August 2015

Today Jeff and I fished on the Clark’s Fork, a tributary of the Yellowstone River, and a river Ernest Hemingway fished when he stayed at the L Bar T ranch near Cooke City, Montana in the early 1930’s. Like many of the rivers in this area, the “Clark” in the name is for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Hemingway wrote to a friend about the area:

“Hunting in the mts. is more damned fun than anything you can imagine. I saw 12 mt. sheep a week ago. I can guaranty you shots at elk, deer, bear, and Big horn sheep — wonderful rainbow trout fishing — I caught 28 yest aft … all on fly. … I wish the hell you’d come. This is the most beautiful country you ever saw.”

Our guide, Guy, had this river on his list of places for us to fish last year, but a heavy thunderstorm blew out the river and we had to defer.  That was a good thing for us, because the hike into the canyon is not for the faint of heart or the ‘out of shape’, both of which described us then.

This year, in anticipation of the big hike, we went on what Jeff called the “1-month Cody diet”.  We made a concerted effort to drop a few pounds with healthier eating and to boost our aerobic health with regular biking.  This time we came to Cody with more confidence and less poundage, hoping to hike into and, more importantly, out of the Clark’s Fork canyon?

There are two trails leading down into the canyon, Dead Man and Cardiac.   Neither name really boosts your confidence level.  The trailheads are at the top of the canyon wall and you hike down into the river at the canyon floor.  We were planning to hike in on the ‘easier’ Dead Man trail, but had to change plans when another fisherman was already parked at that trailhead.  Lucky for us, the Cardiac Trailhead was empty when we arrived.  As the name suggests, this is a steep drop into the canyon and the climb out is a heart pounding, stairmaster workout at about 6000 feet of elevation.

We laced up our hiking boots, packed our fishing gear and headed 800 feet down a trail that looks like it is straight down, but is actually a continual series of tiny switch backs.  The downhill trek is a knee burning hike where your energy is spent trying to apply the brakes on the steep trail.  We’re grateful to arrive at the bottom of the canyon without injury, ready to fish.

Based on the tracks we saw, the canyon floor and river is a wildlife super highway.  We saw tracks or scat from bears, wolves, deer, elk and moose, plus all kinds of bird tracks.  Guy spotted a mountain goat high up on the canyon wall.  How do they get there and how do they hang on?

The Clark’s Fork has Yellowstone Cuts, Rainbows and Brookies and we caught them all.  The ‘fish of the day’ was a Yellowstone Cut that Guy spotted from the top of big rock.  We could watch the fish feed from above and I took a pic with my iPhone.  Then, the stars aligned and I not only got the fish to eat the fly, but actually landed it for a picture.

After a great day of fishing, we took a little break and got back into our hiking boots for our end of day stairmaster climb.  Yikes.  It really is an amazingly steep trail.  Jeff counted steps (50 between each rest break) and I huffed and puffed along with my heart pounding.  The trail is on the north facing side of the canyon and it really is beautiful – a rain forest-like micro climate with lots of emerald green moss.  I know this because the trail is so steep you are at eye level with the vegetation.  Fifty minutes later and we were back at the top, “thank you” 1-month Cody diet.

After fishing all day, we were pretty subdued on the way back to Cody and looking forward to a burger from the ProudCut Saloon.  We passed a truck parked by the side of the road and could see that the occupants were looking at something with binoculars.  Guy said it was probably elk and we didn’t think much of it.  Then a few seconds later Guy decided we better turn around and take a look.  As he noted, this isn’t the Park and locals don’t pull over for just anything.  Well, about a hundred yards from the road was a sow Grizzly with three cubs!

What a treat, we are so grateful we got to see them.  A perfect end to a great day.