Until last week, my only visit to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks was in 1987 in the midst of a car camping adventure through Montana and Wyoming with my Mom and younger sister. I’m told this is a picture of me fishing the Madison during that trip:
Fast forward 30-plus years and it was finally time for us to take our kids to that part of the world. As this was a multi-day road trip with our teen and tween-aged kids, we predictably had some “exchanges of ideas” from time to time about how many miles, visits to natural wonders, huckleberry shakes, or iPad hours were reasonable in any given day. Overall though, things went pretty smoothly and even though the kids did not exactly pull an all-nighter completing Outward Bound applications when we returned home, I think they gained a new level of appreciation for what the natural world has to offer.
Day 1 started with some bonus miles down to Puyallup and back for the final day of our daughter’s soccer tournament, but we managed to arrive in Missoula in time for some late pizza and a to-go beer from Al’s and Vic’s for me before bed.
Our next stop was Jackson Hole and our route took us through Ennis, along the Madison, and past Hebgen Lake and Henry’s Fork. No pics of me having to white-knuckle it past these locations without stopping. I tried to pass the time by explaining the magnitude of my sacrifice to my wife, but I was deservedly awarded zero points for my efforts.
After a couple of long days in the car, we thought the kids deserved something to bring their excitement up a few notches, so we did an 8-mile raft trip on the Snake the following morning, which they loved. After arriving in GTNP, we took advantage of a little lull in the crowds to take a boat ride to a trailhead for a short but spectacular hike up to 7,200 feet.
The next day brought the first major fishing opportunity of the trip. A majority of my fishing at home is for SRC and salmon in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, so I was interested to see how I would do at trout fishing in the Mountain West for the first time since I myself was a tween. Thanks to some advice from a fellow member and a final bit of inspiration from this photo in the lodge bathroom, I decided to make my way down a trail to a certain part of the lake that we’d hiked above the day before.
Casting marabou and rabbit strip-based streamers on a sink tip out over a ledge produced two very nice cutts and a long but snaky laker in a short early morning session. The key seemed to be giving the fly plenty of time to sink and then employing a slow, steady retrieve that kept it moving through the zone for as long as possible. I’d put our most scenic Washington beaches up against anywhere in the world, but this was definitely one of the more incredible places I’ve been lucky enough to fish.
After linking up with the family for coffee and a bite to eat, we took in more of Grand Teton from the road and the trail.
The next morning had us on the road to our first base of operations in Yellowstone. We had splurged a bit at our previous location for a room with a supposedly prime view for wildlife viewing, so I found it pretty amusing that our next place had this waiting for us right outside our ground floor room.
I was able to make it out a few times on a couple of the usual YNP rivers that fish well this time of year with mixed results. My only window to fish during our first full day in park was very early, and in the low light I mistook a large slab of granite for softer river substrate and took a bit of a fall. I had installed some hard bite plates in my rubber soled boots and they worked great the whole trip except for this particular instance. Fortunately the only damage was some relatively minor scrapes on my reel, hands and knee caps.
I was happy to land some brown trout each time I got out, mostly on hare’s ear and white miller caddis soft hackles drifted and swung through likely spots, but a little disappointed that the two largest ones came unbuttoned before I got either of them in the net. Just getting to the opportunity to fish these rivers was a win in my book though.
My wife had an ambitious and excellent agenda for making through the nearly all of the park’s major areas that served us very well.
All in all it was an excellent trip and we at most barely scratched the surface of what the area has to offer. I am very much looking forward to making it back when we can.
Fast forward 30-plus years and it was finally time for us to take our kids to that part of the world. As this was a multi-day road trip with our teen and tween-aged kids, we predictably had some “exchanges of ideas” from time to time about how many miles, visits to natural wonders, huckleberry shakes, or iPad hours were reasonable in any given day. Overall though, things went pretty smoothly and even though the kids did not exactly pull an all-nighter completing Outward Bound applications when we returned home, I think they gained a new level of appreciation for what the natural world has to offer.
Day 1 started with some bonus miles down to Puyallup and back for the final day of our daughter’s soccer tournament, but we managed to arrive in Missoula in time for some late pizza and a to-go beer from Al’s and Vic’s for me before bed.
Our next stop was Jackson Hole and our route took us through Ennis, along the Madison, and past Hebgen Lake and Henry’s Fork. No pics of me having to white-knuckle it past these locations without stopping. I tried to pass the time by explaining the magnitude of my sacrifice to my wife, but I was deservedly awarded zero points for my efforts.
After a couple of long days in the car, we thought the kids deserved something to bring their excitement up a few notches, so we did an 8-mile raft trip on the Snake the following morning, which they loved. After arriving in GTNP, we took advantage of a little lull in the crowds to take a boat ride to a trailhead for a short but spectacular hike up to 7,200 feet.
The next day brought the first major fishing opportunity of the trip. A majority of my fishing at home is for SRC and salmon in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, so I was interested to see how I would do at trout fishing in the Mountain West for the first time since I myself was a tween. Thanks to some advice from a fellow member and a final bit of inspiration from this photo in the lodge bathroom, I decided to make my way down a trail to a certain part of the lake that we’d hiked above the day before.
Casting marabou and rabbit strip-based streamers on a sink tip out over a ledge produced two very nice cutts and a long but snaky laker in a short early morning session. The key seemed to be giving the fly plenty of time to sink and then employing a slow, steady retrieve that kept it moving through the zone for as long as possible. I’d put our most scenic Washington beaches up against anywhere in the world, but this was definitely one of the more incredible places I’ve been lucky enough to fish.
After linking up with the family for coffee and a bite to eat, we took in more of Grand Teton from the road and the trail.
The next morning had us on the road to our first base of operations in Yellowstone. We had splurged a bit at our previous location for a room with a supposedly prime view for wildlife viewing, so I found it pretty amusing that our next place had this waiting for us right outside our ground floor room.
I was able to make it out a few times on a couple of the usual YNP rivers that fish well this time of year with mixed results. My only window to fish during our first full day in park was very early, and in the low light I mistook a large slab of granite for softer river substrate and took a bit of a fall. I had installed some hard bite plates in my rubber soled boots and they worked great the whole trip except for this particular instance. Fortunately the only damage was some relatively minor scrapes on my reel, hands and knee caps.
I was happy to land some brown trout each time I got out, mostly on hare’s ear and white miller caddis soft hackles drifted and swung through likely spots, but a little disappointed that the two largest ones came unbuttoned before I got either of them in the net. Just getting to the opportunity to fish these rivers was a win in my book though.
My wife had an ambitious and excellent agenda for making through the nearly all of the park’s major areas that served us very well.
All in all it was an excellent trip and we at most barely scratched the surface of what the area has to offer. I am very much looking forward to making it back when we can.
