Fly Fishing

One of my favorite childhood memories is fishing with my parents and my brothers at Hoop Lake.  Dad had a six-man inflatable raft – bright orange – and a small electric motor.  We’d all pile into the raft and tour around the lake dragging flies from our fishing poles.  We’d even catch an occasional fish.  I think I was 30 before I realized that this was NOT fly fishing.

Fast forward to 2013 at Warm River.  I saw more waders during the first two weeks in camp than I had seen in my entire life.   I think kids here get their first pair of waders at about age 3.  And the Warm River is a perfect spot for both beginning and expert fly fishing.

Per Wikipedia, “Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial ‘fly’ is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or "lure" requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting.”  The cast has an elegant whip-curl to it.  The experts make it look effortless.

We had a number of fly fishermen – or I guess I should say fisher-people, as several women also waded our rivers with their rods in hand – in May.  As the weather got warmer and the river overtaken by kids on float tubes, the fishermen came early, walked further upstream, and most often – went someplace else.  But now that the kids are gone, the fishermen are back.

Many of our fishermen are local, but an equal number come from all over the world.  I’ve met fly fishermen from France, Scotland, England, and the Netherlands – and these were just the ones I actually got a chance to chat with.  Who knows where else they came from?

There are several fly fishing outfitters in Ashton and Island Park.  The Three Rivers Ranch, which is just around the corner from us, is a fly fisherman’s paradise.  They provide rooms, all meals (prepared by gourmet chef Karen), fishing equipment, guides and transportation.  I didn’t ask what it costs, but it sounds like an elegant way to learn to fly fish.  The head guide, Doug, plans to take a group of cancer patients fly fishing in October.   The owner of Three Rivers Ranch is the great-granddaughter of Fred and Berta Lewies, founders of the Town of Warm River.

I’m kind of sad that I didn't learn to fly fish here at Warm River.

Fall in Warm River

The days are shorter, the temperature is cooling, and the leaves are beginning to turn.  Yes, it’s fall in Warm River.  It looks like we have two colors – the yellow of the aspens and the willows and the browns of the service berry bushes.  Maybe next year we’ll be someplace where leaves turn red.

Our days are much quieter.  It’s like someone turned the tap off.  The hectic days of customers in and out, the Sunday shuffles, the parking mania – all gone in favor of a quiet campground with one or two trailers coming in along with the occasional tent camper.  The joke in Yellowstone is that the changing of colors in the fall has nothing to do with the leaves and everything to do with the hair color of the visitors.  In fall it changes from whatever to grey.  That seems to be working here as well.

The customers who have come in September have had a pleasant surprise.  The wooden bridge, which was

supposed to be torn down this fall, will remain for another year due to budget constraints.  So after dutifully closing the upper loop after Labor Day, we reopened it on Wednesday, 9/4. 

We've had quite a few bear sightings in the area, which makes sense.  During August and September the bear prime imperative is to EAT.  Eat.  Eat.  Eat in preparation for hibernation.  The smell of our food is just way too tempting.  A full grown grizzly was shooed out of the Buffalo Campground in Island Park just a few weeks ago.  We still haven’t had a bear in our campground, but a couple camping with us spotted and photographed a grizzly across the river about a mile up the Railroad Grade trail last week.  Several others have reported bear scat on the trail.  Sigh - my trail running days are over – for now.

We’ll be here in Warm River until September 30.  Then it will be time to start looking for next year’s adventure.

Full Time RVers

Several of our fellow campground hosts, including our Warm River maintenance couple, are full time RVers.  They have sold their homes and most of their belongings in favor of traveling across the country in their respective motor homes, trailers, and fifth-wheels. 

All of our full-time RVing coworkers travel to places they are interested in spending time in, and find jobs that, at best, offer a free place to park, free utilities, and a salary.  Campground hosting is ideal for full-time RVers, but there are other opportunities as well, often in the resort areas they want to visit.  Paying jobs are rare in the winter in warmer climates, such as Arizona, but even in Arizona one can obtain a free parking spot with utilities in exchange for a minimal number of hours of work.

One of the fulltime couples we’ve met winters every year in Quartzsite, Arizona – home of the largest 

gathering of RVers in the world.  According to the Arizona highway department, as many as 750,000 to 1,000,000 people, mostly in RV’s, converge on this sleepy little desert town, located just 20 miles east of the California border on Interstate 10.  Quartszite has held an annual Sports, Vacation, and RV Show for the past 40 years.   http://www.quartzsitervshow.com/

There are logistical concerns with full time RVing.  How do they get their mail?  What about prescriptions?  Doctor visits?  No problem.  They find the nearest town, rent a post office box, and have their doctors call their prescriptions in to the local pharmacy or clinic.  All of the couples we’ve met agree that laundry is their biggest problem, but that a weekly trip to the coin-op Laundromat is a small price to pay.

