Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year!  We had a wonderful Christmas with family, Parker called and sounded absolutely fantastic!!  The boys spent the day with us and Mom and Dad came over as well.  The Back surgery has set me back a little but each day it is a little better.  Not too many adventures though until clearance from the doc.

Good day of skiing

Proof of the day no other pics

Sally and I went to Powder Mountain Saturday and put in a few runs.  We skied for a little over 2 hours since that was all our legs would take.  It was cold blowing day with some snow coming down.  We can say we have been to PM.  It wasn't bad they only had a couple lifts open.  The snow was decent, but since it is the only day I will get in this season it was a good one to get in.  Getting put back together this week, hopefully it will make everything all better. Hiking and camping this summer with tons of fishing in the forecast.  Timpanogos summit 50th birthday who's with me.  til then keep smilin'

Day with Dad

I haven't been out much due to the fact my partner is serving his mission in England.  Saturday I woke up and decided to get out of the house and do something.  So loaded the truck with my Shotgun, pistol, and fishing gear.  Figured I would have fun one way or another.  Shooting dove, targets or catching fish and maybe a little of each!  I had to deliver a roster and schedule to dad from one of his players that wants him to come watch him coach his own boys in football.  While there we just lounged in the back yard for a while then he asked what I was doing and asked who was going with me, when I replied no-one he said he would like to go.  I told him I did not know where I was going and when I would be returning.  He was ok with it and went and told mom he was going with me.  We loaded up and headed south.  We reached Nephi around noon and I was hungry and I knew that Reed's would hit the spot. (Reed's was Vard's when we were growing up and going to Dixie to watch Candy and Mack in rodeo's)  On the way into main street Dad seen a Rose Garden Memorial he thought was neat, then on Main street he saw an antique car dealership.  We headed down the road to Reed's got a burger and fries and it was just I as thought it would be, GOOD.  We finished things off and headed out, I pulled over to the dealership and let Dad look around, he and the owner got to talking and sharing thoughts and memories.  They acted as they knew one another for years.  The cars and the garage were very cool, dad reminisced about the cars in the garage that he and mom had owned and driven.  There was a Hudson at the memories of last year driving his race car came out and they shared stories for about a half hour, I just took it all in great times.  We asked about a couple cars and they weren't really for sale, a couple of the older ones outside were for sale not badly priced either.

We got back on the road only to stop and see the Rose Garden, Dad really liked looking at them.  Down the road, we headed south down to Levan and I showed him where I had shot a doe on an early draw hunt outside of Levan and kept heading South, in Levan Dad remembered he was going to paint the gas tanks at the station there in the colors and scheme of Budweiser cans but they never did do it.  We got to Yuba  Painted Rocks marina and campground and pulled off.  Took a few minutes on the dock cast all different colors and lures to see if anything would bite but no luck.  Dad was happy to be out and relaxing.  We loaded back up and continued south stopping very briefly at nine mile res. but it was so low and the bugs were horrible we didn't even get out.  Got back on the road and headed to Sterling and Palisades, when we got there Dad started lighting up again with all the cabins in the canyon.  We stopped briefly at Palisades, the water again was extremely low and didn't make a cast.  Dad asked how far the cabins went up the canyon, I decided to show him and headed up 6 mile canyon.  We drove up the canyon.  Dad was taken in by the canyon and we just kept going talked to a few people and one couple that told us the road was very rough and not really suited for full size rigs, I was thinking differently and kept going.  Dad was a little alarmed when I continued on.  We seen a few ponds, lots of colors, country that neither of us had ever seen and kept driving, stopping and looking around and sometimes throwing some lures at the ponds with no luck until.  I seen a sign that read 6 Mile Pond, I said we need to investigate this.  I seen fish jumping all over the place it was a little after 5 by now and I said it's time to catch some fish.  I heard Dad snicker and say okay.  I got out, put his chair on the bank and put my rod together threw a blue/silver fox and caught one on the first cast, dad was quite surprised but just having a blast.  I tried three other kastmasters and caught 3 more fish in about 20 minutes.  Dad couldn't believe it.  We loaded up knowing it was getting late and headed to the top and came to 12 mile canyon and decided we better make our way home before we got the cops called on us for being gone too long, don't laugh it has happened before ;)!  We stopped in Levan got a drink and kept headed for home.  Talked all the way home about the day and days gone by.  An Excellent adventure and so happy I got to share it with my Dad, he had a wonderful day and so did I.  til next time keep smilin'!

