Green River, Bridger Wilderness Wyoming - August 2019

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Part Three of our Big Summer Adventure

Evening Light

Our drive through Idaho was eventful with hard hitting thunderstorms, a scared moose crossing the Lemhi River, and rush hour traffic in Idaho Falls. It was a Thursday and we wanted to position ourselves for an early arrival at our destination in Wyoming as early Friday as we could as we realized it was the start of a weekend. All we needed was an overnight spot inside Wyoming along either the Snake River or Hoback River.

We pulled into the USFS Wolf Creek Campground. It looked quiet with open campsites available. A large woman camp host stopped us as we entered her campground.

"Do you have a spot for us?" the Lady asked.

"Lots of sites," the host answered and then continued, "The nicest spots are up on the hill but there's a group up there saving sites for friends that might show up. But they haven't paid for them. Campsites are not saved until they're paid for. If you want one of those sites just take it. I'll back you up on it!"

We decided not to mention we were there for a good night's sleep and not to take part in campground wars. We quietly grabbed a non contested site away from others.

Highway 89 is a major route into the Jackson, Teton, and Yellowstone areas. The campground is above the highway. There was traffic noise that we hoped would abate as night came - it did. I noticed brake lights and stopped vehicles through the trees on our evening walk after the thundershower. The reason - a large moose - continued to climb and walked through camp, making this a two moose day.

The Snake River canyon was shrouded in fog the next morning. The sun when to work on burning through.

Green River Lakes on the northern end of the Wind River Range is 50 miles from Daniel Junction where I picked up my nonresident Wyoming fishing license. The last half of the road is wide dirt with spectacular washboard. This morning it also sported long sections of mud - slime - due to the soaking overnight thunderstorm. We arrived late morning and were happily surprised to find the campground mostly empty. We secured our favorite site.

A band of coyotes erupted in song just outside our campsite and made us feel welcome. The campground is close to the trailheads and allowed us to leave camp set up for the duration of our stay.

We were excited to be back into the Winds and anxious to reacquaint ourselves with this outstanding area. We did a lazy circle around Lower Green River Lake of about 7 miles.

A well worn bridge spans the Green River where it flows out of the lake and we entered Bridger Wilderness.

Although motors are allowed on the lake, most boating is non motorized. I expect the miles of washboard is somewhat responsible for the lack of trailers.

Squaretop Mountain to the south was covered by rain squalls as we hiked.

After passing the lake, the trail crosses Clear Creek with a simple bridge.

The trail continues almost to Upper Green River Lake and then crosses the Green River with another bridge.

There is a vast meadow between the lakes and we watched for moose and grizzly.

We were back to camp mid afternoon and relaxed and took in the world class views.

Squaretop Mountain and the view across Lower Green River Lake is often photographed. Each evening we enjoyed the different light and moods each evening brought. This evening we felt the after sunset light was the most magical.

I did fly fish the Green River this evening. On a previous visit I had witnessed an incredible hatch of caddis flies. I was ready. I wished for a repeat of that hatch but there was no caddis hatch this evening and my patterns were ignored. There was a sporadic hatch of tiny midges and most rises were taking these. I had midge patterns, but unfortunately with my recovering eyesight there was no way I could tie on a size 20 fly - or see it on the water - especially in dim light. It was best to give up and enjoy the visuals.

I should note - my vision is much better and I am so thankful, but problem areas still abound. Prior to leaving on the trip the Lady practiced tying an improved cinch knot on 6x tippet to a size 16 fly so she could help. We also bought me a pair of 2.5 flip up magnifiers for my hat brim. "See Betters" the Lady named them. They worked well at Steens although it would take me around 6 to 10 tries to get the tippet through the hook eye to start the knot tying.

Saturday was a nice long hike. We hiked up - south - on the Highline Trail along the Green River. We'd enjoy the day and terrain and see how far we'd make it before our turnaround time.

The Green is so glorious as it flows out of Lower Green River Lake.

Although the majority of the Wind River Range is spectacular granite, there are chunks of older uplifted and tilted sedimentary rock in the northern end along Green River Lakes, such as Big Sheep Mountain.

