The 1999 Trip to Yellowstone and
associated Areas
The
1999 Expeditioners were:
Andy
Batcho
John
Richardson
Al
Miller
Fishing
Location Summary
Date
Fishing Locations
8/14/99
Gallatin River, Madison River
8/15/99
Yellowstone Lake, Gibbon River, Madison River
8/16/99
Soda Butte Creek, Lamar River
8/17/99
Yellowstone Lake, Firehole River, Madison River
8/18/99
Delacy Creek, Aster Creek, Snake River, Teton River
8/19/99
Warm River, Henry's Fork of the Snake, Gardner River
8/20/99
Trout Lake, Soda Butte Creek
8/21/99
Warm Springs Creek, Pond 2, Pond 3, Clark Fork, Jobs Corps Pond, Silver Bow
Creek
On
this trip, we take a rented Chevy Astro Van and share driving duties. JR
is the treasurer for the trip. AB and AM focus on hotels and fishing G2.
Memoirs from the Last Yellowstone
Expedition of the 20th Century
Andy Batcho, John Richardson, and Al Miller
The story begins……Friday Aug. 13, 1999
Met JR/AB at airport to pick up Alamo rental minivan for the trip. Rented a Chevy Astro with extended length (no extra charge). JR/AB took it back to JR’s, removed the rear seat and loaded gear. They left for Spokane. However, due to work schedules, AM was to fly out after work and meet them in Spokane. However….it was a dark and stormy night…….and while AB/JR had headed out in the early afternoon for Spokane, the Seattle-Spokane Alaska Airline flight was delayed from a 5:30 load to well after 7pm load. Got to Spokane to meet AB/JR about 8:45 p.m. and left the airport parking lot about 9 p.m.. The journey had begun! Arrived St. Regis approx. midnight to stay in the Super 8. So-so lodging but it worked for us.
Saturday Aug. 14, 1999
Left about 7:10 am on Saturday morning and headed eastward on I-90. Approx. milepost 72 in Montana, the Clark Fork (which is big by now!) had some good-looking water, but we continued onward seeking the promised land. Stopped at Missoula at 0815 and visited the Kingfisher Fly Shop. No good info on Yellowstone – kind of a chi-chi place for visitors. Despite our hopes, it was a cool and showery morning; we hoped this was not to be the pattern for this trip! Had breakfast and great coffee at "The Break" coffeehouse. Good baked goods. French Roast coffee was super! AM picked up a rainshell jacket at a local outdoor supply shop – kind of an impulse buy that would be a very good investment for later in the trip.
Took break at rest stop on milepost 169 that had good access to Clark Fork that was a much smaller river by this point. May be worth fishing some time . Headed eastward. Exited I-90 at mp 298 in Belgrade about 12:20pm. Started looking to pickup Yellowstone Park fishing licenses. Everyone told us to check with someone else. One young fellow told me that he thought West Yellowstone was in Wyoming. {Looks like Montana needs to work on their education system.]
Continued on toward the Park with the Gallatin River a constant road companion and stopped by Eastside Anglers in Big Sky. Nice fly and ski shop. Picked up Yellowstone Park fishing licenses. Fellow said that while they had something like 30,000 summer visitors there, in the winter they would have 300,000. Surprised he didn’t have less fishing stuff and more ski stuff.
Headed south again and finally crossed into the Park (about mp 32) with the Gallatin River continuing to run by the road. Terrain changed from a river in a canyon that it had been for some miles to a meandering stream in grassy meadows with no trees. Decided to pull over and hit the River, the first fishing in Yellowstone Park! Kind of windy; fishing was slow. JR located 5 dead elk carcasses probably from winterkill. Time was around 2:40 p.m.
[As a footnote, there was a Seattle hiker mauled by a Grizzly bear right after we returned to Seattle. He was 4 miles back on the Black Butte trail and had to hike his way after the mauling back to the road to get help. The Black Butte trail intersects the highway we were on at about mp 28 only a few miles from where we fish; we were close to some real wilderness excitement!]
