I'll miss you Ponytail. You have been my friend for a long, long time.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Shortest it Has Ever Been...
I'll miss you Ponytail. You have been my friend for a long, long time.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Get Excited!
I will admit it, and I am not ashamed. I am a huge Twilight fan. Notice that I used the word "huge" and not "obsessed." Because I am not obsessed. At least I don't think so. The books are great, but I wasn't a huge fan of the first movie, but movies based on books I love rarely live up to my expectations (example: Harry Potter). But this next movie looks awesome! Watch the newest trailer for "New Moon" posted below and you will be excited too.
Awesome right?! I have always been die hard Team Edward, but I don't know...with this next movie I may be switching over to Team Jacob. I'm not a big fan of Rob Pattinson as Edward, and Taylor Lautner seems like the perfect Jacob, and it helps that he is a hottie (don't worry Brandt, you're still my Number 1). So...November 20, 2009...mark it on the calendar...and Get Excited!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Island Park: In Search of The Big One
For Labor Day weekend we had the pleasure of attending a Hines family reunion. It was a lot of fun. Dani has asked that I author this post as it has been a while for me and as it is my family. I would also like to take this opportunity to let you all know that I most likely will not be writing the post about my trip to New York and my cursed travels across the country. It seems the moment is gone and not fresh enough in my mind. Thus, try as I may to put humor into the tale, I find it lacking and my desire to write it dwindled. Therefore, you will have to make due with this one.
My parents rented a very nice cabin up in Island Park for the weekend and Dani and I had the opportunity to go up a day early. We left Thursday morning and headed up to get in contact with nature and the natural man. The first day was fun. After unloading the car and taking a little break Dani and I headed off to fish the famed glory of blue ribbon trout fishing that is the Henry's Fork. My emotions were high and blood pressure higher as we got into the car and headed for said river. My plan was to try a spot I hadn't been to before. Thus, Dani had to trust me as we headed off some dirt road away from the main path. We saw a sign for a campground and Dani said something about "Shouldn't we be turning here?" (I don't really know what it was I had visions of trout dancing in my head much like sugar plums) "No." was my reply. "We are taking a different path look here at the map." I said, pointing to the map I printed courtesy of Google. "We want to skip the turn and keep going straight until the road ends." "That is where we are going to find our trophy fish." "OK" she replied. So, we continued down the dirt road and soon it came to an end. But, not the kind of end I had expected. Instead there was a stop sign and a paved road crossing our path. "Well this is unexpected" I thought to myself. But, acting as if I knew what we were doing I continued on and took a left. (If unsure always take a left. Trust me.) Soon we passed a sign that looked quite familiar advertising some real estate company. "Didn't we pass that sign earlier?" My wife asked. "No." I said confidently." "It must surely be another advertisement."
We quickly discovered that it was not a different one but the same; and that I should have taken the first turn as the dear wife suggested. What I had managed to do was send us in a big circle and back very close to where our cabin was when we had first left to go trout hunting. But, don't feel bad for us. Oh no! On the contrary this was quite a useful shortcut in the future. (just not so much the first time around) Anyway we finally made it to where we, or I, wanted to go and this is what we saw...
Oh yes! Our tyrant of trout, our ruler of the rainbows, the king of cutthroats, the baron of browns, the sultan of salmonidae would definitely be found in these waters. I was sure of it. All we had to do was hike down the canyon and it was ours for the taking. The climb was steep and treacherous but we made it and soon I was waist deep in cool clear water and on the trail of "The Big One."
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my dear wife for her unending support of my sometimes obsessive hobby. She makes a great companion. While I wade in the water she sets up the camping chair, holds the camera at the ready, and reads her books. It works out quite well for both of us. She is the perfect river and stream-side cheerleader that every angler needs. But back to the story...
So, I try my luck and have a few attempts. The fish are definitely there but I have yet to hook one of them. After quite some time (and more bites and chances than the normal fisherman should be allowed without actually catching a fish) I had decided to move up river a little and try my luck there. Dani was following and as we went along the trail I was struck frozen. There before us in the shallows of the river was the one we were searching for "The Big One" if you will. Shhhh! I said to the wife and pointed to "The Big One" in the water. Hands shaking I readied the fly rod and and stripped off some clothes. (Just kidding. I couldn't resist. Just making sure you're paying attention) I readied the fly rod and stripped off some line. Then very sneakily I crawled up on a large boulder behind "The Big One" and attempted to cast the fly to it. He went for it twice but my over excitement caused me to not be able to catch him and "The Big One" swam out a little further but didn't quite swim away. "Ahh, a game of cat and mouse." I said in a sly tone. "I accept the challenge." At this point Dani was laughing at me and probably frustrated that I had two opportunities and didn't catch "The Big One." So I climbed off the rock and got ready for a new attempt. At this point the wife asks "Can I try?" "Ha!" I think to myself while handing her the rod. "Why not let her try, what harm could be done?" "No way she can out-fish the great angler."
She did.
After a few casts "The Big One" went for it and Bam! he was on. It was exciting Dani exclaimed "What do I do?!" What do I do?!" "You don't lose the sucker!" I thought to myself. "That's what you do." Instead, I wisely suggested she reel it in. But, in the excitement, she wasn't sure which way to reel it in. Thus, it ended with me reeling in her fish but let the record show "The Big One" was caught by her....
