[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Loon Zone Chat Page Version 1.60 ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Dan M. (209.92.85.90) on 13:36:36 05/15/14
In Reply to: Continued posted by Dan M.
After the film, we gather on the visitor center's large porch to see a demonstration of some new webcam equipment Tom is getting ready to bring on line. We are amazed (you will be too, but you'll have to wait). It is raining again, but most folks are heading back out to Lamar to attend the worship service and watch wildlife. Tim A. is expecting his wife to arrive and I go with him to the hotel lobby while he tries to make contact with her via cell phone and public pay phone. He is unsuccessful. Between attempts we peruse Fairyland maps and discuss route options. The afternoon draws on. I decide to go fishing. I drive down to the Gardner River and rig up my tackle. I'm using a Fenwick ultralight one-piece graphite rod with a little Shimano reel spooled with 4 lb. line. I tie on a Mepps #1 Aglia spinner, gold, and study the water. It doesn't look any better than it did the day before. The water is the color of a muddy puddle after a rain and it's flowing fast. My spinner will ride high. I find a spot where the water sweeps around a few large rocks and creates a "hole", a slackening of the current. Trout lie in such places, conserving energy as they wait for drifting food to be washed by. I cast upstream and across the hole so my spinner will be swept into it. I can feel the blade spinning but the water is too murky to see the flashing gold. At the tail end of the hole there is a solid jerk and I lift the rod tip. A frantic tugging makes the tip of the bowed rod dance. I play the fish in toward the bank and dip my left hand in the water before touching the trout. It's a sleek brown, almost 12" long. The little red spots on its honey-colored flanks glow. I quickly release it. In the next hour, I glimpse some tantalizing strikes, catch a few more fish, all cutthroats, but none are as large as that first brown. No matter. It's the being there that counts.
I decide to drive up toward Lamar and fish along the way. I pass on Lava Creek and several other small streams and don't stop until I reach the bridge over the Yellowstone. A muddy trail leads down to the canyon bottom. By the time I reach the river I have a thick, muddy clay patty clinging to each shoe. I scrape them off on the gravel and spend 20 minutes fishing without a single strike. I give up and climb back up to the road and head toward Lamar. I find a large number of Loons on Dave's Hill above Slough Creek. I climb the hill accompanied by Rachel Uhler, who chatters away about her friends. She is, as the saying goes, "as cute as a button." On the hilltop, a long line of wildlife paparazzi has their scopes trained on a far slope above Slough Creek. The famous sow grizzly with four cubs is the subject. John Uhler invites me look through his scope. At first I don't see the bears. He checks and tells me to look again. This time they are moving and I spot them right away. My first ever grizzly sighting! Rick McIntyre (sp) comes by and tells us all we need to move down to the parking area because a sow and two cubs have been reported heading in our direction from Lamar Canyon. We vacate the hilltop.
The approaching bears never materialize and as the light fades, people begin leaving. Lew and I notice a potential sunset photo opportunity developing, but by the time we get our cameras out of our vehicles, the best of the display is past. After a while I bid the remaining Loons good night and head for Mammoth. The three Tims and Jay are standing in the dark talking when I arrive. Tim A.'s wife, Betsy, isn't coming after all. The weather is colder tonight, and a bit windy, and soon we all head for our tents.
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Loon Zone Chat Page Version 1.60 ] [ FAQ ]