Day 7

Licensed Fly Fishermen

Pete and Brendan are now licensed fly fishermen in the great state of Idaho. More on that later.

Jackson Hole is God's country. Everywhere you turn is a ridiculous view of the mountains and valleys and every building is made of Lincoln Logs. We got up early this morning (10:30) NOT HUNGOVER, and took a drive up to see the Grand Tetons. Pete and B have now figured out the picture situation (see side of blog: 5/19... hopefully) so you can share in the view of this beautiful mountain range. Another cool part of the area we drove through was the National Elk Refuge. Thousands of elk, moose, mountain lions, trouser snakes, unicorns, etc. all migrate to this range during the winter. Since it is almost June we didn't see a single moving object but the view was amazing.

After the romantic drive, we met up with Pete's brother Ed. It should be noted that Ed is some kind of financial analyst, but came out of his office (also a building made of Lincoln Logs) in flip flops, cargo shorts, and a tee. It wasn't casual Friday, just Jackson Hole, WY. We packed up Ed's Jeep with the fly fishing gear and headed for the South Forth of the Snake River in Idaho, of course stopping off to get Pete and Brendan licensed to fish these great waters. However, we were only licensed until midnight so we had to make it count.

To get to the South Fork, you have to go through "The Pass" through the Grand Tetons (8,800 ft. high). It is a long winding road with severe drop offs along which they only build a guardrail a year ago. The South Fork is about an hour drive from Jackson Hole. The boat went in the water at the Palasades Dam (Big dam, very big). The picture at this point is Pete and I whipping fly fishing rods back and forth to "warm up" while Ed is working is ass off the get everything rigged and into the water. Ed is a master fly fishing guide, especially given the two chowda heads he was guiding on this excursion. The sea was angry my friends, or the river, and within 10 minutes the wind picked up and the look on Ed's face screamed this boat is gonna flip and Brendan is going over the bow. It eventually slowed and Pete and Brendan worked on some solid casts. Then it came, the big one, Pete landed a fish. (This was after about 25 Pete false alarms "Ahhh I just got a nible, couldn't land em though"). It was a nice whitefish, we took some pictures before throwing it back. Pete is now at this point an All-World Fly Fisherman. Brendan was not so lucky, catching mostly plants and trees before giving up to fish for some beers. Great fishing trip and Ed was a great guide/host who worked very hard to avoid floating trees and rocks in some tough waters while Pete and I experienced the outdoors.

Back through "The Pass" was a great ride. We stopped off to take some more pictures ad play in the snow in shorts and tee shirts on the side of the road.

Jackson Hole is just an unbelievable place. Brendan is contemplating coming back to open up his own log cabin law firm (there are so already here, very funny) We are heading out now to downtown Jackson Hole to mix it up alittle with the locals. Tommorow will bring some whitewater rafting and hiking, maybe some more fishing.

Quote of the Day: Pete from across the boat, "Hey B, no crossing swords" (swords were crossed)
Song of the Day: some Pantera song blaring as we made our way through "The Pass"
Moment of the Day: Ed ordering Pete out of the boat to find the fly he lodged in some bushes on the side of the river, 1 of 6 fly's Pete lost during the float.

Sweet Wyoming.

Pete and B