Leaving Stones Unturned

Unzip the nymphal shuck of your sleeping bag and rise from your tent with the lightness of a morning trico hatch. Revel in the stillness of the crisp mountain air.

Break camp slowly but efficiently. Fold your gear neatly, your future self will thank you.

Forego the instant oatmeal and coffee grounds that you packed. Hit up the kickass bakery nearby instead. Order a raspberry scone and some fresh brewed drip coffee.

Head to the trailhead as you finish that coffee and scone. Step out of the car and inhale the pungent cedar that fills the cool but warming air.

Fish that section of water right next to the trailhead parking lot that is definitely overfished but looks too damn good to pass up. You’ll probably get skunked there, but it’s worth it.

Talk with the curious hiker and his wife. Listen to the story about their son who caught a “small” fourteen inch rainbow trout nearby on a dry fly last week. Note the name of the stream.

Continue hiking down the trail and stop at each pool that piques your intrigue. Cast a royal PMX dry fly, no dropper, right alongside that slow moving seam behind the large boulder.

Watch a cobalt hued submarine separate from the bottom of the pool and swipe at your bushy dry fly, missing it. Hope that it never felt the hook.

Rest the pool for a minute and cast again, they should be willing to strike twice. When they do, play them gingerly with your three weight glass rod so as to not snap the light tippet.

Slide the net under the trout as you ease it into the shallow water. Submerge them completely underwater as you slip the hook out.

Study its colors, patterns, and features. See that it has both a faint orange slash underneath its jaw and a pink stripe following its lateral line.

Remember that this stream is home to native rainbows, westslope cutthroat, southern dolly varden, and bull trout. Deduce that this is likely none of these, but a cutbow; a hybrid between a rainbow and a westslope cutthroat trout.

Lift the cutbow for a quick photo before letting it glide back to its home pool.

Sit on a log and jot down some observations in your journal. Chew on the dried mango and beef stick that you packed.

Hike the trail back to your car and start the drive home. Queue up enough nostalgic CDs to last you for the duration of the drive. Stop at the park’s visitor center and stamp your journal for posterity.

Leave a couple of stones unturned, streams unfished, and river bends unexplored. Keep them in your back pocket for the future.

Give your mind some places to yearn about returning for.