Horse Trips 05

Horse Trips 2005
by Steve Hoovler

2005 marked the fifth year that I have teamed up with Yellowstone Mountain Guides to lead fly fishing pack trips into Yellowstone Park, and it was our best year yet. We spent almost four weeks traveling through the back-country of Yellowstone Park, exploring waters and country that few anglers have seen. The weather was good, the fishing was terrific, and the people were wonderful. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Our first trip this year was to the third meadow of Slough Creek. This has always been, and continues to be our most popular trip, and for good reason. It’s hard to rival the fishing, beauty, and easy access of Slough Creek. We spent August 4th through the 7th in the top of the third meadow. Early August was beautiful this year. The meadow was still lush and green, and the fish had dry flies on the mind. Hot flies this year were two-tone red/black foam flying ants, and small cream colored baetis sparkle duns. Our otherwise uneventful trip ended with an adventurous ride to the trail head as we encountered a grizzly cub on the trail. The playful cub crossed the trail about thirty yards ahead of the group, and stood on his hind legs in a small stand of willows inspecting us. He kept his distance, and we were sure to also. After a few pictures were taken, we continued down the trial with the whereabouts of mom grizz the top priority. Luckily, she never showed herself, and we went along our way without any more excitement. It was the perfect ending to a great trip.

Our next trip was a first for us. We spent August 9th through the 14th traveling through the southwest corner of Yellowstone, known as Cascade Corner for its abundance of waterfalls, and fishing the Bechler River. I’ve had this trip in my sights for several years, and after a few tedious scouting missions spent fishing and camping in one of the most beautiful parts of the park, we organized our first pack trip. Cascade Corner is a fascinating part of Yellowstone. It is vastly different in character than other parts of the park. On average, slightly warmer, wetter weather produces an environment not unlike the rain forests of the pacific northwest. Dense, lush undergrowth of ferns and berries choke the base of old growth fir and spruce. Waterfalls and hot springs add to the uniqueness, and the Bechler River completes the package for fly fishermen. We spent six days fishing the Bechler from its headwaters at Three Rivers Junction, down to the bottom of the fabled Bechler Meadows. Our most productive fishing was in the upper river where cutthroat in the 8-12" class were plentiful and eager. In addition to all of the cutts you could ever want, the highlight of the upper river is a natural hot-spring that enters the river about two miles upstream from camp. The hot water flows off the hillside into a natural back eddy in the river forming a perfectly round, natural hot tub complete with seat-like shelves of rock and a rumbling, bubbling fumerol in the center. With cold river water and 200 degree hot spring water constantly mixing in the currents, the spring is a perfect spot to take a dip on warm and cool days alike. Continuing our trip, we traveled downstream through what is arguably the prettiest six miles of trail in Yellowstone Park; the Bechler Canyon. One waterfall or cascade after another fill the cool, green canyon. As the gradient settles out and the water calms, the river opens up into the Bechler Meadows, where some of the largest rainbows and cutt-bows in the area challenge even the most experienced angler. The Bechler upheld its reputation as a world-class destination, and we will certainly add it to our annual offering of horse trips.

Our third hose trip destination this year was back to the Lamar for our fourth year in a row. This has also become a popular trip. So much so that, we hosted two separate weeks this year, August 21-27 and September 3-9. Once again we lucked out with weather and water conditions. Although rain threatened several times, it never amounted to more than a passing shower, or quick squawl, leaving both water conditions and morale in great shape. Both of our weeks to this wild part of the park were filled with lots of fish, wildlife and adventure. The upper Lamar River is an exciting area to travel through. The landscape is raw, and rugged, and the fishing is always terrific. Aside from the usual attributes of beautiful wilderness and virtually untouched fishing, the first week was highlighted by a gorgeous ride over Mist Creek Pass from the upper Pelican Creek Valley into the upper Lamar, and a curious grizzly bear that decided to inspect our camp.

The following are some pictures I’ve taken during the trips this summer. But, before the glory shots, I’d like to thank Shea Smith and Michelle Alderton from YMG whose hard work, unparalleled knowledge, and great companionship, make these trips possible. I’d also like to thank the following horse trip afficionados who make these trips a pleasure to host every year.

Gene and Peter Pawlick    Mike Serpa                    Jim Curry
Bill and Judy Petrick         Tom and Geoff Okarma    Fletcher and Anne Wright
Hunter and Rick Jones       Bob and VJ Dekar          Bob Kerr
Carroll Butler                                                    Bucky Dykes
David Wampler                                                 Dwight Mathews
                                                                     Richard Burnette
Jim Clifton                                                       Walt Metz
Pete and Cindy Spyke
Sam Nicolosi
Ozzie Osbourne
Jay Coulter
Ken Morris
And a very special thanks goes out to Linda Nicolosi for getting up in the middle of the night to drive Sam and Ozzie to the airport