Bday Green River Fishing

Sally bought me a guided trip on the Green River.  We headed out on Friday afternoon and arrived at Dutch John around 7:30pm got in our cabin and then had dinner at the cafe.  We woke up had breakfast and met the guide, Ryan.  We headed to the river got on the water and on our way by 9am he hooked me up with some top water dry flies and I got a few hits and caught a couple nice Bows.  He then put me on a couple nymph patterns and got hit quickly and often ended up with a few nice browns.  He showed me what I was doing wrong with my technique and worked on correcting it all day.  Finally by the end of the day I was doing better with what he wanted me to do.  All in all I ended up with about 15 or so fish, sand Sally had a good day reading and floating along was we fished.  By the end of the day I was exhausted shoulders killing me and the back was totally gone. Ryan did a great job and was very patient with me and did his best to break bad habits of mine.  Forgot the camera in the truck so we didn't get any pics on the boat but a couple at the shop and on our journey.  We ended the day with Ryan around 5pm.  From Dutch John we ended up going to Manila and then out to Evanston and spent the night there.  We woke up and took our time getting around leaving Evanston around noon and headed up over Mirror Lake.  Great drive was going to stop and fish along the way but the place was packed with last weekend warrioring.  There was not a parking spot available at any lake or camp site.  We headed on home and spent the rest of the day just lounging.   Great weekend Thanks to a wonderful wife for a great Birthday!!

Bass in DC???? well I might have been wrong.........LOL

Jim and I headed out for morning fish.  We did ok my first hook up was probably the biggest, but to slow on the net...I know, fish story but true.  Then Jim hooked up and got in a nice bow.  We limited out by 9:30 and off the water with a couple decent sized bows and one brown.  Oh ya the bass I caught a smallie just off the island trolling the pop and worm it was huge can't you tell it is the big one the pic above ;)....lol.  Anyhow a great day on the pond this morning.  til next time keep smilin'

Morning Fish turned into Evening Fish Fry!

Saturday we headed out for a morning of fishing, we meaning my oldest son Jimmy Lee and I.  It had been a couple years since we got to go out on fish together.  He just finished up his BS in Accounting and actually had the day off from work.  We headed up around 5:30 ;) ya someone slept in, but we got on the water around 6:10 and lines in.  Jim hooked up first and quick on a JOD Cowbell two tone.  A little pan size carry over bow.  We got the lines back out and I got one on the JOD cowbell nickle and then another the second with a little bigger girth to it.  We fished the morning it was slow but hits were short and light.  I started running Rainbow deeper and got a couple to take the bait.  While we were running "Trout City" a boat pulled along side us and there was our family from Mtn Valley.  It was great seeing them they got on the water a little later than us and were struggling getting any hits we told them what we were doing and they followed suit and got a couple by the time Jim and I limited out.  We pulled up along side them before taking off and they said we need to have a fish fry so we did that evening in the Mtn Valley.  It was great to meet and greet again for the evening over fillets of trout and fresh halibut from our AK trip along with some english chips.  We stayed most of the evening and visited and reminisced of the day and trips before.  Til next time keep smilin'

Alaska Cruise

Here is a condensed slide show of our Alaskan cruise with Bob and Mary.  We had a blast, more write up coming. Enjoy the slide show for now.  You can click on the slide show to enlarge it.

