Crowds: but not as bad as "In Season"

Any time I enter the water to fish, people stop and congregate to witness my angling wizardry, as demonstrated in the pics above. Well, not quite the story. Anytime wildlife is spotted, traffic snarls, people are everywhere trying to get "the shot". What is incredible to us is the fact that despite verbal warnings from rangers, posters plastered everywhere in multiple languages, folks just prove over and over that you can't idiot-proof anything. Some have cameras with lenses that are the size of fire extinguishers, capable to detailing a pimple on a gnat's butt from 100-yards distance - yet they still have to get as close as they can, even following the prey into the woods. Warnings are to stay 100 yards from wolves and bears, and 25 yards from all others, most often bison and elk. With a very active bear population and elk in their rut, the poor rangers have their hands full dashing all over the place to protect the moron classes.

Old Faithful

Old Faithful under full moon at 7:40 pm. Forgot my tripod, but it turned out pretty well.

Entering Yellowstone National Park

My most memorable family vacation when I was young was 3-days spent in Yellowstone park when I was 12-years old. We were able to bring Ben here when he was 12 years old and he says that it was his most memorable family vacation. Charlcie and I are fortunate and so excited to spend some time here again - this visit with no schedule, so we are going to take upwards of two weeks here to take in as much as we can. If you've never been here, you need to make plans to come and spend at least a week fully enjoy this most magnificent park. Since there is very limited cell coverage and no wi-fi availability, contact with friends and family and postings to the blog will be sporadic, depending on where we are and if worthwhile to wonder outside the park. Today we are in the very cool town of West Yellowstone to take care of contacts, blog, showers, laundry, and to visit the four famous fly-shops(?). First moose sightings - two cows just inside the park Fall colors are arriving The bull is just out of the picture, napping in the shade This guy and his harem are wondering around in our campground area - they are in rut so it is wise to be alert and keep your distance Watched this fella for awhile and couldn't figure if he was eating the tree or just scratching his neck At Mammoth Springs; when you're hungry, who cares if you have to stop traffic?

Three Dollar Bridge: Madison River - Montana

The Madison River gets its start with the convergence of the Firehole and Gibbon Rivers in Yellowstone National Park (in front of the Madison Campground where we are camped for the first days in the park). This is one of the iconic fly-fishing rivers and it runs north to near Bozeman, MT. One of the more storied fly-fishing destinations is the Three Dollar Bridge, which we surprisingly learned was on our path to Wade Lake. I was giddy to be able to fish there for about 4 hours and although I only caught a few small rainbow trout, it was a fantastic experience to be able to fish this classic water.

Wade Lake; western Montana

On recommendation from Derek DeYoung, we spent a couple of nights at this small lake in western Montana. We pretty much had the campground to ourselves most of the time. Although the fishing was non-productive from the bank, we nevertheless enjoyed watching the wildlife and just relaxing on the shore of this beautiful, clear lake. On the way down from Livingston, we clipped the northwest corner of Yellowstone and then headed west, past Hegben Lake (famous for very large trout), Quake Lake (formed when a massive earthquake in 1959 resulted in a landslide that created a natural dam). Just beyond these lakes, we headed over the Three Dollar Bridge, across 7 miles of dusty, rough road thru Three Dollar Ranch to the lake. Quake Lake Landslide from the 1959 Earthquake Wade Lake River otters on their evening feeding run across the lake Aspens are starting to turn

Paradise Valley, MT

We enjoyed the Livingston area so much we extended our stay at the KOA in Paradise Valley. Also, the weather was cold and rainy for a couple of days so it was convenient to stay and dry out a little. That, and the fact we were able to go in to Livingston to the Chop House to watch the Razorbacks defeat Georgia! I was able to sneak in a couple of hours fishing on the last cold, windy evening - caught a bunch of whitefish, but did get a 14" brown, which was a nice conclusion to the day.

Fishing Hyalite Reservoir

In our conversations with Derek, he asked if we had fished for/caught any Arctic grayling. Since we had only read about and seen pictures of them, Derek offered to give us the opportunity. He shared with us that he derives special pleasure from treating friends to first-time experiences with new species caught on a fly-rod. So the next morning we got an early start with the Hyalite Reservoir as our destination. This is a mountain lake in a very picturesque setting seven miles outside of Bozeman. Charlcie and I were to experience several firsts from Derek's driftboat on this day: catching grayling, learning strategies for stillwater trout fly-fishing, and having our catch inspected by a fearless watchdog. We were observed most of the time by two adult and one juvenile bald eagles perched on the shore right next to our fishing spot. Derek was a great guide and fishing companion and we learned much from him - also enjoyed stories of his many fishing and career experiences. We have confirmed that he truly has a passion for fishing and enjoys showing new friends new experiences - and it is obvious that this is conveyed in his other love, his art (and livelihood). He was excited with each fish brought to net, whether his or our catch. Of course he was also proud to catch the Hyalite Grand Slam; arctic grayling, brook trout, and cutthroat trout. Derek was the top fisherman of the day, Charlcie topped me with two 12-13" grayling, but I won the prize for the largest, a 17" grayling. We found out that Derek shares our love of Cajun food, so he suggested stopping at a nice little place (didn't catch the name)in Bozeman for Po-Boys in the courtyard. I know, Cajun food in Montana? - yep and it was ummmmmmmm good! Posing with fearless watchdog, Sandy II. She napped most of the day, but when a fish was caught, she perked up to observe the catch coming to net, and then back in relaxation mode. Underwater shot of grayling, with reflection from water surface Fine brook trout specimen - enlarge and note the white tips on the fins Arctic grayling - enlarge and notice the blues, pinks, and purples on the fins and gill plates Derek and the first grayling of the day