Frozen fingers and toes

The day dawned cold....really cold. Like 39 degrees. Absolutely superb fishing weather (yea, right). I dropped Alan off at 9am to spend the day with guide Bill, who turned out to be a wonderful source of information about the area and was a great guide, to boot.

Our ultimate mountain guide, Jim, said "what a perfect day to go on top of Baldy and see hundreds of miles!" Suzy and I said, "sure, sounds good, we could go for a Baldy burger." So, we set out, and not being stupid, we grabbed our sweatshirts in case of chill. Then hiked up the LiftLine trail, stopping at Vulture Pt, and it was a very nice day to hike -- about 60 degrees, not too crowded, and the ascent steady but not a killer, about an hour in all.

The plan was to get on the lift at mid-point and head up for our Baldy burgers. However, a pimple-faced employee insisted that we have tickets. Now, we can tell you that we have employed this strategy of hiking to the midpoint many times and never been turned down. Curses on said employee.



Valiant Suzy volunteered to return down the chairlift to the bottom to purchase tickets, since they were not available for purchase at the midpoint. Little did she know, that she was heading into an arctic headwind. Blue and chattering, tears streaming down her face, she stumbled off the lift to the ticket office. "Do I have my cell phone," she thought? "Because those dummies can come right on down here and we'll have our burgers in civilization." Alas, no, it was not to be, so plucky Suzy headed back up into cold, eastern wind.

Tickets in hand, we boarded the lift for the top. And, dear readers, it was cold, very cold. The sun disappeared and the wind was steady. Our fleeces and sweatshirts were not, alas, adequate to the task and our frozen fingers were seeking warmth wherever they could discover...

It really wasn't heartening to see the folks in parkas going down the mountain.


Once on top, the sun re-appeared and we eagerly sought out the shelter of a building to suss out the scene. For once, all the outdoor picnic tables were open -- imagine. And we were happy to see the burger man flipping his wares outside the restaurant. Nevertheless, once we procured our various sandwiches and our potato chips, we had to resort to inside seating. The chip bags were something else -- the altitude differential made them puff up to max capacity. This made them quite interesting to open -- it wasn't too bad once you borrowed the jack hammer, though.

As we prepared to head down, a few small snow flakes blowing horizontally in the winds passed us by. Oh, yes, Idaho in August.

On the trip down, Suzy and I used my little kangaroo pouch and held hands the whole time, which helped. And, finally, we were at the bottom. Ah, the warmth of 60 degrees.


Fishing Report

There are days when as a fisherman, you are the vanquisher and there are days that you are vanquished. Today was one of the latter.

Weather forecast for Sun Valley tonight is 33 degrees with snow showers.

Heading back to Hotlanta and back to school tomorrow.

Second Sun Valley Day

The day dawned cloudy and the weather reports weren't encouraging on this Friday morning. We thought it might be a day for watching golf, but headed out to try to pick some raspberries at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden while the rain held off. The garden was very interesting, especially the Garden of Infinite Compassion, which honors the Dalai Lama's visit to the Wood River Valley. The garden itself is very peaceful with a wandering stream whose splashing masks the traffic of Highway 75. In 2005, the Dalai Lama consecrated and blessed one of two Tibetan Prayer Wheels in North America.

The raspberries proved a bust, unfortunately, but it was worth seeing the garden. Suzy and I walked back on the Wood River Trail, which was about a mile and a half. The paved trail stretches from Hailey to Ketchum and was converted from a rail system--it's flat and in the sun an absolute anvil. This morning, we enjoyed the cloud cover and even felt a few rain drops.

Lunch at home featured more of Alan's wonderful cedar planked salmon from the night before. Then I did some writing by the pool, finally finishing the Quadrangle article. Late afternoon, Alan, Suz, Jim, and I did the lower part of the Chocolate Gulch trail, which we all agreed was more beautiful this year because of all the rain. The wildflowers were awesome.

Back at the house, time for a pre-dinner swim and hottub and then we headed to the Ketchum Grill for another yummy dinner.

Sun Valley Sun!

Yesterday, amazingly, we went Back to Hartsfield where we had been only one short week ago. 5am wakeup call, 5:30am ride to airport, 7am flight to Salt Lake City, arrived in Hailey at 11am. Yowza. Flights were fine but when the Embrair 200 feels more comfortable than the 757-200, you know mainstream flying sucks.

Sleep-deprived hazy day yesterday, visiting with Suzy, Jim, and Kitty. Lounging by the pool, lamb dinner, early bedtime. Woke up after 10 hours of sleep much refreshed. Suz and Jim took a hike this morning, while Alan and I worked, and then we headed up to Galena Lodge for lunch. Luck was in for Jim and Alan because their favorite "Around the River Bend" beer was on tap! A couple of elk burgers later, we headed back to Ketchum.