Green River with Bruce

Went to the Green River in June with Bruce and his boy Greg.  We headed out Sunday afternoon and got to the camp ground around 9pm spent the evening in the tent, it was a great evening after some roasted marshmellows we hit the sack.  Woke up around 5:30 to a very brisk morning at 9,300 ft had a small continental breakfast and went to Little Hole.  We were the first on the river :)  It was a great morning beautiful blue skies and no wind.  Bruce and Greg set out with their fly rods and I started with my spin set-up.  Bruce is an excellent flier he set up with an attractor pattern and trailer bead head pheasant tail, he got into them in the 3rd cast and caught probably 5-6 fish in the first hole.  He then moved out and put Greg in the hole and had Greg getting hits with the same set-up on his pole, he has a great cast but like me, didn't read the hit as well as his dad.  We continued up stream from Little Hole and Bruce continued to catch fish with his set-up and Greg cont. to get hits.  They moved on up river for about a mile and a half and meander my way up to them.  I got into a section of ripples with a kastmaster on and got a couple hits then caught one about 16 inches.  Bruce and Greg were headed back down stream to go get lunch and set up for the afternoon hatches, I followed and casted on the way down stream got a couple more hits but no more fish.  We had lunch and shared morning stories and set up our poles for the afternoon and decided to go "over the top".  I set up my fly pole with a cicada following Bruce's advice with a bead head trailer.  We fished our way down stream and got to the narrow and went over the top.   They moved quite a bit faster than me and were in the water by the time I got back to the river.  They were in a beautiful stretch of the river and Bruce immediately hook up a nice one that broke him off, running 6x leader that happens.  We moved on down stream and continued to fish.  Greg hooked up with a nice brown on the way to the next trail head......we fished the rest of the afternoon.  My legs played out on me so I took pics and rested they fished and got a few more.  We went approx. 2 miles down stream form the trail head to a point that Bruce said there was a road that would take us back to the parking lot, famous last words.  We headed back toward the truck, and yes it did eventually get us to the parking lot and the truck but it was little out of the way.....My feet were killing me wading boots are not meant to trail hike 4-5 miles, I seriously thought about taking them off and walking in my socks, I didn't but thought about it.  They cruised ahead and brought the truck to the closest spot they could even though it was a well traveled road the gate was locked of course.  Greg being the good son ran some water back to me and carried my pole and stuff the remainder of the trail.  We got back to the parking lot finished off all drinks in the cooler and got dressed for the ride home.  Great day on the River!!!  Besides my toes killing me my shoulders were toast too from all the casting.  I'm getting to be a wimp!  We headed back up the road and stopped at the Flaming Gorge Lodge for dinner and shared stories of the day and looked at the pictures that were taken.  Headed for home and shared stories of past trips Bruce and I had made in the years gone by.

West Slope Challenge

Went out on a challenge to myself to see how many waters I could catch a limit in one day on the West Slope of the Uintah mountains.  Took off kinda late and got to upper Provo river by 11:30, but the water was running high and hard and muddy figured I would pass on it and went on to Mill Hollow Res. When I arrived at Mill Hollow it looked as though all of SLC had come up to fish, but I did manage to get into a spot on the bank and make enough cast with a Kastmaster to limit in about 25 minutes.  I thought wow if it is like this all day I will be able to hit a lot of waters.  Not so fast moved on to Currant Creek and got stuck on a very windy lake didn't even attempt to take the tube out.  Fished the rest of the afternoon and into the evening on Currant Creek.  I did manage to squeak out a limit of pan size trout one fighting Tiger and 3 bows.  By this time it was dusk and the skeeters were out in force, I decided to head for home.  Went up over the pass to Strawberry only to run into a locked gate due to snow, I did plow through a couple drifts to get to CC that afternoon, had to turn around and headed back toward Lake Summit and went out on Timberlake road into Heber.  Good day and met up with some good folks.  Will have to try this challenge again.

