Tuesday, June 21st…
We left Thermopolis around 9: 30 and drove the entire 60 miles to Ten Sleep…….a sleepy little town of 304 people located at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains. Actually…..it is really a neat little town……the highway is the main street of the community and almost all of the very few businesses have new store fronts……with log fronts and of western style.
After being shown our “site” in this little campground, we took care of setting up TheHowseHouse, had lunch, and then headed for the mountains. The drive up to the area which we have always visited and camped at is only 19 miles……however, it is up a 6% grade for 10 miles….plus. A great visual drive except for the driver…….hahaha. Anyway…..not a problem for the OLD man as I have driven it for many, many years as I have been coming to this part of Wyoming to camp and fish since 1970!!
We checked out the National Forest Service campground that I wanted to stay in, however…..after driving thru it several times, we decided that TheHowseHouse is tooooo big and that it would not make some of the turns, nor could we back it into the sites available because of interferences with trees, boulders, etc. Soooo, we decided to just remain at the cg down in Ten Sleep.
We then hit the horrendous gravel road up to West TenSleep Lake…which is 7 SLOW miles up the mountain. It has always been rougher than a cob, but this time it was full of ruts and potholes…and not the washboard type of road it used to be. It only took about 30 minutes to drive the 7 miles…..does that tell you anything about the road quality???? However, upon arriving at the gorgeous lake, our memories were refreshed and we quickly got out the fishing equipment and hiked down to the lake from the parking area.
The 1st Lady was the big winner of quantity and size of fish!!! After trying lures and flies, we quickly switched to worms…..and it worked. The brook trout began to bite and we had several nice ones on our stringer before we headed back down the canyon and the steep drive. A quick shower to attempt to wash off the fishy smell on our hands…..a bite to eat….and then we hit the bed….EXHAUSTED.
Wednesday, June 22nd
We had talked about getting up EARLY and heading back up to another lake to fish in the early hours, however……we stayed in bed too long. Coffee was the accompaniment to some great pancakes to begin the day with. Then after enjoying a lazy morning, we decided to tour the town….the main street. It was great fun……several cowboy bars were already open and doing business, as well as several actual “general stores”. There is no grocery store here…..just a Mercantile Store which has all kinds of items including some bread, etc., etc.
After lunch, we backed the backpack and headed up the canyon to West TenSleep again. I decided to hike a couple of miles up above the lake, following the stream that I have fly fished in soooo many times over the past 30 years. The stream was roaring with the snow melt….from last week’s snow of 12”….but the water was CLEAR and great. I caught 6 small brook trout….but they were toooooo small to even put in the pan to fry. Soooo, it was “catch and release” for me today. Hiked back down to the lake, and the 1st Lady had already been putting fish on the stringer. I joined her fishing with worms and soon we had a stringer full………FISH for supper tomorrow evening. Nothing better than fresh trout from a mountain lake.
Back down the canyon’s 6% grade of road, after cleaning the fish up there, and supper was soon on the table. A cool evening in the cg visiting with the next door campers who are here for four weeks……..such a neat place to stay. Hmmmm….do I sound like I would like to remain in Wyoming??????? Yep……I SURE would.
Now……after some red medicine, I am going to close this little chapter and send it out into cyberspace for all of you to read and meditate about. We ARE leaving early in the morning to catch the morning rise of trout in Meadowlark Lake…..a bit higher in altitude…close to 8500 feet.
Andy….Laura….will call you tomorrow. I do have a “consulting fee” which will be necessary for you to pay for all professional consulting advice!!! OK???
Later…..
2 comments:
The Williams family has decided that the Howser family MUST continue their vacation through the months of July and August so that we have something interesting to read and beautiful pictures to look at. However, Mike believes that the First Lady only caught minnows. There are much larger fish at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Thank you John for your advice. I'll keep you updated on how the job search turns out.
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