Field Notes - Dispatch 13 – Trout
Camp, Bolder Mountains, Idaho
Hello Fellow Adventurers!
I found the stub of a pencil I use for
writing and thought that I would compose a short note updating you on
our current mountain safari adventure. We are ensconced in the
mountain chalet which is situated next to a trout steam under the
protective cover of a conifer forest. Our camp looks out over a
verdant meadow fed by several springs so it is always cool and green
here. Lots of birds to watch, but none worth putting in the cookpot. MR put up a hummingbird feeder so
now I have to deal with those non-game birds as well.
Each morning before I can have
breakfast or go fly fishing MR makes us do our Mt. Bike ride (code
for inhuman torture) up the North Fork Canyon on a forest service
road. Bikes and the Boulder mountains are just a perfect
combination to give a person cardiac arrest. Just writing about it
makes me start to sweat. She says the mountains are beautiful in the
morning air and we get to see interesting wildlife. All I see is my
heart rate monitor redlining as very sharp rocks flash by my bike
tires. I am usually only one mistake away from riding off a mountain
cliff! I really think she is trying to kill me; and all of this
before my first cup of breakfast coffee.
The good news is that all my fishing
guide buddies at Silver Creek Outfitters and aware I am back hunting
trout in the Sun Valley. I stopped in to say hello and give them my
fishing report as well as some much needed tips. As soon as I stepped
through the door I could just sense the atmosphere of the shop change
and several guides darted for the back door. I guess it was lunchtime
or something. Anyway, one guide, Mike “Parachute” Adams, had a
cast on his left leg so I spent about an hour updating him on my
insights regarding western dry fly fishing and how it should be done.
He sure seemed astonished by my comments and suggested I go down the street to his competitors and spread my knowledge
around so all the local guides could benefit from my experience and
wisdom. I thought that was very generous of him considering how most
guides are quite secretive about such valuable inside information. I
reckon that's why so many of my best fish pals work at Silver Creek.
I am going to have to end this report
early so I can have a nap. MR is taking me into town for some kind of
highbrow shindig tonight and I think we are meeting some chums for,
what I hope, will be a visit to a pastry shop and restaurant. Old
Trout does not live on fish alone, you know!
Hope you are having exciting
adventures of your own.