We continued on southward to West Yellowstone, arriving at about 5 p.m.. Checked in with Becky at the One Horse Motel [Dunraven & Firehole Streets, PO Box 878 West Yellowstone, MT Tel: 406-646-7677 Fax: 406-646-0060, http://www.wyellowstone.com/clients/onehorse/ ]. Had 3 separate beds with two connected rooms plus a bath. Had a refrigerator (small), microwave, and TV which picked up cable, including the ever popular Montana All-Gun channel – it seemed they were always having shooting contests and hunting shows. Made me want to join the NRA (and I don’t even own a gun!)
We judged the accommodations to be above the minimum one ass rating and well away from the dreaded half ass rating. Probably was not a 2 or 3 Horse rating. (No Jacuzzi!) [All kidding aside, this was a pretty good place from which to base-camp for fishing the western side of the Park. To prove my point, we have reservations again for the One Horse Motel for the 2000 odyssey!]
Visited the local fly shops to help generate cash flow for them and to get the info on all of their secret spots that they would never tell anyone but us close friends (who they had never met before). Went to Bud Lilly’s first (http://www.budlillys.com/). Then across the street to Arrick’s (http://www.arricks.com/). Agreed we needed to write an article for Trout and Salmon Leader about Arrick’s describing the patch collection he has and how he had helped Earth Day Banquet this last year. He has patches from Vancouver, Ballard, Labeugten, Clark-Skamania, current NWSSC, and others in the collection on the wall. Suggest people visit his store when in W. Yellowstone. If you have some cool patches he may not have, I recommend you send them to him and he in return has offered to give some cool flies which can be auctioned at fund raisers such as the Washington State Trout Unlimited Earth Day Banquet. Seems like a win-win for everyone! Other cool shops we visited included: Jacklins and Madison River Outfitters (http://www.flyfishingyellowstone.com)
Went to fish the Madison River just inside the Park. Had a $20/car fee for a week for the Park. We got our value from that investment on this trip. Going into the Park from W.Yellowstone, take the very first left after the guard entrance – you should still be able to see the entrance buildings in your rear view mirror. If you can’t, you’ve gone too far! There are two major parking areas to start fishing from right next to the River. The first one had better fishing water (in our opinion) than the second area. This is called the Barns Hole(s) – it looks like one hole but it is considered to be three holes by the aficionados. Charles Brooks discusses these holes in his book written in the 60’s – Larger Trout for Western Flyfisherman. About ¼ mile upstream are some concrete pads for a fishing area known as the Cable Hole (previously some time long ago there had been a cable car crossing of the River). Even further upstream is a structure left over from when there had been a stream gauging station; we called this the Gauging Station hole. Fishing action was slow until sun came off the water. Bugs out en masse!! Fish started surface feeding and some very BIG fish jumped out of the water chasing bugs (unfortunately none of the big ones were attached to my fly line!). I think all of the big fish looked to be brown trout. Nailed fish on Chernobyl hopper (about 12"). Talked to 2 guys fishing nymphs ‘til dark. They had fished Slough Creek down by the Lamar earlier that day and claimed to have done pretty well. They used nymphs, hoppers, and a griffith’s gnat. They said to keep the hoppers small (around 10- 12).
Sunday August 15, 1999
Happy Anniversary to Claire and John!! Maybe you should plan to celebrate with us next year since we’ll likely be in the Yellowstone area again!
Rainy morning and cold! The rainjacket from Missoula (AM) felt pretty good that morning. Headed to Bookstore for early morning coffee and pastries at Cappy’s. Great French Roast! Developed a plan for the day. Decided to hit Yellowstone Lake since it was raining and the northern streams may be out. Long drive to find out they’re too muddy to fish while we were pretty sure the Lake would be OK. Developed concept of a rod caddie for fishing. Sort of like a golf caddie but would carry the different weight rod/reel combo’s and be sure they are rigged and ready to go. Also would be sure to have the right fly on the line. Lots of possibilities. Think this job might already exist; could be called a guide? (or at least an expensive guide). Thought of another way to hold a great fishing hole would be to have yellow ATF jackets, bullhorn, radio with earphones, and yellow crime scene tape.
