So I have finally choked back the emotion enough to write the final entry into the Yellowstone Blog for 2010.
After being in a place for so long it becomes part of you.
You appreciate the character of a place and sometimes it feels as if a place enjoys you being there.
This however was not the case on our final day in Yellowstone. We were greeted once again by snow covered mountains and brisk air.
Our destination was Trout Lake, and then we were going to give Soda Butte another try.
While gearing up the car thermometer read 44 degrees with a light drizzle falling.
Our short but steep hike was fairly uneventful if you don’t count the minor slipping every 5 to 6 steps. One we reached the lake the rain picked up a bit, but it didn’t damper our resolve.
We all split up and started working different areas of the lake. I walked to the far side and got rigged up. I had only been casting for about 15 min when I all of a sudden heard a loud grunt/growl very close by. I flipped my rain hood down trying to pick up where and what that noise was. After hearing it a couple more times I picked up its location and decided to move quickly in the opposite direction. After putting some distance between me and the beast I was able to slow down and look back. It was not one but two extremely large Bison, and obviously I was fishing in their drinking hole.
During my whole ordeal Jeff managed to catch a beautifully colored cutthroat of about 16″. Shortly thereafter Brett wrangled a few into the net. I managed to have one long distance hand shake. After about 3 hours of fishing and my heart still pounding we decided to head down the trail towards Soda Butte. Once again Mother Nature greeted us with 30mph winds, but this time they were cold too. They wind made short work of me and an ear that was not enjoying gusts.
I headed back up to the vehicle to call it a day while Brett and Jeff decided to try to wait the wind out in hopes of a hatch. Their persistence paid off and they were rewarded with a nice BWO hatch.
The hatch seemed to be Yellowstone saying “We will see you next year!” Everybody called it an early day and headed back to start the daunting task of packing. Thanks for following us on our 2010 Yellowstone trip. The only thing better is actually joining in. Our dates for next year’s first week are arrival on 8/16/11 and departing on 8/22/11. The second week’s dates are arriving on 8/23/11 and departing on 8/29/11. The prices for double occupancy (you set it up) are $1250 . The price for single occupancy is $1550. Call 828.645.8700 or email me for more information
joshgarriscwo@gmail.com.