#354: The Complete Fly Fisher (pg 657; 2nd Ed. Big Hole Country pg 822)

Aug 5-6, 2025

Big Hole River, "a blue-ribbon trout stream in a state blessed with superlative fishing" is the foucs of Big Hole Country for fly-fishers.  Other rivers that run through this area are the Wise River, Beaverhead River, Bitterroot, Clark Ford and Missouri.  But the Wise River and Big Hole are the main two.

Getting my feet wet in the Big Hole River

Although not pictured here, there are fly fishermen all up and down the river.  Driving around, there's not much of anyone or anything besides a fly fisherman every 30-40 feet it seems!

The River is home to several kinds of trout.  Not only is the river chalk full of fish, but the air is crisp and clean and the banks are beautiful with majestic mountains in the background.  I'm not a fisher myself (fly or otherwise) but if you were, you can't beat the scenery!

The two main towns in the Big Hole area are Wisdom and Jackson.

We attempted to go to the hot springs on top of this Jackson lodge/hotel, but the door was locked (even though the hours posted on the door said they opened at 8:00am, so 🤷).

However, on our way back to Dillon from Jackson, we stopped by Bannack State Park, which a local had recommended to us the evening before when we were at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place for dinner.

And what a great recommendation it was!!  I LOVED this place!!  It was so fascinating!

Bannack State Park is where gold was discovered in Montana for the first time the summer of 1862. 

The woman at the "Visitor's Center" (a small one-room gift shop) said that over a billion dollars worth of gold has been panned out of the creek that runs through Bannack but it is now off limits to pan for any more gold there.  However, this town that rose up as a result of the gold has been preserved and you are free to roam these deserted streets and structures on your own and explore this ghost town, the best preserved in all of Montana, to your heart's content.  It was SO cool!!!

Here's my friend Mariellen, a school teacher, in front of the school.

The inside of the school house.

Montana's first jail. 

Peering out of the jail.

The gallows.  Don't miss the gallows!  You have to follow a trail for a few minutes behind all the houses/"buildings" to find it, but there it is. 

The most famous hanging that took place here was that of 27-year old Henry Plummer, the town Sheriff (keep in mind, this town got up to 3000 people at it's gold rush height in 1862/63) along with two of his deputies.  There was some irony to this since Sheriff Plummer was the one who had these gallows erected in order to hang a horse thief. 

A good way of putting it is that this town has been "preserved" rather than "restored."  Much of it is dilapidated, peeling, weathered. But it's also mostly original and you get a true feeling of what the town was like in it's glory days 160 years ago. 

Here is the saloon.

One article I read described it as "dozens of old buildings that are literally frozen in time and open to public view. Most of the buildings are exactly as they were when left by their inhbitants." 

In addition to it's fly-fishing, this area is also known as the "Valley of 10,000 Haystacks."  Driving down the road, it's not hard to see why.  And I think we actually saw a lot more than 10,000!

Verdict:  This isn't a place you have to visit before you die unless fly-fishing is your #1 love.  Well, in that case, you have to because this is the Mecca of fly-fishing!  But otherwise, it's not a must-do bucket item.  But I do have to say.... Bannack State Park was super awesome.  I've never been anywhere quite like it!

 

#353: Yellowstone National Park (pg 746, 2nd Ed pg 909)

 

August 3-5, 2025

After driving through West Yellowstone, we entered through the West entrance.

Our first stop was the Lower Geyser Basin and the Fountain Paint Pots.

We got super lucky and arrived just as the Great Fountain Geyser erupted, which it only does once every 7 hours or so.  It lasted for a really long time (so long that, amazing as it was, we walked away to see other sights before it was done erupting!).  It was super cool!!

So many geysers!

Midway Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring

I've never seen anything like this before - so beautiful!

All those layers of color and mist.  Beautiful!!

We only planned this trip a couple months ago, so we booked our lodging outside the park.  But once we got to Old Faithful and saw how long it was going to take us to get to our hotel (which was actually an hour outside the entrance), Mariellen worked her magic and talked to the front desk to see if there were by any chance any last minute cancellations or availability..... and there was!  So much fun to stay right next to Old Faithful!

The inside of Cabin #115, our home for the night.

We checked in and then walked right outside our cabin to wait for Old Faithful to do her thing.

There she goes!

Mother Nature at her finest.

Old Faithful selfie.

After all the tourists from the day left, it was so fun to walk around and enjoy the scenery and the serenity of the area.

And, since Old Faithful erupts roughly every 90 minutes or so, we got to see her multiple times!

The next morning, we went on an awesome hike exploring all the geysers in the area. So. Many. Geysers!!  There are roughly 500 geysers in Yellowstone (approximately half the geysers in the world). Here's one with the Old Faithful Inn in the background.  I'm glad we spent the night because I don't think we would have done this walk otherwise.  And I absolutely loved it.  

In addition to the hundreds of geysers, there are also thousands of Springs, bubbling mud pools, fumaroles and steaming hot springs.

Ethereal

We had to pull ourselves away from Old Faithful so that we had time to explore the rest of the park!

Firehole Falls

Firehole Canyon Drive and Firehole Falls

Then we went to Norris Geyser Basin

Emerald Spring

Such a unique and beautiful landscape!

Next stop: Tower Falls

Overlooking the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone."

And a stop at the Roosevelt Lodge for lunch.

And then we headed to the Lamar Valley to see the Buffalo.

Buffalo traffic jam!

He made it!

Buffalo as far as they eye can see.

I mean, if this isn't something you have to see before you die, I don't know what is!

This is why I travel.  This is something you need to feel and experience in person.

As we were leaving Yellowstone, we also came across a huge herd of Elk.

Gardiner is just outside the North Entrance of the Park.  There's technically no rafting inside the park, but this was close enough to say we White Water Rafted at Yellowstone!

So much fun!

Thank you Yellowstone.

And thank you to those that had the foresight to make this a National Park, the world's first.  What a treasure.

Verdict:  Absolutely yes!!  I actually went to Yellowstone once before in the summer of 1992, when I was 16 years old.  But I never "counted" it or blogged on it because I didn't have any pictures of it and my parents couldn't find any either.  And we only spent one day here.  I felt like I needed more recent memories and/or photo documentation to actually count it!  Besides, I wanted to go back anyway.  And I'm so glad I did!!  Now, I've just got to get Dave and the kids to go!  I feel mildly guilty I didn't this one without them.  This is an absolute must do.  Everything you see and do here will be amazing!  Just pray for nice weather like we had - that makes it even better!

Cost:  $35 entrance fee.  Lodging varies if you stay in the park.  Everything from camping to rustic cabins to more luxurious accommodations.  Plan for ~$250/night on average.

Note:  Technically Yellowstone, which is bigger than the States of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, is in three states:  Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.  But the book has it labeled as Wyoming and the vast majority of the park (roughly 96%) is in Wyoming so that's how I've labeld it as well.