Tunnels and fly fishing are great

Yes, tunnels!

I got a tip that the St. Joe was empty, and having never been there, I decided to make a camping trip to do a little fishing.

I headed over Friday morning and drove through some unexpected tunnels! I was kinda tickled by this, and soon to find out, I would go through about seven more! Turn on your lights is right. Moon Pass out of Wallace is fun...if not confusing to get to. Seriously, I drove through town a bit before I found the valley I needed to head towards.

I made it to Avery and then drove downriver to St. Maries...just to see the river. One of my troubles is that I need to know the ENTIRE area before settling down for the night.

So I came back, passed Avery and continued up to Red Ives. Gorgeous. Lushious woods, jade creek, ferns, cedars, you name it. It was a mini-Lochsa! I found a camp or two and then finally chose one and settled in. I found a place where the campers before me had buried some cornhusks...dug up by a bear. Great, I hoped it didn't come back and I'm sure glad I put up camp prior to finding that little tidbit out. I found the pistol comforting, but was disconcerted at the time. I did NOT want those kinds of visitors. Sure enough, however, a pair of visitors arrived!

They pulled their rig down...ALMOST into camp..then backed up. I thought they were going to camp in the spot across from mine. I was pissed...so much river, so many spots...and they need to camp HERE!? Well, I heard a bump and the engine shut down. Then a door closed. Then another door closed. Son of a gun, I thought. (Actually, it was much worse of a thought.)

Turns out the fella had backed into a tree and I heard the gal say, "Oh, it's not that bad." They got into the rig and left. You could only turn a semi around in that spot, but I was happy anyways.

I had an uneventful night.

Woke up bright and squirrley and changed the bottle on my stove. Well, I got the hole punched too early and sprayed fuel all over me. Chucking said bottle, I watched it fizzle and roll around in the dirt. To be on the safe side, I took off that shirt and threw matches in the areas it had sprayed fuel...no flare up so good to go. But now I had nothing to heat water with! I made a morning fire and made some nasty, bitter coffee. Not wanting to do anymore than that...since I wanted to go fishing...I called it good.

I went downriver (since I was near the end of the road) and fished down about 20 miles. The first hole I was in early produced a couple 12 inch cutthroat...and throughout the day I got more and more six inch+ fish. And these were NOT your typical cutthroat. They had the most beautiful red bellies and intricate backs that you could imagine! Fun fish. I realized all of a sudden how much I missed fly fishing. It is so much more fun to catch fish on a fly rod than a "normal" rod. It takes everything you have. Thinking of the line, the fly...the type...the size...the presentation...the water...the drift...the sun...

It takes everything else away from you, and after a while, you think, "huh, I wonder what time it is?"

That is the beauty of fishing. You can lose yourself entirely and not even notice. My mother put it best, "It's like you can throw all your troubles into the river."

It ended up being 1200 and I wanted to check out the road to St. Regis...and not knowing how long it might take, I thought it'd be a good idea to leave. Shoot, I would've ended up in St. Mary's again if I hadn't stopped fishing when I did. And there was no way I was going through single lane tunnels on a busy Saturday!

It was a great trip. I did more thinking than I think I wanted to. I caught fish. I was mad and happy. Scared of bears and welcomed morning.

One thing, do not pass firewood (logs, sticks, etc) on your way. Never imagine they might be in the area you end up camping....because they aren't. Also, never leave your fishing stuff on the shore while you walk down or upstream. You will need it and be pissed you have to climb back DOWN the cliff to get to it. (Yes, I did a little rock climbing with a rod in hand....just to get to a place where there was fish.)

This story has more to it, but I am tired and am going to go to bed.