Homeward Bound

After my emotional day of driving on Saturday, I got to Cody, Wyoming and took a nap. After sleeping two hours I got up and went to check out the sprawling metropolis of Cody. The fly shop in downtown was open. I had no choice. I went in.

Mike, the store owner, told me that all their guides were booked for Sunday, but the fish were biting so well I wouldn't need one. The only problem was that I had no equipment. Mike took care of that for me. For about what I would have spent on a guide, Mike sold me a fly rod, a reel, a couple of leaders, about a dozen flies, and threw in some small items I would need. Mike told me where to fish, how to fish, when to fish, and sent me on my way. The only thing he forgot was to sell me a fishing license.

I was up early Sunday morning. It was very cold. I had breakfast at Grannies, the place Mike had recommended. Then I went to K-Mart to get a license. I got to the fishing spot in the canyon of the Sheshone River just west of town about 9:30. I had the place to myself as I was a couple hours ahead of the time Mike had recommended. I put my fishing gear together, pulled on my waders, and walked down the steep concrete drainage slab to the base of the canyon.

The side of the river was all rocks, varying is size from softball sized up to the size of a riding lawn mower. I walked, or climbed, or scrabbled over rocks downstream about a quarter mile and started to fish.

I have taken enough children fishing over the years to have seen the frustration on their faces as they struggled with the equipment, bad casts, tangled line, and lack of knowledge. I was worse than a child. It was below 30 degrees when I started fishing. My hands were somewhat numb and brick-like. I kept having to break off ice that formed around the line as it passed through the eyes of the fishing rod. My casts were erratic and I got hung up in the bushes behind me as I let my backcast get too low. Almost nothing went right.

But I did catch three trout on the nymph. They were all little, about 10 to 12 inches long. I was thrilled. Even though I lost more fish than I caught, I was happy. I saw fish starting to rise to take bugs off of the surface. I switched to a dry fly. It might have worked better if I weren't so old or so cheap. I was wearing my perscription, polarized sunglasses. Unfortunately they are an older perscription. Unless I fished very close to shore, I couldn't see the fly. Somehow I managed to catch one, but I never saw it hit. I went back to using the nymph.

I caught a couple more fish, had one break off, and I called it a day. By now I was about a half mile down the river. The hike back up over the rocks was tough.

I got off the water at about 1:30, cold, tired, and hungry. For those who took a bet as to when I would break down and go to a fast food place, well it happened on Sunday.

After a lunch at a Burger King (I almost made it the whole trip) I started the drive to my next stop, Rapid City, South Dakota. Along the way I saw the following scenes.

I also saw this herd of deer right next to the road. I stopped and took a few pictures of them.

I finally made it in to Rapid City about 8:30pm Sunday night. After a quick meal from Subway (yeah I know, twice in one day), I went bed exhausted. The reason I had picked Rapid City is its proximity to Mount Rushmore. I got out of the hotel about 8:30 yesterday morning. As I got to within a couple of miles of Mount Rushmore, some more deer came out to greet me. Again I stopped and took their picture.

Then I continued on to Mount Rushmore, took this picture, and headed back towards the Interstate.

I deliberately took a back road to get back to I-90. Along the way I saw deer in 3 or 4 more places and wild turkeys in a couple of more. I guess all the wild creatures were gathered along the roadside to make sure I really was leaving the wild west.

This will be my last post. I will make it home sometime on Tuesday.

I want to thank everyone who supported me along the way with emails, comments on the blog, their prayers, their phone calls, and their good wishes. Thank you for putting up with this blog even when I got too serious. This whole trip was wonderful, difficult, awe-inspiring, painful, uplifting, lonely, and inspirational......just not all at the same time. And I caught some fish.

And thus ends my short career as a blogger.

Cold

It was a cold day. The wind blew. The fly shop never opened. I didn't fish. The sky was wintery. And I was cold. Cold in a way no blanket or fireplace could help. So I drove. I thought. I remembered. I grieved. I drove. Even the beauty of Yellowstone was colder, more contemplative. I stopped a few places, braved the wind, and let my mood direct the camera as I took the pictures.

And yet a small tree, soon to be complete buried in snow, will reappear in the spring, ever stronger and more resilient.

And the Rock

Today was difficult, as I came to realize just how much grieving I still have to do. I so want to be whole again. And yet I know my life has purpose and I am being guided. Lord, keep me on the path set for me.

Bison, Coyote, and Elk, Oh my!

Yesterday I was not able to find a fishing guide on short notice, so I drove up to Yellowstone and drove around. The first two pictures are from the north end of Grand Teton, a part of the park I had not yet passed through.

It's a small world. At Old Faithful I met one of my old grade school teachers.

My camera battery died just as the geyser started to spout. I had left the camera on for so long not wanting to miss the picture that battery quit at just the wrong moment. I chose to watch Old Faithful do her thing rather than to fumble around changing batteries.

Run-off from hot springs into a river.

A typical hot spring.

Another hot spring.

Buffalo in the road.

This coyote was just sitting around near a parking area.

These elk were crossing the road right at dusk. They were too far away to use the flash, but I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get a good picture without the flash as the shutter stayed open longer to gather enough light. There were about a dozen in this herd.

Yellowstone is an incredibly large park, I spent many hours just driving. A lot of the waterfalls, geothermal features, and lake views are just off of the side of the road.

I hope to fish today. If I catch anything bigger than the bait I will post the picture.

Bye for now.