This was a busy day, animal wise and otherwise.  We began early with a trip to Hebgen Lake to allow me to fish for gulpers.  The pull off that had been recommended was blocked, though we suspect other fishers had pulled the tree limbs across the road, but just a couple of hundred yards further was another.  I unloaded the float tube, donned waders, grabbed the fins and rod, and headed for Hebgen Lake.  The bottom was more solid that expected, and I kicked out a hundred yards from shore to some rising fish.  All the activity apparently put them down, so I waited several minutes but saw no more action.  I noticed other float tubers further out, so kicked out another three hundred yards or so, and found fish rising sporadically, then after 30 minutes or so, the hatch got fast and furious, as did the gulping, and I managed to cast to and catch a nice 16-inch rainbow.  Despite several more casts, the single rainbow was all that took to my fly today.  However, it was a lot of fun and I’ll be back out tomorrow.

After a late lunch at a Chinese restaurant in West Yellowstone, Kay did some basic grocery shopping, and we returned to Red Rock RV Park for some much needed naps.  At the last minute we decided to drive to Hayden Valley in Yellowstone NP for some animal viewing.  Since all the traffic was leaving the park, we made good time.  Arriving there at about 7 PM, we were immediately rewarded with views of a wolf and her 2 pups playing in a far away meadow.  Some of the other viewers told us of a bison carcass being fed on by a grizzly just down the road, so we inched our way down the park road, made an intermediate stop and saw a lone bald eagle, then continued ever so slowly to where the bear had been seen, found a parking place among the many other cars, only to find that the grizzly had left.  We did see a pelican, great blue heron, several bison, a small herd of elk, and a couple of coyotes crossing the Yellowstone River.  By then, dusk had begun to settle over the area, and we began the drive back to Red Rock, only to be met with near standstill traffic following a lone bison bull up the road.  Finally, the lead vehicle passed the bison, and we came to another near stop to find a HUGE bull elk grazing along the road.  By then, it was near dark, and photographing the elk was impossible.

We finally made it back to the RV park, a warm RV, and a welcoming bed.  

Last night, an awesome wind began about 1 AM, and continued through the day, combined with cloudy skies and occasional rain.  Kay had plans to kayak the Henry’s Fork, leaving at 8:30 AM, and it looked doubtful for a while, but women in their 60s are not easily intimidated, and 5 of them were off to the southeast for the morning.  Meanwhile, I had fully intended to fish for gulpers at Hebgen Lake, only to be thwarted by heavy winds and rain.  I made 3 attempts to load stuff in the car, and each time, it would blow and rain, and the storm was headed northeast, in the direction of Hebgen Lake, so I gave up.  Anyway, it gave me a chance to do laundry, clean the motor home, and take care of some other maintenance. 

Kay had a delightful time, and really enjoyed the kayaking experience; hopefully, photos will be forthcoming later.  The Henry’s Fork of the Snake River section they kayaked begins at Big Springs and flows to Mack’s Inn, about a 2-1/2 hour float .  Though they had seen any moose on previous floats, they didn’t see any this trip and were much disappointed.

The wind continued to howl the rest of they day, up to 40+ miles per hour, making napping in the motor home impossible—we get seasick.  I went for a short walk on Red Rock Road, and saw two pairs of Sand Hill cranes and a couple of osprey.  Horses were grazing in the meadows and provided an almost idyllic backdrop for photos.  The photo on the top of the page was taken about one half mile from the RV park.

Our movie for the night, featuring Sam Elliot, was You Know My Name.  It was about a true-to-life Oklahoma lawman shortly after the turn of the last century, and bringing order to Cromwell, Oklahoma—quiet good. 

Church today.  We returned to Community Protestant Church; we may have been going there too long as it’s beginning to feel comfortable!  We finally got to hear their minister today for the first time—after a substitute, the youth presenting the service, and the Gideons.  It gives us a whole new perspective of what visitors to our church may experience, and we’ll definitely be more open and welcoming to guests.  The sermon today was on “Doing The Right Thing” and it was excellent!  He cited some examples of people doing the right thing, and ended by advising us to do the right thing for the right reason, not because people are watching, etc., but because it is simply the right thing to do; we were both moved by the message.  It was good to be back in church after missing last Sunday.

