Last Sunday afternoon, I drove over the Big Horns to fish the Wind River with Chad Olsen and Dan Cerven on Monday and Tuesday. That afternoon, I had to crawl over Powder River Pass in a blizzard, but I eventually lost elevation and reached the safety of Tensleep Canyon. Then, I was on my way!
Dan, Chad and I had a great couple days. We experienced some terrific dry fly action on a long-lasting baetis hatch on Monday and yesterday, despite some very cold, windy and rainy conditions, we caught some BIG browns and rainbows on nymphs.
After studying the forecasts yesterday morning, I was anxious to stay ahead of the storm, so I got off the river early while they continued on downstream into the evening. I was hoping to make it home ahead of the storm, so I threw my gear in the back, pulled off my wet raincoat and still in waders, took off for home.
No such luck! I got in yet another whiteout as I reached Powder River Pass. There, it was 25 degrees with a 40 mph wind driving the snow hard. The visibility was almost zero. I crept over the pass at 15 mph white-knuckling it all the way. After I got safely over the pass and knew I had dropped out of the worst of it, I stopped to get out of my waders and took these photos.
WHAT WE DO TO FISH!
Was it worth it? ... you be the judge.
I'll post some photos from our trip tomorrow.