Headed into Park, went through Norris, and headed toward Yellowstone Lake. Went by Gibbon Falls – pretty cool place (also 58F at 1140 am). Looking at thermal features we
thought of a picture of fishing the bubbling hot waters could have legends like: Fishing in the Cauldron for pre-poached trout, A new species of Bake Trout. They come out "ready to eat". Obviously we had too much idle time on our hands. Drove by Gibbon Meadows – looked like really good water. Pleasantly surprised by lack of crowds in Yellowstone Park. Drove over to Yellowstone Lake (7792 feet elevation) and checked out the Fishing Bridge (closed to fishing) and the Ranger info station – not much info. Headed to the West Side of the Lake and drove out to Gull Point. Pretty windy and cool but properly attired it was OK. Winds were up and required some casting finesse to let the wind help you. A black/red wooley bugger (about a size 6) pulled in a couple of 16-18" cutthroat while a green/yellow roostertail (Univ. of Oregon colors) got zip. Surprised us.
Went back and hit the Madison River by the West Yellowstone entrance and found some willing fish, although there were substantially fewer bugs and surface action probably due to the much cooler temps (about 58F air temp). Stimulators seem to be the fly du jour.
Monday August 16, 1999
Up in the morning and over to Cappy’s for French Roast coffee and hanging with the locals. Not sure of the overnight temps but there was frost on the car roofs in our hotel parking lot. Sheesh..it’s Aug. 16! (but around 7000 feet!) Skies are blue and not a cloud in sight (just like Seattle). Over coffee, we came up with some brain storming ideas on the need to be able to see your fly on the water when the light is low or at the wrong angle. JR called Judy B at Jackson Hole but Jay won’t be back until Wed. night. Jay had recommended Soda Butte Creek as a place to try when we were in that section of the Park. It proved true as JR caught the largest trout of his illustrious and decorated career there! Visited Arrick’s Fly Shop and picked up some terrestrials and beetles. Guides were said to have seen color in Lamar, Slough Creek, and Soda Creek yesterday due to the rains. Gardner River seemed to be OK. The streams could be clearing today since while they muddy fast, they also clear fast. Decided to go north and check out that end of the Park. Picked up a thermos of Joe to Go and off we went.
Found paving of road going on just inside West entrance to the Park – lovely. Elk by the Madison; several cows had young calves with them. People seemed to be getting real close to the critters to take pictures – seemed hazardous. Also noted some of the ubiquitous Harley operators had jackets on labeling themselves as being from the German contingent. They, of course, did have a sidecar on their hog. Park really didn’t seem as crowded as we remember from last year. More Elk next to Gibbon River above the Falls.
Crossed Dunraven Pass 8895 feet. Sweeping views showing extensive fire damage from the 1988 fires. Saw 2 cow moose past the pass by Antelope Creek.
Came up to Tower Falls area and noted huge basalt columns on hillsides – very cliff-like. Lighter colored columns than in the Columbia River basin - walls were vertical pretty much all the way down to the Yellowstone River, which was flowing at the base of the cliffs.
Stopped by Roosevelt Lodge. Prices for staying were pretty reasonable and had a nice rustic log cabin like dining room. Talked with a fellow and his wife (original equipment I would speculate – likely not a trophy wife) who parked next to us in their shiny new Corvette. They had just picked it up at the delivery center in Bowling Green and were driving it across the country back to their home. Unfortunately they live in Ketchikan Alaska which has, I’m told, a total of 24 miles of roads. Some place to have a Corvette. Mid-life crisis or just a lot of extra money? Picked up some snacks and food for lunch and then off to the holy waters!