Shopping at Atkinson's was crazy busy as usual, so Suz and I made short shrift of it. Well, as short as it can be when you have to get fish at the fish counter.... I went to the kitchen store and got the last cedar planks in town -- cedar-planked silver salmon tonight!

Back at the ranch, we enjoyed some sun and swimming, chatting about memorable golf cheating moments at Piping. Then, Jim headed for a nap and Alan, Suzy, and I took a 50 minute hike on the Greenhorn trail -- very pretty and the cloud cover was welcome, as was the breeze. We've got a cold front headed in tomorrow and expect 32 degrees Saturday am. Alan has booked a fishing trip for that day but says he'll call it if the winds are 30 mph.



The light on the hills is very beautiful as I write this poolside blog post. This truly is a wonderful spot.

Summer Vermont adventuring

We are back in Atlanta, our summer Vermont adventures at an end. Boo! But it is great to snuggle with the cats and we returned to a bountiful crop of tomatoes. Fresh tomato sauce and spaghetti was on the menu tonight!

In our remaining days at camp, we had some good sun days. Saturday started with breakfast pancakes (with blueberries or raspberries) courtesy of Dawn and then we basically had a sunny, lake averill day. Alan and I circumnavigated the lake in the canoe, then we had beach time. Then we had a new type of adventure: "Chicks on the East Branch Road."

When we finished up with Bill on Thursday, we had turned a corner back in the timber company land and happened upon two chickens -- obviously domesticated, obviously beautiful, obviously out of place. Mentioned this to Dawn when she and John came up on Friday and she was determined to catch them and take them home to her flock (they will survive for no time in the north woods due to predators or the cold). So, after our beach time on Saturday, Dawn and I headed up with the large fishing net and two cardboard boxes, determined to catch the chickens.

First challenge was to find them. Fortunately, they were right where we saw them on Thursday. Next up, the strategy -- Dawn charged through the woods to drive them onto the road where I waited with the large fishing net -- all in bathing suits, sandles, and t-shirts. No, there are no videos. And we caught the dark one, which we named "Sable." But "Averill," the sassy red hair was a total *itch. "She" even flew.

A gentleman in a Ford pickup stopped by, mightily entertained at this spectacle, which I must admit, must have looked amusing. We sent him on his way.

I ran back home to get the boys for help, but even with four people we couldn't land Averill. "She" ran us ragged and even dumped Alan in the dirt. Time to call it a day. Humans 1, chickens 1.

The laugh of the story was that when Dawn got home and introduced Sable to her flock, it turned out "she" was a "he." Suddenly, the dumping of roosters made more sense..... I'm gone but Dawn promises to return with a have-a-heart trap and some scratch next weekend. They're beautiful chickens --gorgeous plumage and they really should be saved. I have complete faith in Dawn.

My Mom arrived Sunday, Alan's Monday. Sunday was dark and rainy, and we had friends Hans and Inge over for drinks, meaning we had to have a roaring fire. Turns out my Mom and Hans both went to the same graduate program in urban planning at Harvard back in the 1950s -- and Hans knew Mom's roommate. Small world.

Tuesday, we headed to North Hatley for lunch, which was very nice. Our regular restaurant appears to have changed hands but the patio was still the same lovely place and the mussels were excellent. For the last afternoon at camp, Alan and I went down to the beach, where we found the loon family -- they were very close in, feeding, and generally enjoying the day. I got Jen's lens and tried to hold it steady -- not a trivial feat.

Dinner was at Quimby's -- cookout at the rock, which was just lovely.



Back at home, a tomato bonanza!

Lewis Pond, Etc.

Yesterday, we were supposed to float the Connecticut River with Bill, starting in Canaan. Got to Solomon's at 8am only to find that the night's rain had turned the river into chocolate soup. As we pulled up to Bill, he asked, "Plan B"?

Plan B turned out to be a trip over to our neck of the woods to find Lewis Pond. After stopping for a VT license for Bill at Priscilla's, we headed over the East Branch logging road down to route 105. From there, a right turn, and then the next right brings you into the Silvio Conte WMR, which has been in existence for about 10 years but about which we are just learning. They've got new signage up that lead you fairly easily to Lewis Pond, especially if you have a gazeteer. Lewis is beautiful and we popped the drift boat in and set out to explore. Seemed like it was good brook trout water, although the fishing was not particularly good, but it was a bright day in the middle of the day, so I'd try it again.

After a few hours in the sun, we repaired to the Lewis Overlook for lunch. This apparently is one of the best spots in Vermont for viewing fall foliage -- I can believe it.


After lunch, we explored around the black branch of the Nowhegan River, which had a lot of water coming through it. Looked like beautiful trout water but Alan says he never had much luck fishing the east branch as a kid -- so we don't know what the story is. Back at camp, we said goodbye to Bill, and headed over to Jackson Lodge to see Serge and Donna and to have a nice meal.

