After finally being able to go off-grid and dry camp in the national forest we found such a sweet spot right by the river. It had willows growing along the bank creating a fun canopy for the girls to play. Within an hour they had already dragged in rocks and sticks and created a treehouse. The walkway was elegantly decorated by tiny pine cones lined along the rocks.
The next day we head out shortly after breakfast, bringing with us enough food for a few hours and our Grayl, water filtration system. We walk down to the turn that we intend on starting our day at. Some of the girls were being sassy with each other and veered off into some pines to go pout for a few minutes.
Tyler starts fishing as I go to set the backpack down and lookup. There stands a huge bull moose across the river eating grass, making his way down to drink some water. Just staring in astonishment at how massive this animal was but yet it looked so goofy and friendly. When the girls first laid eyes on him they could not believe it. Rae was almost in tears,simply pure bliss.
He sat and drank for a few minutes, Tyler kept fishing. We continued to keep an eye on him as we moved upriver. Soon everyone saw him and started chasing him around for pictures. Two tourists walked up behind him and pushed the moose across the river, he was heading right towards us. We all stayed calm and respected him. We felt a mutual agreement like he knew that we were keeping our proper distance and he trusted that we wouldn't interfere with his breakfast. We felt confident that if we simply left him alone he would do the same for us.
We had a really good day fishing that portion of the river, later our goofy friend joined back with us on the other side and continued to graze as we fished. Following along quietly, probably enjoying the front row seat to our mini circus. I wonder what he was thinking as he watched us. Having our kids in the wilderness, by fast water while trying to land our personal best trout looks a lot like herding chickens I'm sure.
This trip was filled with nice trout day in and day out never disappointing us. If the girls didn't feel like spending all day on the river we would go fish by our campsite. Then hydrate, snack and be back at it again an hour later. We are so fortunate for these experiences. We do have a hard time idling, but when in trout country its all you can think about. Like the saying goes "I am haunted by waters." So much water to fish so little time.
