Winter Epic: Fishing on the Big Horn River, Yellowstone

Tuesday morning I woke up from the noise of other people putting river boats in the water. It was freezing cold and very windy. Every few casts I would have to break ice off the eye loops on my fishing rod. The wind was even making it difficult to cast. After an hour or so with no luck I decided to try another other spot. This looked more active, there were several people already fishing. I walked around casting, trying to learn from looking at other people. I still didn’t really know anything about trout fishing and the other people were all using fly rods. I sort of got the hang of where to aim and caught one. I was shocked by that alone, I really had no expectation of catching anything. It was a beautiful rainbow trout about 20 inches long. I decided I was going to keep the fish I caught so I chopped the head and cleaned the guts. I continued fishing in different areas along the river and I found a spot I thought would have fish. Sure enough I got another one. This one wasn’t as big as the first but still good enough for me. the wind on this part of the river wasn’t nearly as bad but I still had to take a few breaks back at the car to warm up. I saw 2 guys in one spot of the river just slamming fish. So I headed over and gave it a try. Turns out they were catching brown trout, the guy from Cabelas asked me not to keep browns. Its there breeding season so I respected that. I caught one but just took some pictures and let it go. I kept fishing in other areas but didn’t have any luck, and I was really starting to get cold. I started heading back towards town but decided to try the first spot one last time. It was close to dark and I wanted to get the most out of the day. I ended up catching one more which I was pretty happy about. The fish will freeze up quick and I plan on cooking them in Seattle with my friend Brian at his place. Once it was dark I hit the road and drove west to Livingston, MT. In winter the only way to get into Yellowstone is from the north and you have to go through this city. I looked up a few things but I was pretty tired so went to bed.

I didn’t sleep to well so and was up really early. The whole area is surrounded by mountains, so it was nice to see the sun start to illuminate everything. The drive to Yellowstone was beautiful. You’re down in a valley with mountains on both sides. The north entrance to Yellowstone has a huge stone archway you drive through. From there you follow along a snaking river to Mammoth Spring. This used to be Fort Yellowstone, and as your driving through it really feels like a military establishment. I made it to the visitor center as soon as it opened at 9am. From there I checked out liberty cap, which is this strange 30 foot rock structure. There was also a hot spring that flowed down a hill and with it being 1 degree outside, there was steam everywhere. The water coming out is boiling hot and leaves streaks of all different colors. Next I went on a 1.25 mile snowshoe trail. This takes you around most of the major springs in the area. The nice thing about winter hiking is you can pretty much just go anywhere. I would see some steam off the trail a ways and just hike over. I could only imagine what the first people to see this place were thinking. Everything is just strange. The ground actually bubbles up over time and looks like it’s about to split open. There is boiling hot pools of water all over the place. After that I drove through the rest of the park. There is only one main road open in winter, it goes to Cody city. I stopped at several places to see the animals. But you just don’t get to see many geological features in winter. All the roads to the interior are closed off, and there’s where all the action is. You can take a guided snowmobile tour through the park, but I think I would rather just see it all in summer. It is a beautiful drive through the area with tons of animals everywhere. I saw buffalo, elk, deer, coyotes, and 2 black wolves. There were tons of people at one stop and they all had telescopes out. I couldn’t see anything but someone let me look through there’s. Sure enough there were 2 black wolves and one grey. I couldn’t take a picture, they were too far away. On the way back from Cody city my body made it clear it was nap time. So I pulled over for an hour or so and took a snooze. There was one more thing I had to check out before leaving. There is a hot spring that flows into a cold river, so people are able to actually swim in it. Its 1/3 mile from the parking lot but there were plenty of people making the hike. The river its self is freezing cold and the hot water flowing off the rocks was just under boiling. It made for a very strange mixture. Your body is getting hit with so many different temps. The hot water would stay towards the surface so the top was hot and bottom cold. Depending on the current of the river, and where people were sitting you would get blasted with freezing water or really hot water. It takes awhile to find a really good spot. Getting out is the hard part, because you know once you’re out you have a 1/3 mile hike back to the car. After that I drove up the Livingston and over to Bozeman, which is about 25 minutes west. The next stop is Jackson but I don’t want to make that drive at night so I stayed there.

This morning I made the drive to Jackson, WY. Again a very scenic drive through snow covered mountains. I went to the visitor center and got all the info I need for a few days here. I am most excited about the snowmobile tour. If you remember I did it 2 years ago and had a great time. The only problem is that the tour guide I used last time, Carter is fully booked with no room for anyone. I still signed up for Saturday I just hope this guide will be as cool. So my plan here is to snowboard at Snow King tomorrow, it’s my first time out this year and wanted warm up run before Jackson Hole. Then snowmobile Saturday, snow shoe in the Tetons Sunday, and finish it up with boarding at Jackson Hole Monday.