoping those clouds go away

They did!

Henry's Fork brown

Beautiful fish

If ever I can, I head to Jackson when in the area. That place feels like home, and it drives me nuts that it has become a beacon of opulence. Despite that, those mountains stir me like no other. We easily found a campsite in the Gros Ventre campground, one of our favorites. There had been a couple of roads I wanted to drive down as scouting for a potential return in the fall aspen season. We saw tons of wildflowers, bighorn sheep, moose, and bison. That evening, we did a loop hike around a lake in the lesser visited area, hoping to see some wildlife. While we didn't see any bears, we did see a moose with a newborn calf from across the lake. We enjoyed watching them for a while and then headed back toward town, bound for our favorite pizza, Pinky G's. We took the scenic route along Jackson Lake and shortly before we reached Jenny Lake, we saw a car pulled over along a rise in the landscape. In the distant field, we saw a mother grizzly with two small cubs. They were making their way toward the Snake River and away from the soon to arrive crowds. It felt like the perfect end to the day, and that was before the pizza!

Mama grizzly with two cubs

The Tetons flanked by plenty of balsam root

Spotted this cow and newborn calf from far across the lake. She spotted us not long after and moved her calf into the willows and away from view.

Not the most scenic hike in Jackson, but we had it to ourselves, which was what we wanted

The next morning, we rose super early as I had my eye on a composition of lupine framing the Tetons. The sunrise seemed initially to be a dud aside from the elk wandering around us in the pre-dawn, but then it lit up- the Gros Ventre range appeared to be on fire, and the alpenglow on the Tetons was indescribable. We marveled at the beauty around us, a perfect send-off from one of our favorite places.

Fire in the sky

Fire on the mountain

From Jackson, it was onward toward Missoula but first a night on Rock Creek, another favorite from last summer.

Morning rays

Morning browns on salmon flies

A beautiful place to fish

Shaun tells me his neck hurts, a continued series

After staying in Missoula, we headed up to the Big Blackfoot of A River Runs Through It fame

Finally on some cutthroat waters

From the Big Blackfoot, we headed toward Couer D'Alene to camp and fish along the river. Our first day of fishing was kind of slow- we saw and hooked some fish but nothing to write home about. I had been looking forward to fishing here for weeks, so I was determined we would have a better day the following day.

Making our way to our secret spot

It got hot fast, so we were thankful to be wading up to our waists

Targeting the shadowed banks

Finally a nice sized fish

And another! Don't worry about the net in the background, it is tethered.

My favorite species of trout

By the time we finished fishing the CDA, we were still about a week away from being able to move into our new house in Olympia, so we decided to head toward Bend to finish off our trip and celebrate our anniversary. That same day, we finally heard from the dog rescue organization about the dog we had placed an application for over three weeks earlier. We were disappointed to find that despite not saying so initially, they wanted the dog to go to a home with another dog. We were so frustrated as we had been waiting and never really had a chance apparently, despite them emailing me with follow-up questions. Out of boredom and with a long drive ahead, I again turned to scouring the depths of the internet for available Australian Shepherds. My google search brought up what sounded like an extremely sketch site called findapuppy.com. I mean what could be wrong with that? It's the internet equivalent of a white van with no windows and a sign that says "free hugs" (and yes, I realize the irony of that statement). I clicked anyway, and when my phone didn't immediately become flooded with all kinds of pop-ups and spam, I saw this from a breeder in WA:

Look at this floof

I immediately showed Shaun because I could not believe how adorable this dog was or why he was still available. He was five months old and ready to go, so we discussed the idea of getting a puppy (something we were against initially), and we rationalized that an older puppy would be easier (probably wrong). I sent an email to the breeder listed and immediately thought about the torture of waiting. I looked up the breeder and saw that it wasn't too far from Spokane, where we had just passed through an hour before. We pulled over for gas, and I decided to call. Answering machine (yes, that's right). Dang! But then I heard "hello?" The lady had just walked in the door and heard my message inquiring about this floof named Birch. I told her about Shaun and me, our interests, previous ownership of Aussies, and that we are traveling back toward Olympia to move into a new house. She said we could come take a look at him in a couple of days or on a long shot, "today"- say no more, we were less than two hours away. We finished fueling up and turned around on two wheels and headed back toward Deer Park to see this boy.

Our first look at Birch and his brother, Willow

When we got to the farm, we were swarmed by Birch's brother, Willow and two younger puppies named Puzzle and Maze. Like there was ever a chance we wouldn't take this dog. He was more standoffish than the others, not one to compete for our attention. Once the other dogs were restrained and we got to see him, we saw the sweetest eyes you could ever see, and when he licked each of us, we were done for. We paid a deposit and would spend the next day gathering dog supplies before picking him up the following day. We camped about 45 minutes from the farm the night before we were to pick up Birch, and we started to talk about how crazy we were to bring a puppy into the van for a week. Shaun contacted our leasing agent, and it just so happens we would be able to move in at the end of the week, so it was one night in the van with him, and then we would be home, albeit a little earlier than planned.

We picked Birch up on Thursday, June 20th, a day before his 6 month birthday and our 16th anniversary. We drove most of the way from Deer Park, stopping several times to let Birch out of the van as he had never been in a car, on a leash, or away from the farm. He was surprisingly good with everything, aided by the fact that he was very responsive to treats. That night, we camped along the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River where we witnessed an amazing sunset and spent the evening bonding with our puppy, trying to teach him how to walk on the leash or the harness (neither were great). We moved in on Friday the 21st and celebrated our anniversary with a puppy at our feet, eating pizza off the camp table from the van (remember when we sold all our furniture?) and sleeping on the van cushions on the floor. Why would this crazy adventure end any other way? Now we're in the throes of assimilation back into the real world, and while life will look differently for a while with a new puppy and returning to work, we know our adventures will continue and there will be more to share in the future. Thanks so much to everyone for following along, encouraging us, and supporting our dream.