Soda Butte Creek – runs about ¼ mile from road and has great access along its length for several miles. There is a Soda Butte itself that is a 20+ feet tall deposit of minerals formed by one of the vents from underground. Has a strong sulfurous odor that fortunately does not extend any significant distance and had no affect on our fishing quality experiences on the creek. Soda Butte Creek here is a small stream (maybe 15+/- feet wide) with classic riffle-pool S-shaped flows. Very easy water to read and fish were rising!! Caught lots of fish on Chernobyl hoppers, rises to stimulators (yellow body). Lots of hoppers out in the flora next to the creek. Temps in the mid to high 70’s; clear and sunny; wet waded the stream. Water had a slight tinge so that it was not crystal clear and the fish were not overly spooky. They did require a reasonable presentation and approach since they would not rise again for a while if they saw you. Drew fish up from every likely place. Fished primarily between 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Finally headed out at 7:45 p.m. to go back to West Yellowstone. Great Day for everyone was definitely the spirit!! Heading back we found some asphalt fumaroles from the road repaving construction company. Heading back at dusk we saw oodles of elk along Obsidian Creek, Indian Creek and related areas. Made a brief stop along Madison River on way back to experience the outdoors just like the bears do. Headed over to Mountain Mike’s for dinner. AB enjoyed the fine all-you-can-eat ribs. I got his corn! Had a brew called Fat Tire. I liked it.
Tuesday August 17, 1999
Again over to Cappy’s for coffee in the am to hang with more locals. Met a fellow (retired I think but still guiding) who claimed to have been here to welcome the fur traders when they first arrived. Name was Jim Danskin. Really a nice guy and recommended that if we wanted to hit areas in the South Park (?) area that we try the Bechler River and the Lewis Canyon (tough to get to and tough fishing but try hoppers). Told us his story of the grizzly bear encounter which almost always ends with "and it sure scared the hell out of me; you be careful out there!" Went back to the room and got some Jackson Hole Wyoming info on places to stay – seems pricey. Talked to Becky at our hotel and she said they had never found a place similar to the W. Yellowstone lodging situation around Jackson as it was somewhat upscale compared to where we were.
Headed out to the south park area and saw some pretty cool geysers and fumaroles. Landscape was quite unlike anything you might expect to see; could see why no one believed the first explorers on what had been observed in Yellowstone.
Stopped at Old Faithful and did the turista things like pix with geyser in background. Beautiful clear day. Could see where the fires came pretty close to the old lodges back in 1988. Waiting for the geyser was like watching a pot come to a boil. Seemed pretty slow.
Moved on toward the confluence of the Gibbon and the Firehole that forms the Madison River. Big campground right at the confluence – no privacy here! Headed back to the Madison by the West Park entrance and fished the Barns Hole, the Gauging Station hole, and the Cable Hole. Water seemed to be up a little this evening. Fished until quite dark. Headed back to West Yellowstone for a follow-up feast at Mountain Mike’s
Wednesday August 18, 1999
Coffee first thing at Cappy’s and chatted with a guide and his client (from Houston). Told us about fishing in the Elk Refuge (Flat Creek) by Jackson (tough fishing he said); Harriman Ranch section of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake; the Snake River in the Park; and the South Fork of the Snake. Gave us directions to Mesa Falls area and Warm River junction with the Henry’s Fork. Said also to check out the Teton River although he thought the access might be difficult. Loaded with this information, we checked out of Motel.
Headed south again to exit the Park and head for the Jackson and Idaho areas. Stopped by Delacy Creek that feeds into Shoshone Lake. Small intimate stream we hiked along and caught a zillion little brook trout. I guessed it would take 4 of the larger ones to make the filling in a small sandwich.
Stopped by Grant Village on the way out. Nice place but looked like a boring area to stay.
Fished Aster Creek below Lewis Lake. Marshy and buggy terrain, the kind that Moose like. Small and actually not very many fish. Maybe more of a spawning stream for Lewis Lake.
Stopped and fished the Snake River by the south Park exit. Seemed like pretty good-sized water already. Lots of fish if you found the structure (go upstream around the corner and find a small log jam and water fall; the fish are there!) Chernobyl hoppers and buggers seemed to cause strikes.