We drove to Hebgen Lake after church to take a look at an access recommended by a fellow RVer and fly fisher, and saw a few “gulpers” rising to hatching insects.  The access looked real good for launching a float boat, and if weather conditions permit, I’ll be out there tomorrow.  On our return to the RV park, we stopped at Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone and I purchased a Montana fishing license, a 12-foot leader, and a few flies.

Today was Bunko Day at the RV park, and they decided to warm up with Left Center Right.  Kay finally came through and won some gas money for us to return home.  Then, she promptly lost $5 at Bunko.  Seriously, they had a great time and it was a good way to meet people.

Kay made vegetable beef soup today, and though the temperatures were in the low 80s, it was good.  Since there was plenty of soup, Kay took some to the folks that gave us the tip on Hebgen Lake, and they invited us to a group Happy Hour.  There were three couples, all from Albuquerque, who spend the summers here at Red Rock.  Two of the lades had gone to high school together in California, and only reunited after 30 years or so, in Albuquerque, and two of the guys worked together and had been lifelong friends.  They were our age, and come to Red Rock because of all the activities in the area, not because of the cool weather.  The ladies, all in their mid-60s, go kayaking once a week—what a hoot—and invited Kay along for tomorrow.  They loaded their kayaks and paddling paraphernalia on the truck, tied them down, etc.  Isn’t it great?  This senior citizen stuff is wearing me out!

We ended the day by watching the first part of Rough Riders, after watching the second and last part last night, and Sam Elliot was much more prominent in this part.  This was an excellent movie, and was historically accurate; we highly recommend it.

After our long circuitous road trip yesterday, we used today to recover.  And, it was party time again, every second Saturday afternoon on the deck.  Most of the morning was spent cataloging photos, making an entry into the blog, and backing up the hard drive.  Kay experimented with a Crock Pot dump cake, and it tasted real good, but didn’t look so hot—almost like the results one gets “baking” in a microwave.  We joined other RVers attending the party, most of whom spend the season here, and enjoyed a great potluck smorgasbord.  Afterwards, a lively game of Left Center Right was played and Kay lost more of our gas money; we may not be able to make it home!

We watched Rough Riders last night, or at least part of it, and I did it again.  This was supposed to be a Sam Elliot movie, but was about Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, and Sam Elliot had only a minor role.  When we put the DVD in, Kay asked why it said Part Two, and I thought it was because it was the second movie DVD in a set of 3; it was, but it wasn’t.  It was actually the second DVD in a two-part movie.  It doesn’t seem to matter as we’re getting used to watching the end before the beginning!  What a concept.

Seems like the older we get, the later we get started!  This morning it was 10:30 AM when we headed south, driving in the shadow of the Grand Tetons in Idaho through Tetonia, site of one of the original rendezvous’, and Driggs, before ascending the Teton Pass, and descending near Jackson Hole, WY.  Southeastern Idaho is an agricultural area with lots of potatoes, wheat, and other grains being grown in the wide-open spaces.  As we approached the Tetons, it became apparent that the area was also becoming a resort mecca, with HUGE houses and condominiums dotting the hilltops.  We bypassed Jackson Hole—been there, done that—and drove toward Grand Teton National Park.

Grand Teton National Park.  This small national park has many beautiful vistas of the Grand Tetons, some with meadows in the foreground, others with either Jenny or Jackson Lake in the foreground.  We were surprised to find a significant bicycle trail extending from the southern terminus to Jenny Lake, and many park visitors were taking advantage of it.  Grand Teton National Park is best taken advantage of via hiking the many trails along the lakes.  Our aggressive schedule today did not allow time for hiking, so we just drove through, and headed north to visit the remaining areas of Yellowstone National Park we had not seen on this trip.

Yellowstone NP, Lewis Lake Drive.  Despite signs saying “No construction delays”, we found ourselves at a standstill soon after entering Yellowstone NP, waiting about 30 minutes for the pilot car to lead us through re-surfacing the roadway.  Then, it was slow going for the next several miles, even after the pilot car left us.  Because of the traffic, we were not able to stop and take in any of the sites along the way; and, our already tight schedule had just become tighter.