The weather was typical Wind River Range weather. We knew storms would be on us as the day progressed although there were only high clouds to the north down the Green River.

Clouds were building to the south as we approached Upper Green River Lake.

The Green River and Upper Green River Lake are colored with glacial flour due to the glacial birth of this iconic American river.

The meadows above Upper Green River Lake are incredibly beautiful. We enjoyed a long break before continuing on.

The meadows narrowed with the canyon. This is where we found two large bull moose. Another two moose day.

The storm - right on cue - began as we neared Squaretop.

And rain was on us as we reached the base of Squaretop. Our hoped for views were gone.

With rain gear on, we continued to a point around 8.5 miles from our start. Although it would make a 17 mile day, there was not much elevation gain and loss.

The storm was clearing as we returned to Lower Green River Lake. It had been a great day, but there was more to enjoy.

We returned to the lake shore for the evening light.

 

We  returned to camp well after dark and turned in.


Where the Kakuna Lives

Sunday was a day for fly fishing.  It also was a day that started with rain. It drove us back into the truck from our morning walk. It sure is nice to have the warm and dry refuge of the camper. The rain stopped and the sun came out and we started on our way.

I was most curious to see the Green River where it enters Lower Green River Lake. It was broad and deep.

I saw no trout and I did not catch any either. We continued up to the bridge across the Green below Upper Green River Lake.

This was such an incredible place to be in the water and fly fish. Again, unfortunately, I saw no trout and I did not catch any either. We hiked across the broad meadows and worked our way to the beach area on the south shore of Lower Green River Lake. We were hiking in our wading sandals which made dealing with the marshy areas and multiple water crossings easier.

We were most interested in the Clear Creek drainage as it can be used as a rugged off trail route up to the Continental  Divide and numerous above tree line lakes. We wish to explore up here on another trip.

The movement of clouds added to the drama of the day.

We worked our way along the rugged west side of the lake, searching the deeper water for cruising and feeding trout.

We never saw a trout or a rise. I fished nymphs and terrestrial patterns. I thought I was doing a great job. The trout did not.

We met a young studious looking pair as we walked the Lakeside Trail. They carried nets and explained they were cataloging and studying native bees.

"This place is so wild. There are no honey bees here, only native bees. It makes an excellent natural laboratory," the young man noted.

"Our honey bees are invasive?" the Lady asked.

"Yes, they are. They're from Europe and their hives and behavior is very different than our native bees," the young woman added. She wore a University of Colorado t shirt.

We talked about the tremendous value Wilderness has to science as an untouched - as close as possible - natural lab. Our conversation was fun and informative.

Our evening lake shore views were dominated by thicker storm clouds.

It was almost dark as we walked through the campground back to our camper.

"Are you the camp hosts?" a woman stopped us.

"No," I answered and added where the host's camp was. "Do you need help with something?" I asked.

She introduced herself and explained she works for the National Park Service as a scientist monitoring high elevation forests, especially whitebark pines. In the Bridger Wilderness they do a transect through a whitebark plot every four years.

"As a courtesy, since we work for the government, I always try to get a free campsite."

She introduced us to her two young women summer interns, both delighted to be learning and doing science in the great outdoors. And, on top of that, in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. I mentioned I had recently watched a video on high elevation white pine monitoring in the Sierra Nevada.

We mentioned the two young bee scientists we had met earlier in the day.

"This must be science day in the Winds!" I added.

Another informative and delightful conversation rambled on.

The Lady got back to paying for the campsite. "Do you have money?" she asked.

"Oh, I have five dollars and Elizabeth has a few singles," the woman answered.

"We can help and pay for your campsite," the Lady offered. "We have extra money we won playing bingo!"

"You two play bingo?" The look on the woman's face was priceless. "You two are so nice to offer but, no. It's kind of a challenge I enjoy. I'll see what I can do with the host."

We wished them a good night.

The next morning was unbelievable. There was not a cloud in the sky. It was 31° our coldest night by a few degrees. This turned out to be an exceptional day. We got to hike hard for six hours and fish hard for three hours. A perfect day. We were going high and exploring a new alpine lake basin for us.

