Final Green River Pics

Cold and windy, but tolerable! All things considered, better that we might have expected for this time of year. Never miserable, hated to see the take-out each day (except one :)).

Approaching Little Hole Access - River View



My best catch: 20" Brown

Red Creek Rapids:  Mark and I walked while guide ran the rapids.  This creek muddied up the last half of Section B of the river, making it unfishable - due to recent rains and run-off from mountain snows.

Approaching Little Hole access from Observation platform above river

Looking down from Little Hole at beginning of Section B: canyon widens at this point

More Green River pictures

 Shore lunch

 Time-out for lunch

 My first Green River fish on this trip: 17" brown trout

 Bo unhooking another quality fish

Bo tying on another fly: it's nice to be pampered from time to time

Green River fishing

I have been looking forward to this for some time and it was worth the wait. Thanks to Mark for agreeing to make the trip with me! We witnessed the most fascinating bug hatch I've ever seen. The hatch of blue-winged olive mayflies went on day after day and was incredible to see the millions of tiny sailboats floating across the water, perched on every shore rock, and mats of them lining the shore line. The fish were quite agreeable and eager to consume flies that represented these bugs most of the time, and our guide for all three days, Bo Johnson, put us in position to be very successful. Quality wild fish on an iconic fly-fishing river.

 Two Rocky Mountain Sheep coming down the canyon wall

 Blue Winged Olives covering every shore rock

 Mats of blue wing olives along the shoreline

 Amazing canyon setting for quality fly-fishing for trout

What a place to spend a few days!

Montrose, Colorado to Dutch John, Utah

Our ultimate destination of Green River for 3 days of guided fishing from drift boats was reached after another stressful drive over mountain passes with a surprising snowfall that resulted in over 40 miles of 4-wheel drive, 2nd and 3rd gear, 20-30 mph driving on a snow-covered highway. We made it although the challenge was unexpected and happened after it was too late to turn back. But it was all worth it in the end!

 Headed over the pass

 Little did we realize this peak is where we were headed

Home for 4 nights:  Flaming Gorge Lodge, Dutch John, UT

Montrose Country Inn

Keeping with the quaint Mom/Pop motel circa 1950s, we came across this retro lodging in Montrose, on our way to Dutch John, Utah. This had so many neat features, that I just had to share. After a very pucker-worthy trip over mountain passes from Durango to Montrose, we were relieved to find this little jewel to relax for a few hours before moving on. The weight scales in the hideaway wall space was a first! The pink tile harkened us back a few decades. And the stone wall was a warm, cozy feature. Fun!

What's behind this door?

Truly unique!

What decade are we in?  Too cool!

Nice surprises in each direction.  

The exterior and neatness drew us in.

San Juan River, New Mexico (Tailwater of Navajo Dam)

We had an ominous approach to the San Juan as we crossed dam - wind gusts of 60 mph winds sweeping up the face of the dam gave us concern as the truck was whipped around on the narrow road with precipitous drops (and no guard rails). After we settled in at Abe's (we were in a new section and the room was very nice), we geared up for some fantastic fishing. We had two days of large rainbows (of all the fish caught, only two were less than 12" - all the others were 15"-20"). The big hatch of black midges helped the cause - they covered our waders, fly lines, etc. and the fish were definitely keyed in to these bugs - all subsurface, with not many surface takes witnessed. The Upper Flats section that we found very productive is reached by a pretty demanding switchback trail. A great two days of fishing!

Cutbow trout



Rainbow trout

Another fat rainbow

 Looking upstream towards dam: swallows overhead indicating a big midge hatch

Mark with his 20" rainbow: swallows taking bugs all around him

Switchback trail: easy on the way down, pretty rough on the way out - focus on your footing!

Fishing Road Trip: April 2016

My fishing buddy Mark and I joined with six other fisherman through Ozark Anglers of Little Rock for a 3-day guided, drift boat fishing experience on the Green River in Utah, below Flaming Gorge Dam. The other fellas flew to Salt Lake City and motored up to Dutch John. Mark and I chose to drive to see the scenery and fish some other streams on the way. Our first stop was in Cimarron State Park, New Mexico. Following the preference of staying in local Mom/Pop quaint lodging that Charlcie and I try to experience on our road trips, we spent the night at the Cimarron Inn, after a 12-day on the road. We fished the Cimarron River the next morning for a few hours before moving on up the road to Navajo Dam and the San Juan River. The Cimarron is a small stream that is a protected trout water, but this time of year was subject to runoff which made the stream muddy and fishing not too productive. But we nevertheless caught a few small trout and enjoyed the uncrowded stream and canyon.