Went past Flagg Ranch Resort – What is it? Need some G2 on it.
Into Grand Teton NP. Stopped by visitor center and found you needed a Wyoming fishing license for the park. Bearpaw Lake and Leigh Lake were recommended for short hikes to good fishing. Lots of cutts and 3.7 mile hike one way. Filed info away for a future trip. Temp. rising (mid 80‘s) as we came down into Jackson area.
Cruised through GTNP (not too big) and then over roads past National Elk Refuge and the Museum of Western Art into Jackson, Wyoming. Pretty upscale place; even the bums have designer clothing on which identifies them (BUM). More Cannon Beach than Cannon Beach. Cruised through the Jack Dennis fly shop; lots of clothes, art, luggage, and if you went to the back, you could find some fishing gear. Very Madison Avenue (but not Madison River). Comments were made: "This ain’t no West Yellowstone" and "Beautiful People Land". Saw the arches of Elk antlers in the central park. Left Jackson to go over Teton Pass (8429’ and 10% grade). Looked like a great pass for some serious bike training.
After our over the hill and down the hill run, we came into famous Driggs, Idaho. Stopped by flyfishing store in Driggs at the "Outfitters" complex. Stored closed. But….Lady in another shop was there, opened it up for us, told us to browse and let her know if we wanted to buy anything. She would be just down the hall if needed. I bought a book on the Snake River fishing and Andy bought some really ugly flies that were on sale. Lady told us that the folks in Driggs were different and that this was just how they all worked together there. A much more laid back life style.
Stopped by the Yostmark Mountain Equipment store. Retail Mgr. Tori Haderman (www.yostmark.com) [PO Box 514 Driggs, ID 83422 Tel: 208-354-2828 Fax: 208-354-2263]. They had some floating equipment one could rent to float the Teton River in their area. Tori described the float as "mellow" (actually she said this several times); the lifestyles in Driggs of course were laid back. River Otters (single person fishing platforms) were $25 per day and a River Raft was $75/day. Nice place and people. If we’re in Driggs again, I would recommend stopping by and getting the local info.
Checked into a brand new Super 8 motel at the edge of town. Had dinner (a great dinner for me) at Mike’s Diner in downtown Driggs. Place has been written up in several travel mags as a cool place to eat. The roasted eggplant and red pepper sandwich with feta and pesto was great along with the tasteful potato chive soup!
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Thursday
August 19, 1999
Decided
to stay in Idaho and head north rather than head over to the Madison River up
by Ennis. Got up to rain this morning! Kind of cold. This place is about 11
miles from Grand Targhee ski area. Real Estate prices were quite high according
to the local ads; must be due to the ski resort. We think this area may be
heading to being another Sun Valley (or wannabe).
Drove
out of town and found Bitch Creek (from Biche – French for doe – just like
the song made famous by Julie Andrews…."Bitch, a Bitch , a female
dog…"). Access to the stream is through private land with uninviting
signage. We elected not to challenge that problem this rainy morning. Driving
on we found a sign pointing behind a house indicating we had found
"Roger’s Custom Meats" [PO Box 704 3973 Highway #32 Ashton, Idaho
83420-0704 www.srv.net/~rogjerky email: rogjerky@srv.net Tel: 2008-652-7683 Fax:
208-652-7609]. To be fair, on my own, I probably would not have stopped but
we did. Guy made jerky (beef, buffalo, hippo, whatever…). He said he would
mail order stuff. Interesting place, which is located just behind his house.
He has 7 employees and quite a going concern!! What a great cottage industry.
Compadres bought teriyaki and regular jerky (cow and bison; no hippo today).
They said it tasted great.