Yellowstone NP, West Thumb and Grant Village.  Our drive took us to West Thumb and Grant village where we stopped to view the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  I can’t recall ever stopping here before, but Kay says we had, but that it looked different.  This was an interesting area, and very scenic, with many of the thermal features in or near the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake.  By the way, Yellowstone Lake is quite large:  20 miles long, 14 miles wide, and 430 feet deep.

Yellowstone NP, Bridge Bay, Lake Village, and Fishing Bridge.  Next, we drove through the Bridge Bay, Lake Village, and Fishing Bridge area, mainly to see Fishing Bridge, and the only “full hook ups” RV park inside Yellowstone NP.  Fishing Bridge is known for the wild trout spawning spectacular that occurs most of the summer; we didn’t see any activity there.  In olden times, the bridge would be lined with fishers taking advantage of these spawning fish, but the bridge was closed to fishing in 1973.  The “full hook up” RV park had some vacancies, surprisingly, but was “naturally” not as aesthetic as those in a more natural setting; the gravel lot reminded us of those in Canada and rural Alaska.  We did see a few cow elk in the campground areas.

Yellowstone NP, Hayden Valley.  Continuing north, we walked the Mud Volcano trail which climbs onto a ridge overlooking the Yellowstone River.  The thermal features were different, as they were comprised of sulphur-laden, hot bubbling mud.  As we began departing the parking lot, traffic came to near complete stop.  We inched our way forward to find a herd of bison along and crossing the road, stopping all traffic in either direction.  Several of the large males were dusting themselves, and we saw one rubbing against a 12-inch tree so furiously, that he destroyed all the limbs up to about 6 feet, and tore the tree, roots and all, from the ground.  Though I knew down deep that they were strong, I was overwhelmed by the raw power of these beasts.  This “bison jam” lead to another just up the road, again with traffic at a near standstill.  After witnessing the bison uprooting the tree, we kept our windows shut as we passed them, fearing the worse!  A bit further up the road, traffic again came to a standstill.  Kay asked, and folks along the road said a grizzly bear had been spotted on the far side of the river.  We were lucky to find a parking spot in a turnout, and found the grizzly sow and one of her two cubs with our binoculars.

We observed the bears for awhile, and began our long trip back to the RV park, passing through Canyon Village and Norris before coming to another standstill.  For another 30 minutes, we inched along the road thinking there had been an accident, but to our surprise another small herd of bison had opted to use the road as well, and wouldn’t budge since there were steep slopes on either side.  Finally, we made it to Madison Junction, then to West Yellowstone, and to Red Rock RV Park at 10 PM, the beginning of quiet hours!

Today was a quiet day around Red Rock RV Park, with more and more vacancies, and folks coming and leaving after only a night or two; the wildflowers are disappearing, ground squirrels are beginning to hibernate, and fall is in the air!  After some tough wading and fishing the last couple of days, we took the day off and just hung out, using the time to clean both the motor home and the car.

Dusty.  Many of the roads here in the west are gravel, one doesn’t really need air conditioning so we use fans in the motor home and the car windows are down when we drive, so dust is everywhere.  Thus, we are constantly dusting, vacuuming, and mopping the motor home, and dusting and vacuuming the car and dumping fine gravel off the floor mats—part of the price we pay to spend the summer out here.

Bugs.  Can’t remember if we mentioned bugs, but we have sustained mosquitos and flies, seemingly by the thousands.  When our new friend and neighbor, Jack, was here, we sat out more, and noticed the bugs more, but they are still here.  The Thermocell keeps the mosquitos at bay, but the flies bite and leave a fearsome sore; sometimes biting multiple times and leaving several sores.  And when the Thermocell is not around, like when we fished the Gibbon River on Wednesday, mosquitos experienced a huge buffet meal on the tops of my hands; the bites still itch.

Prices.  We assume prices are high because this is so close to Yellowstone National Park.  Gasoline is outrageous, being 30 to 40 cents higher than in Bozeman or other areas somewhat away from here.  We wrote about fixing flats—$35 here in Island Park/Henry’s Lake, only $10 in Bozeman.  And groceries are a bit higher too, though not bad.  Flies at Craig Matthews’ Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in West Yellowstone were very reasonable at $1.79 each, but the Henry’s Fork Angler prices their flies at $2.59 each.  We didn’t check out their fly tying materials, but suspect similar price differences.

