55 on the fly

This is a picture that Doug took at Slough Creek in 2008.  I have had this on my computer screen at work for a long time.  We also had this picture put onto a canvas and hung it in our living room.  This place looked so picture perfect that I was always wishing that I could go to that spot someday.  It is an all day hike since it is 5 miles just to get to this spot.  Well, I finally made it! The location has changed a little bit but it is still a beautiful spot!  The Second Meadow at Slough Creek is a magnificent spot!  It is a long hike in - about 5 miles -  with much of it uphill.  We started the trek in at 6:30 am.  The moon followed us in for most of the morning. After reaching second meadow and the "picture spot", we rigged up and started to fish.  We worked our way around to this canyon that had many boulders.  Doug had me rock hopping to get to many small pools.  Yes, we worked our way right down th...

Once every season I have a trout dinner here in Yellowstone Country. Today I fished the Yellowstone River in a spot I love to fish the Hopper-Dropper when the hoppers are a hopping.  With a Korn's Split-tail Hopper in tan and pink on top and a Go2 Prince on point they delivered 22 trout to hand in about two hours of fishing.  It doesn't get much easier than that, too easy really, even in the high winds we had today.  I think I could have caught 50+ fish if I had stayed out longer, but I had my limit of trout and I had satisfied my desire to be fishing...  Funny, on the tough days you've got to drag me off the river... Not today, I clipped my flies and headed for the RV.  ~ Dougie Note: see http://55onthefly.blogspot.com/2011/08/lay-z-day.html for my hopper-dropper set-up. These fish are hidden in the rocks below and dart up to take your flies, fun! "on the fly" Rainbow one of several Cutty's caught today... rainbow trou...

Words cannot describe the place that we were today.  We hiked into a place that has not been seen by many people.  I am so fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and brave guide that has investigated all of these places and is happy to share them with me.  It will be a place and a feeling that I will never forget!  God has provided wondrous things in nature!  Yes, we did some fishing (see Part 1)  but the hiking and views won out today.  Take a look at these photos - they say it all. ~Michelle This is called Sheepeater Cliff. A waterfall along the way.  I thought this was awesome - little did I know what was ahead! I wish you could hear the power in this water. We are way above this waterfall even though it doesn't look like it in this photo.  We had to watch our footing as we were very close to the edge at some places. This is the first meadow along our route.  Our hike in was high above this area. ...

Sausage, onion, peppers and cheese frittata for breakfast. We started our day with a hearty breakfast.  Doug said I was going to need it!  He was right.  We hiked into a place near Sheepeaters Canyon.  The steep climbs and rocky terrain were all worth it.  We caught quite a few beautiful fish - mostly brook trout but also a few rainbow trout.  The scenery there is beyond words and even beyond the pictures that we took.  Check out Part 2 of the day in the next blog entry where many of our scenery pictures will be - you won't want to skip it! ~ Michelle We found this elk skull with rack and many other pieces of the elk (ribs, vertebrae, hip, jawbone)  on our way to our fishing spot. Doug's first catch of the day, but not his last!  We caught about 50 trout today... Here is something that you don't see everyday!  I caught two fish at once.  One was on my top fly, a Tweeter Caddis and the other was on a Bead ...

We found the best place in Gardiner to watch for the full moon.  A couple of PBRs, a guy on an electric piano singing Moon River, and good company up on the roof of one of the restaurants.  We sat and talked and just watch dusk settle over the entrance to YNP. We could sit here all day! Here she comes! What a treat to see the "Green Corn Moon" in such a beautiful place!

Here is a video clip showing a place that we see often in YNP.  It was here that we saw a Golden Eagle.  Enjoy the scenery!

This morning we went on a 2 hour horseback ride up at the Hell's-a-Roaring horse ranch in Jardine.  Jardine is a small "town" about 7 miles above Gardiner.  Just getting up the bumpy, narrow dirt road to the ranch was interesting.  We had a wonderful ride through the woods up and down the mountainside.   Here are some pictures of part of the ranch.  Take a look at the building with the sod roof.  They even had pansies growing on it.  You can come here and stay at the house or in tents.  It is a beautiful ranch with so many horses! Beautiful animals and a beautiful view. We were ready to ride.  Doug is on Spike who liked to stop and nibble all kinds of plants. I rode on Rex off into the sunset - or sunrise I guess! Over the river and through the woods.  Rusty!! This is what Gardiner looks like from up past Jardine.  At the bottom left you can see the campground that we are in.  We are parked in...