“It’s really quite freeing to realize how little you need to be happy,” one of the women told me. 

When we were planning this adventure, Paul talked about selling everything and living out of our trailer.  I told him, in no uncertain terms, that this would not happen.  Now that we’ve seen the lifestyle in action, he agrees with me that this isn’t a lifestyle we would be interested in.  But I have to admire the people who choose it.  They’re a lot more adventurous than I am.  And that’s OK.

The Best of Warm River

We've met people from all over the world here at Warm River – as well as people from our local community of Ashton and the surrounding “big cities” of Rexburg and Idaho Falls.  Here – in no particular order – are glimpses of the best of what the campground and its campers have brought to us.

Best family reunion t-shirt:  The Dye family.  Every family member, starting with the first child, wears a number indicating the order in which they came into the family.  The eleven children are, of course, numbers 1 – 11.  As spouses were added and grandchildren born, each got the next number in sequence.  The youngest child at the reunion wore #71.

Best fitness tradition:  The Nielsen Family 5K.  They start at Bear Gulch and run down the Railroad Grade Trail.  This year’s winner finished in just over 21 minutes.

Best pole dance:  Cheri shimmying down the fee tube to get into position to open it.  Note:  AuDi Campground Services Uniform is required apparel. 

Best crazy tradition:  The ParkView Ward’s Big Chill.  They jump into the river at 10:00 PM and float down to the group site.  Participants get a t-shirt.

Best acronym:  ALPOT – annoying little piece of trash – which we pick up quite frequently. 

Best service call:  Ben, a camper from Shelley, noticed that we had a broken vent cover on our trailer.  A week after his family left the campground, they came back with a new vent cover, and Ben climbed on top of the trailer to replace it.  We paid him for the vent cover but he wouldn't take any money for his labor or his travel. 

Best cobbler:  Also the Dye family, although the cobbler master married a Crockett so we got this cobbler at both the Dye and the Crockett reunions.  The secret ingredient is cream cheese, and while he didn't give me the recipe, I found one online that is similar. 

Cream Cheese Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

9 Cups chopped Fresh Skinless Georgia Peaches

1 8-oz Package Of Philadelphia Cream Cheese

1 18-oz Package Of Vanilla Cake Mix

1 Cup Water

1 Cup Sugar

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened

Preparation Instructions:

Spread peaches in bottom of 12-inch Dutch oven.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and water, stirring until all of the sugar completely dissolves. Evenly pour this mixture over the top of the chopped peaches. Next sprinkle the fresh ground cinnamon over the top of the peaches, then follow that by sprinkling on the vanilla cake mix over it all. Drop small clumps of cream cheese and butter evenly over the top of the cake mix.

Bake with 20 coals on top and 10 on bottom for 35 – 45 minutes.

Most inspiring visitors:  Dirk and Trudy, raising money for charity on the Model T World tour. 

http://www.tfordworldtour.org/

Most inspiring campers:  The cyclists riding the Tour Divide Trail. 

Best daddy-daughter date:  Dave and Emily from Tennessee, riding the Tour Divide Trail together – but in a far more civilized fashion.  After they left our campground they spent three nights in the Jenny Lake Lodge.

Most exotic names:  Bernadina, Leo, Donato, and Agnesa, the children of Lawrence and Evalinda from Northern California.

Best prank:  The Hanson family’s stuffed skunk.  I still laugh over how I fell for that one.

Best crossing guard:  Sarah, who turned three on July 29, helped her grandparents park their trailer by standing in the middle of the road to stop us in our golf cart.  After the trailer was securely parked, she let us pass.  Sarah was also kind enough to invite us to her birthday party – complete with pink cupcakes.

Best coffee date:  A French trio, who patiently put up with my blundering French, invited us to have coffee with them after their picnic.  They showed us photos of their horseback trip to this area – 20 years ago.

Best fly fisherman:  Ghislain, also from France.  I have no clue how good he was at “la peche a la mouche,” but it was delightful speaking French with him.

Best camp host gift:  Come for a visit!!!!  We're here until the end of September.

Mesa Falls Marathon Part 2 - Race Day

Race day finally arrived.  After verifying that our large group in the group site had not blocked the route and ensuring the restrooms had plenty of toilet paper - I'm still a campground host - I got ready for the race.  I laced up my over-worn shoes.  I was tempted, when I found both Lube Stick and Blister Pads in my race packet, to use them.  But I remembered rule #1- nothing new on race day - and resisted.  I drove into Ashton and caught the bus to the start line at Bear Gulch.

There were 191 runners in the Half Marathon.  Remembering my running etiquette, I started at the end of the pack.  I had decided that my strategy would be to hang back on the trail and catch them on the hills.  Looking back, I think this cost me a couple of minutes.  I did pass quite a few racers on the hills, but could have really opened up on the trail if there hadn't been so many slower runners in front of me.

