We finished our last show at the Barn, which is the large
recreation hall in our rv park, and now had some down time for rest and
relaxation. Of course, that meant pickleball, fishing and paddling. Not that we
don’t have other things we like doing but the bears are up high along with most
of the wildlife.
It had been a while since we last played pickleball, and the
courts were crowded! There are now over two hundred and forty pickle ball members
of our Star Valley Pickle Ball Club, and we only have eight courts, (four more
are under construction and four more are planned).
Still we managed to get four matches in two hours and it was
obvious that we hadn’t played in a while. The temperatures here are in the
upper eighties and low nineties, but at least the humidity is low and so the
exercise is bearable. We started playing a little after eight and by ten thirty
we had enough fun!
The next day George and I went fly fishing and I had the
best day in quite a while. The morning started off slow, I caught and released
three Snake river cuts, but I spotted a nice fish rising and carefully snuck up
to the hole.
Trying not to spook the fish I cast my dry fly and the fish
rose and missed the fly as I tried to set the hook too soon. Casting again and
again I almost gave up when the fish took the fly, it was fish on! Fighting the
nice fish, it was a fourteen-inch fish, I got lucky as the fish swam into an
undercut bank and wrapped the line around a stick. Sticking my flyrod into the
snag, I was able to get the line free and landed and released the cutthroat.
Moving upstream, I spooked several more fish before arriving
at a great looking hole. Before I made my first cast, I saw a great fish make a
rise and on my cast the fish ate the fly, fish on! I was able to land the fish and
take several images of the seventeen-inch fish before releasing it unharmed
into its home. It wa my largest cutthroat in quite a while.
Another cast and another fish hit. I made six casts and
caught six different fish, something that has never happened to me while fishing
wild native fish. George arrived, and I sat down and told him to make a cast.
We were both surprised when, he missed a fish and then three more before
finally hooking another nice cut.
It had been a superb day and so we called it quits, walked
back to the truck, and after lunch called it a day. Returning home Renita and
Val arrived after a busy day shopping at the Jackson Art Fair. George and I
were both glad we had the opportunity to go fishing instead of shopping.
Two days later Renita Val and I loaded the kayaks and drove
to Alpine. Wyoming. Val had found an excellent place to launch the kayaks and
we headed up the mouth of the Grey River. The river’s mouth was flooded by Palisades’
Reservoir and so we didn’t have to fight any current.
The sides of the canyon narrowed as we paddled and after a
mile of easy kayaking we started to encounter a strong current. It was too
strong to continue so we let the river carry us back down till we reached still
water.
A slight wind had started to blow up the canyon, (during the
day a hot wind blows up the valley and reverses at night when cold dense air
flows back down, these are called mountain-valley breezes). We had to paddle
against the waves, but they were relatively small and when we reached the mouth,
the wind died down. It was an easy morning of paddling and we all enjoyed paddling
at a new place!
It’s been a fun week of fun. We only have one more show for
the year and its only a one day show in Alpine, Wyoming. Lots of time to grind
rocks, play more pickle ball, fish and kayak. Monday, we plan to return up the
Grey for another days fishing. Every day is a blessing! Clear skies
Pickleball yaking and fishing rather than shopping I would say that is a great week.
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