 Cimarron Inn Entrance

 View from Bedroom 1 to Bedroom 2 of the "Fishing" themed room

Mark gearing up to fish the Cimarron River

Turkey Mating Ritual

Living at the end of the road and surrounded by forest and field, we enjoy the daily viewing of wildlife of one sort or the other, primarily birds, deer, and wild turkey.  We especially enjoy watching the whimsical and beautiful wild turkeys.  We witnessed several Toms performing for potential mates this spring - this particular Tom tried in vain (as far as we could see) for two days, only to have the hens ignore him and keep on walking - he never gave up as he followed behind at a distance as far as we could see.  Hope he was able to fulfill his dream of being a Daddy.

Sad Day on Trout Lily

When considering the placement of the house on our property, we chose to locate between two of our favorite oak trees due to their size and beauty at the edge of woods and pasture. Unfortunately, the excavation for foundation and septic lines resulted in too much damage to the root systems, and the trees did not survive. We had to have them cut to avoid potential personal injury - we did direct that the main trunks be left intact to provide a food buffet for our several species of woodpeckers that visit often.

Birthday Boys!

Our little buddies just turned 3!! We joined friends and family for a train-themed party at Ben and Myka's. The boys had a few of their friends join in the fun and they all had a big time. We sure are proud of Charlie and Tucker, they are such a special part of our lives and we cherish any time we get to spend with them (and their parents!).

Another hike with the twins

Whenever we have some time with Charlie and Tucker, they usually request two activities: a trip to the Library and,when the weather allows, a hike in the woods. A perfect balance of great indoor and outdoor stimulation. Ben was able to join us on today's hike, which made it special for us and the boys. Any stroll through the woods must be paced to allow for gathering of twigs, limbs, pine cones, and leaves. Also, many stops must be made to allow for tossing of rocks into any body of water. As much as we get caught up in the hustle and bustle and dictated by current technology, we seem to always return to the basics, the simple pleasures in life to refresh mind and body.

 CiCi and the boys tossing rocks into the stream

 Dad and CiCi watching the boys carrying on a boy tradition. Splash!

Shipptown, Alabama

During the years we lived in Birmingham, I had the good fortune to work with Katheryn Shipp, and even more blessed that Charlcie and I became lifelong friends with Katheryn, her husband Franklin, and their family. Since our families were all back in Arkansas, the Shipps became almost like family to us while in Alabama. In fact, we have long dubbed Katheryn and Franklin as Ben's Alabama grandparents due to him spending a lot of time with them when Charlcie and I went away for week-ends or just to let Ben enjoy good country living and time spent with a great family. Their entire family and even some in their community treated Ben like family. We know that Ben has always appreciated the fun times he had with them and the mutual love that they have for each other. And we share that sentiment. Unfortunately, Franklin passed away a few years back, and we miss him. And also unfortunately, Katheryn has had a rough go of it the past year and is fighting like a real trooper. As she is embarking on another round of treatment, and with her birthday coming up, Charlcie and I decided we really wanted to go visit Katheryn and her family. And we are so glad we did! We had a great visit which reinforced our love for these folks. Hopefully we will be able to get back down there more often. We also took one day to visit our other great friends from Birmingham, Gene and Linda Murdock. Regrettably, I forgot to get the camera out for a pic.

 Sweet Katheryn with her Birthday cake

 Birthday dinner

 Eating is a great way to celebrate together

Who's going to cut the cake?

Hiking with Charlie and Tucker

Another beautiful March day to play with the boys. After we spent a couple of hours at the library, we went back to the Arboretum trail at Pinnacle Park where Ben met us for the trip around the trail. The boys enjoyed having their Daddy along for this outing! Of course, every time we crossed a stream we had to pause to throw rocks in the water. Has there ever been a boy, young or old, that does not seriously enjoy throwing rocks in the water? Didn't think so!

Spring in March! Trout Lilies in bloom

We had the unusual opportunity to name the two streets to our house off of the county road. The one to our front door we named Trout Lily Lane, to recognize the trout connection and a woodland wildflower that we have liked for some time. Due to the mild winter and early warming so far, the trout lilies appeared about a month earlier than we recall. This global warming thing does have some upsides!