Another excellent day in Vermont!

Vermont July musings

After a whirlwind trip to Long Island to pick up Mrs C's car, we finally reached Camp at 9:30pm Sunday evening. But that 60-cycle hum from work and family and stressful driving didn't abate until Monday afternoon when the quiet joys of Papelousu began to take hold. Casting at the ponds Monday night was the clincher. I took a nice brook trout out of the upper pond and Alan got a 13" rainbow on the lower. Sweet!

Tuesday morning found us up at Lopstick meeting up with Bill for a half day wade on the Connecticut. We went to a stretch we'd never been to before somewhere below second Connecticut Lake. It was gorgeous -- great pocket water which we fished upstream to a beautiful set of waterfalls. Caught tons of brookies and salmon -- most small but some 8-10" -- on dry flies. Gorgeous, sunny day with big fluffy clouds -- just a great day. Finished up to about 2:30 and headed to Happy Corner Cafe where we enjoyed tasty food, as always. Back home we thought a dip in the lake would be just the ticket -- and it was that, if you want a ticket to freezing!

On Wednesday, we headed over to Quimby's to check on Ray and foung things bustling. Lots of guests in the lodge, some on wireless, kids trouping around everywhere. With the help of another QC fan, Belinda, we did a lot of work on the Quimby's website in May -- went live in early June -- and it shows. We even have guests coming from Perth, Australia, later in August! And we are almost full up for moose hunting season. Ah, the power of the internet. Glad to have played a part in making sustainable this very special place.

Headed to the Balsam's for lunch (we missed that last year) and then tried to repeat last year's famous raspberry outing, only to find that a frost in June had killed off this year's crop. Boo. :-( Back in Averill, ran into Robert and Priscilla, always nice, and made tentative plans to kayak Little Averill Friday night. Quick swim in the lake -- seemed somehow warmer today, quick kayak trip, and it's time to make dinner already. Days sure go fast here.

Tomorrow, an all day float with Bill, starting in Canaan.

Lake lapping, wind up, rain is on the way!

Back from Vermont

After 12 hours of travel, we're back home from Vermont. Various difficulties and other priorities prevented posting from there -- one post got eaten by the ether (google sites really don't come through on satellite up there). And, now, my capabilities are limited because I LEFT MY LAPTOP in Vermont. For those who know me, this is completely uncharacteristic since not only am I anal about room sweeps but I also am completely wedded to my laptop. I mean -- it's me, my photos, apps, configurations, etc. Using the work Air right now which is...okay. How could this have happened? Well, clearly it's Alan's fault. I mean, I'm just saying, he is responsible for putting the bags in the car. :-)

Highlights from the trip include spending time with family for the holiday. Suzy, Johnny, Dawn, Jay, Crista, Crista's sister Stacy, and baby Jack came up for the 4th, which was rainy and cold. Seriously, this July trip felt like a autumn visit -- it was cold and wet -- highest temp was 62 degrees. The lake was at an all-time high -- no beach whatsoever, despite the dam being wide open. We didn't even get out the kayaks it was so wet.

We did, however, have some great fishing. Good session down at the ponds on Friday with brookies and a rainbow from the lower pond. On Sunday, we had a totally excellent adventure with Bill (that's the post that went into the ether). We borrowed some belly boats from Quimby's and hiked two miles into a remote New Hampshire pond, almost at the Canadian border. For this trip, the weather was good -- only cold and damp, not teeming with rain. The pond was eerily beautiful -- clouds wafting over the water and dead trees poking up through the water, ringed with conifers. The BB's were fun, bit of a trick to navigate (our first time), but the brookies were eager and snapping -- kinda clear this pond isn't fished much. But at some point, especially in 58 degree water, all good things must come to an end and our leg cramps demanded a return to the earth. The stiff breeze going back was not a plus. Once again on land, it was like getting off a boat -- legs took a minute to adjust. But awesome! Alan "perky boy" Cattier was the last off the water, fishing to the end, while Bill and I cataloged muscles we didn't know existed.

Developed some new methods of carrying the inflated BB's and headed down the trail (so much easier than up). Loaded back up and bagged the picnic lunch option for the warmth and warm food of Happy Corner Cafe. I will tell you that at this point, I nearly put my head down in my sandwich, I was so beat. However, it was only 4:30pm and we'd only been fishing since ummm....10am (at the lodge at 8), so the day was not done. Back to Lopstick for the boat and off to Back Lake for the Hex hatch. There we tried out Bill's Orlios 9.5' 5 wt and let me tell you it's nice to cast a big fat fly that you don't have to worry about watterlogging or losing sight of. Day turned clear for the first time in 32 days and a lovely sunset was had by all.

End of the hatch -- did fairly well with some smallmouth bass and trout. Called it at 9:15pm, back home 10:30ish, made some quick spaghetti supper. Wow, cool, utterly cool day.