So, how did this trip go? Not perfect but pretty darn good.
Pete called me on Wednesday and told me it was going to rain. Well, I didn't like that news but I'm glad he told me because I hadn't looked at the forecast. Now the forecast was calling for rain and a low of 28 degrees....snow?!?! In any case, I had just bought a bunch of new flies and was eager to try to catch my first fish out of the Bechler River, and it was going to be my first nights out in the woods in a long time...nothing could really damper my enthusiasm.
On the way from Boise on Friday morning, Pete drove through some heavy rain in the Twin Falls area, a foreshadow of things to come. He picked me up in Pocatello under dry but threatening clouds, and we drove to Ashton under dark clouds. We stopped in at the Idaho Irresistables for a report and some flies; I was excited to find some new patterns even after buying far too many flies in Pocatello the day before. Ken was nice enough to let us know that the magic color was green.
We met Roy in Ashton; he was being dropped off after some time in Yellowstone with his cousin from England (who caught his first trout in Yellowstone on this trip!). As we ate lunch, it began to rain. Yeehaw, I thought. On the drive out of Ashton, Roy told us the YNP Ranger he talked to said the confluence of Boundary Creek and Bechler River was where all the action was and there are indeed some "sharks" to be caught in there.
Thirty minutes drive out of town and we were at the Bechler Ranger Station. We geared up and started to walk. Then it started to sprinkle. Then it started to rain. At least it didn't really downpour on us, just a nice little rain for 2-3 hours. Enough to soak my boots through the Gore-text for the first time ever. Ninety minutes and 3.3 miles later (we were cruising cuz it's nice and flat), we set up camp in the rain. As soon as we were done setting up, it stopped raining. Ok, no sweat, at least now we can fish in some dry weather. Time to get the "sharks."
As we walked from our camp at 9C1 (a very average, basic camp, by the way, but close enough to the river to be nice....and this was the first time in my life I didn't get a picture of camp!), we saw risers all the way on the short trip to the confluence. The first few casts had immediate hits, and then the fishing pretty much turned off for some mysterious reason. It was dinner time, anyway. And then, soon enough, it was bed time.
I wrapped up in my down bag with SmartWool beanie, gaiter, long-sleeve top, and socks...snuggled in nice and warm and dry as the rain began to pour some more. I love my tent! Ten years later, the Black Diamond BetaMid I got for $100 barely used still stays dry as ever.
Saturday was the main event. We had the basic breakfast, and then I topped it off with my new backcountry treat of Starbucks micro-brewed coffee....very nice on a cold backcountry morning. We crossed the Bechler River ford about a half-mile south of camp without incident, other than a no-kidding pain from the water being so cold...water was knee-deep if you crossed in the right areas, by the way.
From there, we bush-whacked upstream next to the river, thinking very few people ever do that because the trail is nowhere near this side of the river. Less people equals less pressure equals more "sharks" for us....or so we thought. Throughout the breezy, mostly chilly day we threw everything in the river with few results. We knew it was going to be difficult, but this was more than we expected. The sun came out every now and then to give us some warmth and remind us why we were there. We saw Collonade(?) Falls from the river, and that was pretty cool. No wildlife sightings until near the end of the day when we saw a bald eagle soaring above us.
Roy hooked into a huge fish, probably the biggest rainbow he's ever had on in the park and brought it the bank before it flipped off. I had a really nice rainbow hit my hopper while I was watching where I was walking instead of my fly; it was exciting to see the fish but would have been cool to at least fight him for a bit. Pete had a big rainbow on for a bit at mid-day but didn't bring him all the way in. I'm quite the amateur, so I was just hoping to catch a fish. Pete and Roy are pretty good anglers, so to see them have some trouble was frustrating, too. But hey, the real treat was just being in the Bechler River area and out in the backcountry.We headed back to camp and had dinner. And then we finished the day at the confluence of the Bechler River and Boundary Creek again. Roy pulled in the fish one after another for probably an hour. I caught a few small rainbows before I lost my luck. Interestingly, I caught them on an orange stimulator while I stripped it back into my rod. Roy caught most of his on an orange stimulator, too.
Waterfall in the middle of the picture, a barely visible white speck, created a nice feel for the area.
Bushwhacking along the Bechler River.
Saturday evening, the sun had come out, and Roy was having fun at the confluence.
As I walked downstream to Pete, who kept fishing a mid-stream seam, he hooked a large fish. That large fish jumped out of the water, and I saw what I'm pretty sure was the largest cutthroat I've ever seen personally. It was huge, and I was about 150 feet way from it as he jumped in mid-stream. Then he ducked under a log and ripped the line. Dang, that was a big fish! Indeed, the Ranger that Roy had talked to knew what he was talking about when he mentioned "sharks" in that area.
Back to camp. Back into my down bag wrapped up in SmartWool. Back into dream world, finally with dry and warm feet again.
Sunday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and then packed up. But, before we packed up, we looked for my mysteriously missing fishing rod. Where was it? Thirty minutes and several theories later, I found it on the bank of the river. Somehow, I had left it there when returning the night prior. How does somebody forget their rod like that? Crazy!!
The walk back to the car was fast but relaxing. Pete and Roy surveyed different parts of the river thinking about some wish-fish, those they know are down there in a hole that they could hit if they stopped long enough to fish it. There was a ten-minute section through a mature, lodge-pole forest where you could see a fairly long ways through the trees. It was a bit surreal because ALL of the trees were lodgepole, and nearly all the ground cover was a two-foot high leafy bush that was all-yellow. Eighty-minutes later we were back at the car.
Bechler River is a must-do-trip in the fall. The cool mornings and normally warm and dry afternoons are perfect for admiring an ecosystem completely different than anything in the immediate area and certainly different than everywhere else in the park. The fishing will drive even the best angler a bit crazy. There's talk of an annual outing to the Bechler River, but they'll have to keep pulling me away from the Lamar!
Next up: Madison River browns over the three-day weekend in October! Talk about chilly mornings!
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