Westerners Love Their Outdoor Recreation.  It was a bit surprising to find signs in town that caution drivers that snowmobiles are on city streets, and ATVs as well.  Many people who stay at Red Rock RV Park bring their ATVs, all sorts and sizes, and explore the many state recreation areas and US Forest Service roads.  It’s common to see ATVs traversing streets and roads in most of the towns; ATVing is big here.  We understand that in the winter, snowmobiling is huge and the primary means of local transportation.  Families tend to clan together as well—perhaps part of their Mormon culture—and we’ll see 3 or 4 RVs come in and occupy a common area, most with ATVs in tow.  Boats, inflatable rafts, individual pontoons, and float tubes are at almost every RV parking site.  With the abundance of lakes, both manmade and natural, these come in hand for fishing which is huge out here.  We thought fly fishing in Arkansas was big, but it does not compare to here, and state and Federal officials place a high value on protecting this resource; if only we had the same degree of state interest in our fly fishing!  And lastly, RVing is very popular, or so it seems, as almost none of the RV parks had vacancies until a week or so ago.

Obviously, we really like it here, but wouldn’t want to live here; there are too many other places to see and things to do, like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Northern California, Oregon, and Washington coast, northern Idaho, the great Southwest, and perhaps even the northeast.  And we’ve found that 4 weeks is just about our limit, and we’re ready to move on, and we’ve been away from home 4 weeks today.  Don’t be surprised if we come home early!  

A slow morning was followed by lunch at a far out-of-the-way restaurant, Boondocker, in Island Park.  The food was excellent.  We followed lunch with a trip to the Island Park Dam and Lake, the start of Box Canyon, and Henry’s Fork Anglers in Last Chance, ID.  Henry’s Fork Anglers is owned by Mike Lawson, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with him and the late Gary Lafontaine at a Southern Council Conclave in Mountain Home in 1999.  He just happened to be in the store and I said a quick hello.  We found prices in his store, though, exceedingly high compared to Blue Ribbon in West Yellowstone.  We wanted to fish the Henry’s Fork just to say we had, but one of their employees told us that the Henry’s Fork was too warm and we should go north for dry fly action.

We drove back to the RV park for our fishing stuff, then headed north, opting to fish the Madison in Yellowstone National Park.  The water looked benign enough, but the current was very strong, and there were very few hatches and NO rises.  I struggled with wading, and after a half hour, we drove upstream to water that appeared a bit more quiet.  We again only saw a few hatches, and one rise, though last night about 7:15 PM, caddis were coming off like crazy.  I fished it hard for a half hour or more, fighting the current the whole time.  And, it was much warmer than expected.  Picking up again, we drove further north to the Gibbon which we fished yesterday, and fished it real hard.  Kay had one miss under a cut bank, and I didn’t have so much as a look.  The river, set in a few scattered trees in a large meadow, looked awesome, and late in the afternoon there was a good caddis hatch; perhaps it was the clear sky today, as opposed to an overcast sky yesterday, but we had no significant luck.

Today was going to be the day.  Finally, we decided to fish, come heck or high water.  Actually, one of the great things about fishing the rivers out here is you don’t have to worry about reservoir releases for generation.  But, you do have to worry about wild animals—grizzly bears, bison, and elk!
As our day began, we enjoyed a great 3-mile walk to Henry’s Lake and back.  Upon returning to the RV, we printed out some affidavits for both Idaho and Montana, as part of an ongoing legal mess regarding our neighborhood back home.  After readying for an afternoon and partial evening out, we drove to Island Park to seek a notary public for the aforementioned affidavits, but could find none.  Changing directions, we drove to West Yellowstone to First Security Bank, found a notary public, and signed the papers—at no charge.  Then to the post office for mailing.  Legal stuff sure gets in the way of having fun.
A rendezvous was taking place on the outskirts of West Yellowstone, and went there hoping to see mountain men and women, Indians, horses, trade goods, fiddle playing, and all the other things that might have been included in an real-to-life, authentic rendezvous. After reading all the historical fiction books about the fur trappers’ rendezvous, I was disappointed as this one only seemed to be about selling stuff, none of which we needed (one exception—Kay bought a handmade butter bell). 
Driving back into Yellowstone National Park, we found that they were paving the road from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction, with loose gravel everywhere.  We finally made it past Madison Junction, and turned north to near Gibbon Meadows, a place Kay had identified earlier as one she wanted to fish.  We began by fishing from the bank of the Gibbon River, but soon discovered there were too many mosquitos and that to really fish the Gibbon, we would need to wade—so it was back to the car to don waders.  We had a great afternoon, with several hits on a hopper, and even more on a caddis.  Only two fish were caught—a brookie and a brown.  Fishin’ Journal details follow.
TIME:  4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 60s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool, and from 2 to 4 feet deep
LOCATIONS FISHED: Gibbon River, immediately downstream from Gibbon Meadows
ROD USED:  7’ 9” 2 wt Winston
FLIES USED:  #10 Dave’s Hopper, #16 Tan Caddis
HATCHES:  Dark Mayfly, Occasional Caddis
OTHER:  I fished with Kay.  Received several hits on both the hopper and the caddis, but only caught fish on the caddis.  There were a few rises, but fish were typically laying under the cut banks, though most of the bites were in slow water a couple of feet from the seem between the slow and fast water. 

