July 23, 2018
Granny and I haven’t camped on the Gros Ventre River in a couple years. Last time was with our South African friends Rob and Lucy Scott. We haven’t done our once annual trip there with the family in three years. Guess it’s not an annual anymore. But we’re bringing it back. My brother picked up my nieces last Friday and took off to Yellowstone. Tonight we met them up at our old favorite camping site.
July 24
This is the last hurrah with the nieces. They arrived on July 11 and we’ve had blast. During my coffee before the kids woke up this pine sawyer beetle landed on Granny. The eye catching insect told me one thing – slam the coffee and wake up Montana to go fishing!
The condition of the Gros Ventre isn’t the best. Last night the normally clear river was milky and high. I thought a thunderstorm caused the poor conditions and expected it to be clear today. But it wasn’t. My big fish holes were gushing water and too deep and off color to raise any on the Red Winged Chernobyl. We did however plow through a heap of small cuttys in the riffles and Montana had a blast.
Three hours of tiny trout fishing was enough and Montana and I reeled it in. It’s been fun fishing with her the last month (including the trip to Back Bay in NH). We spent the rest of the day relaxing. I actually read and took a nap. It was nice.
Tonight Greg prepared us a feast of fresh corn from his home town in Massachusetts along with giant baked potatoes from my home state. And of course we all had a big steak to balance things out.
The only bad thing was the weather. At around 6 pm thick clouds rolled in and with the potatoes and corn half cooked, came the thunderstorm. Greg and his family weathered the storm from their tent while Granny and I did it from the Explorer. Naturally we sipped a little red wine too.
The storm cleared just at sunset. We experience sun and drizzle at the same time until the sun dropped. Then two colorful rainbows appeared over the Gros Ventre and the surrounding mountains. It was really nice and our feast turned out good despite the rain delay.
July 25
We packed up camp early this morning. Granny and I haven’t done a chore around the house in a month. She spent the rest of the day getting our life back in shape after a month of visitors. I prepared for my Ask About Fly Fishing Internet Radio Interview about St. Brandon’s Atoll.
It’s been a great few weeks with the nieces. Tomorrow they officially say good bye and I recon Friday I’m headed for carp. Stay tuned!