Headed
on to Ashton and followed directions we got from the guide in West Yellowstone
and headed toward Mesa Falls area. Found it way up high! Quite some falls of
the river – very high. Local custodian showed us how the guides drag their
rafts down a very steep section of cliff to the River ¼ mile below to take
the clients fishing. Two guides were already there so the place appeared
popular. Looks you get a several mile float on the Henry’s Fork without any
roads or bank access by folks. Sounded kind of cool to try although my notes
indicate that some people call it Cardiac Canyon. Having no suitable floating
equipment, we headed back down the road to the Warm River where we flung some
flies. Then moved downstream a mile or so to the junction of the Warm River
with the Henry’s Fork (which came from the Mesa Falls area).
Very pretty and large water although very wadeable along the edges. A fair
number of fishers were in place although it was easy to find your own water.
Nice rainbow in these waters.
Off
we headed northbound, stopping by Mike Lawson’s fly shop (Henry’s Fork
Anglers) in the Harriman Ranch and Railroad Sections of the Snake. JR bought
the last teal flyfishing shirt they had. Apparently it will become a
collector’s item and an item of some dispute for years to come!.
Decided
to head back into Yellowstone Park on way to Gardiner, MT to stay at the
Yellowstone River Motel so we could fish the northern section of the Park
again. On the way north, we saw antelope on the side of the road. Picked up
coffee at Cappy’s on way through West Yellowstone. Noted a lot of RV’s
cruising through the Park with the logo for the Internet address for info at www.cruiseamerica.com. Need to check out
the rates. Lots of elk along the roads on the way to Mammoth including a fair
number of bulls with large racks.
Got
to Mammoth in time to be caught up in a huge hail and lightning squall.
Had
dinner at the restaurant in Mammoth – pretty nice place I thought for the
prices. Waiter told us he did lots of local hiking but no fishing. Staff is
seasonal from different parts of US. Apparently working in the Park for the
concessionaire includes room/board as well as some sort of salary and the
opportunity to play in Yellowstone. Suspect most of the folks are retired (2nd
job) or teachers/students. In the evening after dinner (and after the
hail/lightning show) we headed down to the Gardner River for a post feast fly
fling. Fished by the access road entrance below Mammoth right below a bridge
overpass. Plenty of fish right by the road!! Fished until after dark and the
rangers were closing the parking lot. Off to the Yellowstone River Motel
[Robert & Gayle Phillips Betty DeWeese 14 Park Street Gardiner, MT 59030
Tel: 888-79-RIVER or 406-848-7303 Fax: 406-848-7304]. Pretty nice new
section. For reference, Unit #109 (not the one we had but a room in the older
section) has a pretty cool view of the Yellowstone River.
Went
late night shopping in Gardiner and found some cool T-shirts and a
Yellowstone fleece vest for my wife. Should score good points for those
finds! [Great choice! She said.]
Friday
August 20, 1999
Got
up and headed for breakfast at the Bear Country Café (coffee was usual stuff
in restaurants). Drove back into the Park and dropped off some post cards at
the Yellowstone Post Office. Had to duck around a herd of elk that was
milling by the Post Office. Seems like the Park rangers ought to do something about
those pesky elk – kind of like a persistent vermin! Saw lots of Buffalo
(bison) by the Lamar River Bridge.
Hiked in to see Trout Lake (1/2 mile);
beautiful little lake. Kind of eerie to hike in alone and know you’re not the
top of the food chain. Adds a little
spice to the hike!
 Fished Soda Butte again although there were a lot more people on the creek than earlier in the week when we had been there. Maybe related to the weekend. Stream fished well again to Chernobyl hoppers(or stimulator) with a bead head pheasant tail dropper; also a drake with a black ant dropper; also a royal coachman; also a stimulator with a chironomid dropper (there are few or no chironomid in that kind of water!); also a cinnamon ant; also a bare hook (actually I didn’t try that but would like to with some of the color anodized Gamakatsu hooks). While there was some selectivity from the fish, by and large, when something was in the water they would check it out with their mouths. Cool fishing.