At about mile 8 I caught up with a couple of runners – Ryan and Tricia – that seemed to be running at my pace.  They appeared to be in their forties.  Ryan welcomed me and commented that “it’s nice to find your pace group friends.”  As we chatted about kids and her grand-kids, I realized that Tricia was not forty-something; she was fifty-something.  I had to beat her.  I made my break at the aid station on the last mile.  I crossed just ahead of her.  I took second place in our age group; she took third.  I gave her my coupon for a Huckleberry Shake for one of her kids.

My final results:

Time:  2:05:39
Finished 2^nd of 8 in my age division
Finished 30^th of 119 women (top 25%)
Finished 64^th of 191 overall (top 34%)

Lessons learned for the next race

1.  Buy a new pair of shoes at least six weeks before the race and run in them.  That way I’ll have a choice on race day.

2.  Start in the top third of the pack.

3.  It’s OK to be friendly – but all’s fair in love and racing.

My goal for the next half-marathon:  finish under 2 hours.

Mesa Falls Marathon Part 1 - Training

I had wanted to run the Salt Lake Half Marathon last April, but when we learned of our early start date for our camp hosting job in Warm River, we had to push another trip into the slot formerly reserved for the race.  So I was delighted to learn that I could run a half marathon right here in Warm River – in fact – right through our campground.

I've been calling this my first half-marathon, but in reality it’s my second.  My first was the Molestus Mini-Marathon, Ogden, Utah, in the summer of 1977.  I don’t remember my time.  I do remember that my brothers, who promised to run with me, left me in the dust in the first 30 feet of the race.  All’s fair in love and racing.  I also remember being grateful to them for making me train on the 30^th street hill.  I got shin splints on that race, hung up my running shoes, and didn't run again for 25 years.

But back to the present.  I modified the training schedule from the Wasatch Training Group for the timeline leading to the Mesa Falls Half, which was August 24.  I trained on most of the course, making sure nearly every training run included the hill into Ashton.  I didn't go too far up the railroad grade trail – scared of bears.

On my 12 mile training run, August 14, my right foot started to hurt.  Yikes!  I knew what was happening.  My running shoes had too many miles on them.  Unfortunately, ten days ‘til race day didn't give me enough time to break in new shoes.   Rule number 1:  nothing new on race day.  Suck it up, buttercup!

I did have plenty of training runs left to try the new food supplements members of the Wasatch Training Group recommended.   I liked both the Sports Beans and the Honey Stinger Chews; settled on carrying the Sports Beans because they were the easiest to manage.  I just dumped the package into the pouch on my water belt.  No trash; no sticky mess, and easy access to pop one in whenever I wanted.

I stayed with short runs between the 12-miler and the race.  Training done.  On to the race….

Warm River History

One of our more frequently asked questions here at Warm River is, “Where is the place where you can feed the fish?”  I learned the answer to that question the first week we were here – two stops signs, turn left, cross the bridge and pull over.  It seems to be a tradition of the families that camp here regularly.  They take large bags of bread, cereal, dog food, etc., pile it in the back of the pickup with all the kids and grandkids, and off they go.

Last Wednesday, I finally took the stale hamburger buns out of the microwave (yes, I use the microwave for bread storage) and we went to feed the fish.  The area is clearly marked.  No fishing.  No swimming.  No wading.  No float tubes.  The fish are free from every stress in their lives, and they are huge.  We tossed chunks of bread into the water and watched the fish grab them as quickly as they hit the water.

The fish-feeding site has a large historical marker titled, “Warm River – A Place of Community on the Frontier.”  What?  Warm River was once a town?  And there I thought we were famous only for our campground.  Here’s a brief history of the once-thriving community of Warm River:

Rounding the curve, music fills the air.  A moment later, a festive string of colored lights appears.  That was the sound and sight that greeted many people coming into Warm River.  They were headed to the Rendezvous Dance Hall where the sound of laughter and the aroma of hamburgers filled the air on a Saturday night.

The Rendezvous was the creation of Fred Lewis and his wife, Bertha.  Fred incorporated the Town of Warm River in June of 1947, and Bertha became its first mayor.  Warm River’s legacy dates back to 1896 when settlers arrived from Europe establishing farms and ranches.  Years later, Warm River was the stopping point for many travelers on a slow journey on a narrow muddy road to Island Park and West Yellowstone, Montana.  In 1907 Warm River’s popularity soared when the town became one of the stops for visitors traveling along the Oregon Short Line Railroad to West Yellowstone.

During the next sixty years the town in the canyon with its community of farmers, ranchers, and lumbermen grew quietly.  In 1957 the new highway to Yellowstone was completed, bypassing Warm River.  The town faded into the shadows, leaving only memories of a time when Warm River was a place of community and friendship.

The old railroad line is long gone, but the trail it followed remains and is popular with hikers and bikers.  Several summer homes now sit on Dance Hall Drive – the last traces of the town of Warm River.