My parents rented a very nice cabin up in Island Park for the weekend and Dani and I had the opportunity to go up a day early. We left Thursday morning and headed up to get in contact with nature and the natural man. The first day was fun. After unloading the car and taking a little break Dani and I headed off to fish the famed glory of blue ribbon trout fishing that is the Henry's Fork. My emotions were high and blood pressure higher as we got into the car and headed for said river. My plan was to try a spot I hadn't been to before. Thus, Dani had to trust me as we headed off some dirt road away from the main path. We saw a sign for a campground and Dani said something about "Shouldn't we be turning here?" (I don't really know what it was I had visions of trout dancing in my head much like sugar plums) "No." was my reply. "We are taking a different path look here at the map." I said, pointing to the map I printed courtesy of Google. "We want to skip the turn and keep going straight until the road ends." "That is where we are going to find our trophy fish." "OK" she replied. So, we continued down the dirt road and soon it came to an end. But, not the kind of end I had expected. Instead there was a stop sign and a paved road crossing our path. "Well this is unexpected" I thought to myself. But, acting as if I knew what we were doing I continued on and took a left. (If unsure always take a left. Trust me.) Soon we passed a sign that looked quite familiar advertising some real estate company. "Didn't we pass that sign earlier?" My wife asked. "No." I said confidently." "It must surely be another advertisement."
We quickly discovered that it was not a different one but the same; and that I should have taken the first turn as the dear wife suggested. What I had managed to do was send us in a big circle and back very close to where our cabin was when we had first left to go trout hunting. But, don't feel bad for us. Oh no! On the contrary this was quite a useful shortcut in the future. (just not so much the first time around) Anyway we finally made it to where we, or I, wanted to go and this is what we saw...
Oh yes! Our tyrant of trout, our ruler of the rainbows, the king of cutthroats, the baron of browns, the sultan of salmonidae would definitely be found in these waters. I was sure of it. All we had to do was hike down the canyon and it was ours for the taking. The climb was steep and treacherous but we made it and soon I was waist deep in cool clear water and on the trail of "The Big One."I would like to take this opportunity to thank my dear wife for her unending support of my sometimes obsessive hobby. She makes a great companion. While I wade in the water she sets up the camping chair, holds the camera at the ready, and reads her books. It works out quite well for both of us. She is the perfect river and stream-side cheerleader that every angler needs. But back to the story...
So, I try my luck and have a few attempts. The fish are definitely there but I have yet to hook one of them. After quite some time (and more bites and chances than the normal fisherman should be allowed without actually catching a fish) I had decided to move up river a little and try my luck there. Dani was following and as we went along the trail I was struck frozen. There before us in the shallows of the river was the one we were searching for "The Big One" if you will. Shhhh! I said to the wife and pointed to "The Big One" in the water. Hands shaking I readied the fly rod and and stripped off some clothes. (Just kidding. I couldn't resist. Just making sure you're paying attention) I readied the fly rod and stripped off some line. Then very sneakily I crawled up on a large boulder behind "The Big One" and attempted to cast the fly to it. He went for it twice but my over excitement caused me to not be able to catch him and "The Big One" swam out a little further but didn't quite swim away. "Ahh, a game of cat and mouse." I said in a sly tone. "I accept the challenge." At this point Dani was laughing at me and probably frustrated that I had two opportunities and didn't catch "The Big One." So I climbed off the rock and got ready for a new attempt. At this point the wife asks "Can I try?" "Ha!" I think to myself while handing her the rod. "Why not let her try, what harm could be done?" "No way she can out-fish the great angler."
She did.
After a few casts "The Big One" went for it and Bam! he was on. It was exciting Dani exclaimed "What do I do?!" What do I do?!" "You don't lose the sucker!" I thought to myself. "That's what you do." Instead, I wisely suggested she reel it in. But, in the excitement, she wasn't sure which way to reel it in. Thus, it ended with me reeling in her fish but let the record show "The Big One" was caught by her....
You will have to ignore the cheesy expression. Though I did not officially catch this fish it was still very exciting for me.However, I did officially catch this one (that is if you take officially to mean walking toward the bank with the line drifting behind you and then reeling it in to surprisingly find a small fish attached)...
Yes, you may have to zoom in but there is a little fingerling there, I promise. And, yes, it was my finest catch of the day thank you!It was an exciting experience and a good way to close the day. As for the rest of the week we had a lot of fun with the family. We enjoyed "Footloose" at the Playmill in West Yellowstone, rafting the river, spending time with the family, being spit-up on by babies, playing games, and overall being out in the fresh mountain air. The following are some pictures of the our weekend. Enjoy!
This is Dani and me at Johny Sack's Cabin and Big Springs.
Here is a moose we saw while floating Big Springs.
This is my poor family having to pull their raft through the more shallow parts of the river. Dani and I were in our own little kayak and thus had the pleasure of watching these scenes play out from a safe distance.
This is one of our funny little nephews. He wanted to take a short ride in the kayak. However, when we stopped to see the moose the rest of the family couldn't quite maneuver the raft in time and thus kept on floating down river. Needless to say we did not catch up and his "short" trip in our kayak ended up being almost the "entire" trip. But, we didn't mind it was fun and he did good all the way to the end. Even when he suddenly got hit with nature's call he was brave enough to hold it. Or at least try. Eventually we had to pull over and have him water the plants along side the river. (Dani thought we could make it to the end but she wasn't the one upon whose lap he was sitting.)
And, here is the gorgeous lady-captain of our ship. This was taken on the reservoir. It was quite picturesque being on the water with blue skies and tall mountains in the background.
This is a picture of the parking lot at church. This was the busiest meeting I have ever been to. There were over 1200 people there just for sacrament meeting. We had to sit on the floor in the hallway. It was actually a pretty neat experience.
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