Storm
kept coming our way; we could see and hear it coming over the hills around
us. Lots of thunder. Finally got to us with a real serious deluge of big
hailstones. You know the lightning is close when you see and hear it at the
same time. We did; it was time to stop waving graphite rods in the air as we
stand in the water. Huddled under cover; fishing was done for a while. Those
with appropriate rain gear enjoyed the show; others endured the experience.
These hailstones can sting when they hit you!
Headed
back to Gardiner although the darn pesky buffalo kept blocking the road for a
while. Fortunately none decided to scratch their heads against the minivan!
Stopped
by Parks Fly Shop in Gardiner. They didn’t have the hat Mike Shaunnessy
wanted. Picked up a copy of Park’s book on where to fish in Yellowstone (he
autographed it!); pretty good book. Reading it after we had fished the
various waters, we noted that he seemed to have called the fishing and the
patterns pretty much right on. Headed down the road northward through
Paradise Valley up to I-90 and then headed east and stopped at Deer Lodge.
Got a room at Sharf’s in town. Dinner at the Broken Arrow Casino and
Restaurant. Kind of a wild western weekend party with the county fair and 4H
activities all going on. Noisy bar; didn’t want to stand out from the crowd.
As we walked around town after dinner, all the local bars had live
entertainment and were full of raucous fun loving cowboys and cowgirls. Also
the locals were having their Jr. High and Sr. High dances that night
downtown. Passed on those as well as the bars. Missed Chet and Mike as I am
sure this night would have been more memorable with their presence.
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Got up and had coffee at Sharf’s restaurant (coffee not particularly notable; usual fare for restaurants). Location was by old Montana prison. Undoubtendly we would have had some of our party from the year before committed to there given that there was a high school dance the night before! This trip was pretty tame but we caught a lot more fish!
Took exit 20 off I-90 and found the famous Catch & Release Ponds. These ponds (which are really big!) are part of an EPA Superfund cleanup program to cleanup the toxic heavy metals being leached from the mining tailings from the Anaconda copper mine. So we are now fishing in water in which signs advise you not to swim but you can picnic along the shore and you can fish (and wade) but you can’t eat the fish. Which by the way, can be pretty large as we saw!
Drove by the Little Blackfoot River in Garrison but couldn’t find public access; only access we saw was through a private campground that may have been where the guy in the breakfast place was sending us. Not clear. Kept on heading west and stopped to look at the Clark Fork by Bearmouth where two of us had an interesting night a couple of years ago. Floated a live hopper down the Clark Fork and it went forever it seemed but no one wanted to rise from the depths to eat it. Back on the freeway and headed west.
Cruised by Missoula, then St. Regis, and then stopped for gas in Wallace. It was late in the afternoon and no red lights were seen to be turned on except for traffic lights. Heading down the highway decided to run on in to Seattle. Traded driving shifts as we went and arrived in Seattle late in the evening. Home at last!
Sunday August 22, 1999
JR & AM returned the minivan to the National Car Rental folks. They said fine; the trip was over. Time to plan next year’s trip!!!
Trip Summary Statistics (courtesy JR)
Total Miles Driven 2559
Total Fuel Used 137 gallons
Total Trip Average MPG 18.67883 (approximately)
Highest Price Paid for Fuel $1.469 (West Yellowstone)
Lowest Price Paid for Fuel $1.379 (DeerLodge)
Average Price Per Gallon $1.415
Total Hotel Bills $674.43
Highest Paid Hotel One Horse $101.65/night
Lowest Paid Hotel Scharf’s $43.68/night
Average Price Paid per Night $84.30375
Total Paid into Kitty $960.00 (not including van and first night hotel)
Total per person paid back from Kitty $49.00
Total cost of Kitty per person $271.00
Total cost of van rental $493.74
Total cost of van per person $164.646
Total fuel saved not using Andy’s Truck 118 gallons
Total cost of fuel not used by average price $166.38
Total cost of van by not using Andy’s truck $327.56
Total cost of van per person not using Andy’s Truck $109.1866
Total Amount JR spent on trip $760.00
Total Value of Trip $ Priceless
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