And now for something completely different

It's "so long" to the fish and onto something different.

Well, we headed east and stayed at B&B's in Minturn CO, Manhattan KS, Mulberry Grove IL, and Pittsburgh, PA and few days ago landed in Georgetown, Washington DC for a two-week house sit -- a few blocks from Georgetown Univ. Georgetown is the hip/trendy part of DC that Alicia and I got to know a bit when we worked in DC a number of years ago.

We will be visiting/viewing a number of the major places in DC with a goal to see Julia Child's kitchen at The Smithsonian, visit the National Zoo to see the pandas (again), get a tour of Congress (with the son of a friend who is on the staff of the Capital Police). etc. During the past times that we worked here we saw plenty of the stuff on the Mall, but will still get to them again.

We are in DC because we took a housesit here for 2 cats while the owners head off to Geneva for 2 weeks to see family, go to a wedding and show off the brand new (4 month old) baby boy.

Yes, that is some crop of hair on this young lad.  It is about 3" long

Out of the Frying Pan and heading back.

The last day of fishing the Frying Pan proved to be a nice one too. If you believe that catching big fish is a nice day.

Time to say goodbye the Frying Pan

Hi Gene!

When one is camping for up to 8 days, there comes a time that you need a shower. But where to you get one?

As you may recall, a few summers ago, Alicia really wanted a shower, .. and paid $6 for the opportunity.

So this year we used a "sun-shower" -- fill up a bag with water, (with a black inside), place it on the hood of your car during the day and you end up with 3 gallons of water around 110F .. perfect shower temp. Hang it up somewhere and presto. Instant clean.

Here's one technique.... and modest.

Combat Fishing

When a river sees a lot of people and it begins to feel crowded, I call is combat fishing. You almost have to fight in order to get a spot to fish. It can be a nuisance, for sure.

Here on the Frying Pan, it is Crowded  - with a capital C.

However, .. the good news it that there are so many fish, it hardly matters.

Just take a look up and down the river from the same position.

Rainbows ... but not the fish type

Being up at 8000ft, the weather can be a little challenging, particularly after 4:00, when the mountain begins to feel the effects of the higher temperature in the valley.

The weather can look like this

And offer up more rainbows.... but not the fish type

Just another normal meal at the campground.

With a little help from the Whole Foods about 30 minutes from the campground.

Staying cool

Last year we wrote a post about how much ice we were using. So, this year we bought a new cooler, hoping for a bit of improvement. We also added a baby cooler just for drinks. We could do this because of the increased volume that the Suburban offered.

Then we improved on that by adding reflector shields that are used to limit the sun's power (usually used in windshields.

We saved a ton in ice... probably about what it would have cost all last year.

Out of the fire and into the Frying Pan

There have been some fires in Idaho, but far from where we were. So, after a bit of being in the wrong place due to high temps, we looked for somewhere where the air and water temps would be good. In searching, the Frying Pan river near Aspen CO, looked to be a good selection. At almost 8000 ft it should be nice.

The water temperature was in the high 40's due to it being a tailwater ( the river below a dam) and the air temps would be 70-80 and at night it would be in the 40's -- perfect.

Better still, the fishing was reported to be excellent.

It started out very well indeed.

Caught this mature rainbow within 15 minutes of getting set up

 And Alicia followed suit

He better hurry!!

In time to cure the world of stoopid people!

Sometimes Dinner can be special

We were in Green River WY and talking about going out to dinner

So we did.

This time out was the local park along the river... not some "regular" restaurant.

The dinner was shrimp with lemon and couscous .

First a little bit of blogging

 Then the dinner -- yum

Another Beautiful place --- Seedskadee

We moved along from Jackson and Island Park ID and ventured to a new spot for us... the Green River in lower WY.

What we found was more beauty, more big fish and a wonderful experience. And a place to go back to.

We hung around this one place and had a lot of interesting weather.  Fish were caught.. and released

 Weather coming in

Trouthunters

At the Henry's Fork, one becomes a trouthunter.

You do not assume fish are where they might be.... you search for them and then try to catch them
Sometimes you just look and see what is around you ... sometime to see fish .

Not today.

But being here is absolutely wonderful. 

More Idaho

I must say that eastern Idaho is very pretty

Check these pictures

 Old house on the hill

The Henry's Fork

The Henry's Fork River near Island Park ID is one of the most difficult rivers to fish in the US. So we go there to test ourselves, or to frustrate ourselves as things might be.

It is beautiful, panoramic, quiet, and focused.

At the Henry's Fork you trouthunt... you don't just toss a fly, you look for a fish to catch, and toss to only that fish. If you get him, WOW, if you don't -- well too bad.

Here is my friend Mick and Me getting frustrated at the HF,

Eager

Confused

Meeting up with a good looking Chick! 

The Warm River in Idaho

We walked 30 minute along a bike trail to find this section of water .. it was nice, pretty and full of fish. We had fun.

Here is what it looked like.

Not such a great cast - but it works -- the release is too high

 Not a lot of fish at this location.

They bury Squirrels?

Well?

Idaho

When you go from Jackson to the areas around Island Park, the drive is spectacular. The scenery is vast and open. You are in farming country and looking at the "back" of the Tetons.

It is a place that is full of wheat and seed potatoes.

So hard to get the full impact of what you see. It is just VAST!

 Stacked grain

 Amber waves of Grain (wheat)

Wheat and Tetons

Potatoes

Fishing from my knees

Flat Creek is a spring creek that runs through the Elk Refuge in Jackson WY. It opens for fishing on August 1.  It is a special place.. and hard to fish.

There are NO trees on the Elk Refuge .. so no place for a fisherman to hide.
The fish see everything. They spook easily. They just don't want to play.
So you need to approach them with STEALTH.

The way you fish is you stealthfully walk the banks.. like real slow. You want to be about 8-10 feet off the river. Looking to the river to spot fish. If you see one, you crawl over to the spot. On your knees.  Try to hide. Make yourself small (since they can easily see you)

You cast to one fish and hope the fish wants to play.

This guy was on the other side in the shadow area (in the black stuff). I put the fly on his nose and watched as he rose to eat my bug. I was so anxious I pulled the bug from his mouth. DRAT!!

You don't get too many chances to catch a fish on the Flat Creek.

Big Kites

We were in Mike and Jen's place and saw what looked to be the Thursday night kite club - really parasails.

We counted 20  - double click for a larger image

 The take off point -- a little washed out

Elk

As shown in the Moose post see various animals just by sitting around... we were having breakfast with Bev and Whitey, and "new friends" showed up in the backyard.

Five elk bucks.