The Lady kept us found.

We passed Twin Lakes...............

..................... and continued up to Shirley Lake.

We climbed over to a talus slope where the lake was deeper. Also it was where insects would be collecting with the wind direction. We watched until we starting seeing trout. This was looking good. I tied on a foam beetle and cast out where the Lady, from her higher perch keeping track of a cruising fish, directed. The response was instantaneous. The cutthroat trout rocketed out of the depths, took the beetle on its launch two feet out of the water. I hesitated lifting my rod until the trout returned head first to the lake. The fight was on. The talus blocks were huge. I stood atop one about the size of our truck and camper. I'd have to climb down to a precarious stance to bring the healthy 14 inch trout in and release it.

My next cast had the same result, except the trout was larger. It rocketed from the depths and smacked the fly so hard the trout, the beetle, and my tippet all went different directions in the heavens above Shirley Lake. It knocked the fly right off the line.

My beetle was gone but it dropped back to the water's surface far from shore. I tied on a foam black ant. The trout had no interest at all. What a surprise. I had another beetle but the Lady noticed the wind was moving the errant fly on the surface toward us.

"We can get it!" she exclaimed with a familiar tone that told me she would not be deterred.

She lay on the rock I stood on. Her outstretched arm just reached the water. "I need some kind of container to catch it in,"

"You have a baseball cap," I pointed out.

I held onto her belt to keep her from going in as she reached out with her hat. She was patient, waiting, watching the little size 16 foam beetle get closer and closer finally coming within reach. She had it!

She was as happy as I would be with an eighteen inch fat cutthroat.

And that's what we saw next. The trout took an insect from the surface with a loud gulp. We watched it lazily return to the depths. It was around 18 inches in length but its girth was huge. It was the kakuna! A fish you dream about.

Our turnaround time was one pm. With the excitement of fishing, we fudged and pushed it back to three. Shirley Lake was 7.5 miles from camp and considerably higher. We could easily make it back before dark. We made a vow to return and backpack into this basin to spend some quality time with the fly rod and ghost net and the kakuna.

The day remained cloudless. We enjoyed all the nuances of our hike back down.

It was our last night at Lower Green River Lake. The near full moon rose before sunset. The skies were clear. There was an entirely different mood to the evening light.

We left early the next morning while the day was still quiet. A juvenile male moose walked out onto the washboard ahead of us. He just wanted to eat aspen.

We drove into Pinedale looking for a place to stop for breakfast. A large bull moose crossed Main Street in front of us and walked down a side street past the Napa Auto Parts Store. "I bet he's going to the park!" the Lady observed. "Let's follow him. We need to stop there anyway." The Lady headed to the restroom as I looked for the big moose.  I found him along Pine Creek. He just wanted to eat willows.

It was a two moose day.

The parking lot at the Wrangler Cafe was full. A good sign? We found a place for the truck and entered the busy cafe with three dining areas. We ordered breakfast and waited. And waited and figured this was the reason the place was full - everyone still waiting for their breakfast.

Two bikers in leathers took the table behind the Lady. As soon as they were settled, the Lady turned to them and asked, "You two been to Sturgis?

"Yes Ma'am," the fellow across the table answered with the best slow Oklahoma drawl you'll ever hear.

"Did you see our friend Marty? It was his first time to Sturgis!" the Lady quickly asked.

"Marty?" the fellow closest puzzled but his partner across the table took over.

"Marty? Your friend Marty? You bet we saw him. Guaranteed we saw Marty." A broad grin grew across his face.

"How do you know our new friend Marty?" the man then asked.

"He built our camper!" the Lady answered.

The bikers were happy to have the Lady to talk with. Everything, everything about Sturgis was covered in happy and animated conversation. Breakfast took that long to arrive.

Breakfast was very good though, just like an honest to goodness slow Oklahoma drawl.

We bid farewell to our new biker friends. They were riding to Yellowstone. We were heading to Colorado.

Our adventure continues in the next chapter -

Colorado - August 2019