Today marks the start of our 4th week here at Red Rock RV Park; my, how time flies.   Kay “needed” a cut and color and visited a “beauty” shop in West Yellowstone about mid-morning, while I walked to Henry’s Lake and back.  After a late lunch, a nap, and a brief rain, we drove to the Upper Coffee Pot Rapids of the famed Henry’s Fork River looking for hatches, rises, and access.  Just outside the RV park, we spotted a mule deer doe with twins, both still with spots; even the little ones have long ears!

We parked at the Upper Coffee Pot Rapids campground, and hiked the Henry’s Fork riverside trail downstream for about 3/4 of a mile, and only saw a few hatches—caddis and a brown colored mayfly—and even fewer rises, and even fewer fishers.  We finally met a young fly fishing family, and the father said the fishing had been slow, and the fish small; he was using a beadhead fly, but didn’t know the pattern.  As we began driving back to the RV park, rain began falling—seems like an every afternoon sort of thing—forcing us in the rest of the night.

After two long days on the road, we awoke to a bit of normality this morning; it was good to sleep at “home” snuggled under the down comforter, with the welcoming aroma of fresh brewed coffee when we awoke.  The church we’ve been going to is hosting the Gideons this morning, and we opted to play hooky—and we don’t miss church very often.  We used the time to catch up on washing/drying of clothes, reading and responding to emails, posting the blog beginning from last Wednesday, and editing and posting new photos to the web album.  By the way, Kay is becoming quite a good photographer, and we’re using more and more of her photos in both the blog and the web album.

We finally got “caught up” with our chores a little after noon, but clouds began rolling in from almost every direction.  Mid-afternoon saw a ferocious thunderstorm with pea-sized hail covering the ground.  When it cleared, and the sun came back out, we did our daily 3-mile walk.  Just about all the wildflowers along the RV park road are gone now, and as we walked up the mountain a bit , saw that most of the wildflower blooms were beginning to wane, with the exception of fire weed.  As we rounded a bend and came upon a small meadow, we spotted a female mule deer that we had seen in the same area on prior walks.

Clouds began forming again, but rain held off long enough for Kay to start Bunko.  How the players remained dry on the patio amidst the rain and wind is amazing, but when it comes to Bunko…

The Centennial Saga.  We watched another installment of Centennial.  If you’ve been reading the blog, you may remember that we had trouble with the old DVD player, and bought another when we first arrived.  Centennial was a Christmas gift Christmas before last, and one of my all time favorite mini-series.  We thought we had watched the whole thing, but questioned each other about gaps in the story.  After the last DVD was played week before last, Kay asked to see the box, and exclaimed that she didn’t remember us watching some of the episodes.  We popped a DVD back in the player, studied the screen real close, and detected a very small green box around the segment to be played; we had to look real close to see the box, and otherwise, the menu said simply “Play All”.  Well, it didn’t mean play all, it meant play the segment with the tiny green box around it.  Gosh, did I ever feel like a fool!  So now, we’re catching up watching the “other half” of Centennial, and it makes a lot more sense.  We’ve not missed television too much, mainly in the morning to catch up on news and happenings, and Kay misses Brian Williams on the NBC Evening News.  We do have the mini-series, John Adams, and several Sam Elliot westerns waiting in the wings.