Monthly Archives: January 2010

Yellowstone Visitors Break Attendance Record in 2009

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Looks like Yellowstone was a very busy place last year. I didn’t personally get there, but I did visit Arches, Zion, Bryce, and Grand Teton. I expect the economy played into the increased park attendance with people vacationing closer to home. Plus the Ken Burns documentary might have pushed a few people out the door that might not have otherwise gone. Check out the full details: Yellowstone National Park – Record Numbers Visited Yellowstone In 2009 (U.S. National Park Service)

Fun with wader repairs

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My most recent fishing trip confirmed a suspicion I have had from my prior trips; my waders have a leak. And not just one leak, both legs have leaks in the knees, right on the edge of a taped seem.  I have some Orvis breathable waders with reinforced knees, but these leaks are from wearing on the inseam on each knee, I guess from rubbing while walking.  Basically about 2 inches of weakened fabric.  I filled them up in the shower to find the exact spot.  Thankfully the waders have a repair kit so I applied some heat tape on the inside of the weak area.  Hopefully that will do the trick.  Guess I’ll find out soon enough :) .  Thankfully, these were pretty small repairs.

Eureka, Colorado – the early years

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Eureka, Colorado - the early years

Eureka, Colorado - the early years

The historical photo blog Shorpy has a great photo today of the Colorado mining town, Eureka which can be seen here in high resolution Eureka: 1900.  The photo is just really striking.  It is amazing to me to see how people scratched out a life in the rugged west, particularly so high up in the Colorado mountains.  There are some really cool details in the photo, I like the kid in the background wearing the 10 gallon hat.  The four miners in the foreground look like they are in the opening scene of a movie.  I spent some time in Southwestern Colorado last summer and was astounded by the beauty.  I got to Silverton which is near Eureka.  The character of those small mining towns remains.  I thought it was really cool to see how they have preserved their main streets; something we have sadly lost in many of the towns around Utah.

The photo is by renowned photographer William Henry Jackson who was among the first to photo document some of the West’s greatest treasures, especially the greater Yellowstone region including early life in Jackson Hole.

Great photo.

Tying Tips: (not so much) The leaden mayfly

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I became fascinated with fly fishing and fly tying in 1984 at the age of 13.  I have been fishing all my life, but by chance, got to try out a fly rod for a brief second and the action of the rod had me hooked for some reason.  It was a magical, if only fleeting moment, that has influenced the rest of my life.  I ordered a Dan Bailey mail order catalog and loved going over and over the photos of gear, but most especially the flies.  I had their names memorized and dreamt of learning to tie them.  I got a fly tying kit for Christmas that year and proceeded to teach  myself how to tie flies.  The first ones were really bad and I still have most of them.  I didn’t get the notion of starting at the tail and working forward in reverse.  As you can see in the image below, they are pretty sad specimens.

I started tying before I understood really what was going on with fly fishing.  One classic pattern that I tied for a contest in Fly Fishing magazine was a mayfly.  I wanted to make it look realistic so I fashioned an extended body and even was able to get 6 legs and cut wings.  The only problem from a design standpoint was that I used lead wire for the body and legs.  It was about the size of a hex mayfly. I think I tied it on a size 6 hook, with a cream woolen yarn body and brown hackles which I had cut for wings.  I can only imagine the reaction that got when the person at Fly Fishing magazine offices opened that one up.  Hopefully someone set it aside and stuck it in a cork board or something.  I’m sure it got plenty of laughs.  The leaden mayfly is indeed a classic and would also make a fantastic name for an English pub.

UPDATE: I have drawn, to my best recollection my leaden mayfly as part of the drawing flies weekly challenge in which I am participating.  You can see that image here.

Music review: Into the Wild (Soundtrack)

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The book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer investigates the last few years of the life of Chris McCandless who left his comfortable life in an affluent family in Atlanta for a life of wandering the States to find himself in wild places. Ultimately McCandless winds up illprepared to face the Alaskan outback where he dreamed to live free of contact from the world. The book is rather captivating and those who read it tend to fall into two camps of opinion on McCandless: those who feel sympathy for his struggle to be free and those who think he is a total bonehead. Regardless of your views of McCandless, I think most of us who love the outdoors have some shred of desire to dropout and spend our lives outdoors, living more simply, in the setting we love.

It is that spirit that is captured in the soundtrack for the film. Eddie Vedder pens and performs a set of of songs that both inspire and evoke feelings of wanderlust.  I found that the lyrics struck a chord in me and while I may not entirely identify with the “dropout” mentality, it certainly has crossed my mind a few times since adolesence.  The best track on the record is “Hard Sun” which I find really inspiring from both the lyrics and the driven, yet jubilant tune and the harmonies are great on the chorus.  The song “Society” is the dropout anthem with some really moving lyrics that call into question the mode of excess of our current society.  I find most of the songs pretty haunting, but for some reason I really enjoy that in music.  Anyway, I recommend checking out the soundtrack and taking it on your next outing. Also check out the book and movie, they are both excellent.  Enjoy!