Deer Creek "Trout City"

We headed out to teach me how to Bass fish on Deer Creek on the 8th of May.  Yep it has been that long since I updated, sorry.  Anyhow we headed out for our adventure, me, Kelly and Clif (local angler) and new fishing contact for sure.  We got on the water at the state park and headed north the wind was cold and biting on the bare white winter legs.  We got to an area they called Bass cove, yep.  It was north of the Island and looked inviting for sure.  We worked our way north and east along the bank and tossed everything they thought would catch a Bass.  We fished for about 4 hours and nothing, seen a lunker cruising the shore they got all excited and started flippin and casting but to no avail.   We then headed SE and went to the Island and same thing started throwing everything at them.  Clif hooked a tube jig on my line and said this is a great thing for all fish, I said yep, and started to fish it.  We started around the south side of the island and the wind kicked up and they said time to go to UL for some fishing there.  We headed out across Island Bay and I was still casting Kelly told me to pull in so we could go.  I said nope we are in the middle of "Trout City", and sure enough this beautiful Brown decided to treat me with a hook up!  They couldn't believe it, thought I was snagged til I got him to jump, yep a brownie jumped for them.  Too Funny!  I got it in they said we are leaving and I tried to coax them to stay but that was it I caught a trout on a Bass fishing trip on a bass boat with bass fisherman they were done with me....LOL.  I told them there weren't any bass in DC and that the one they thought they saw was old yellow head Carp....LOL.  Fun day!  Good company and can't wait to go back to "Trout City" with the Bass boys ;)

Hunting Day! Yuba Style.....

Kelly and I headed out for the hunt at 5am.  Yuba hunting for the Pike!  We were looking to catch some of the famed Pike out of Yuba Res.  We headed south and stopped and got breakfast in Nephi and then headed on south.  Got to Yuba about 6:30am and got on the water by 7 it was a balmy 34* when we launched the boat.  The boat, Kelly towed his Skeeter up from S.D. a beautiful rig with 250 horses pushing it thru the water a little different than my old 15hp Johnson.  20' of pure luxury and speed, plenty of room to move around and get the angles on the cast.  We started out he wasn't to happy with the performance it was only topping out at 66mph!  I just laughed we got to our first hole in about 5 minutes where it would have taken the yacht an hour or so.  We fished every structure we could see and think of, used the incredible electronics on the skeeter to their fullest to find and locate fish.  We fished the southern end of Yuba most of the morning, we docked out of Painted Rocks.  Not getting so much as a sniff at anything we threw in the water we decided to move to the dam and main body of the lake.  Again taking only a few minutes to run the entire length of the lake, Kelly was just not happy with the top end what would have taken me and Parker all day to cover we did in less than 10 minutes, i just had to chuckle.  We pulled up to the rock structures at the dam and fished and fished and fished covering from the dam south and east to the Painted Rocks leg of the Res. we noticed it was 3pm and again not as much as a sniff.  We saw a Pike bobbing up and down in the water like he was spying on us and telling them all that we were there.  A beautiful day to be on the water and we enjoyed ourselves greatly but no fish for the day.  I guess that again says why it is called fishing and not catching ;)!  We headed home and went to Italian Place and got a nice juicy Steak and Everything, with mom and dad, a great way to finish a great day!  til next time, keep smilin'!

Springbreak Ski and Fish I love Utah!

Spring Break, woke up and decided to put in one last day on the slopes.  Headed to Snowbasin it had been years since I had been their slopes.  Turned out to be a good day to go not to crowded snow was decent but Sierra Cement by the afternoon.  Put in a dozen or so runs had lunch on the mountain.  Lunch was good big ol cheeseburger and fries.  Hit most of the runs, legs were fried.  They had some great upgrades since having the Olympics there 2 gondolas a couple high speed quads and other chairs with plenty of mountain to explore.  The gondola takes you up to the ridge line that you used to have to hike to!  Had a good day only thing that would have made it great is if Parker had been with me, he would've loved it.
Headed home around 3pm the legs were noodled.  I went on the back side through Weber canyon and down Provo canyon.  Decided there was plenty of day light left so I stopped at Deer Creek and fished for a while and met up with Sally coming home from from her parents place.  I got a couple nice little bows off the bank.  A GOOD Day!  Til next time keep smilin'!

Very Cold Easter Saturday!

Today Bob and I went to shoot my new pistol a 9mm and do some fishing as well.  We headed west and went to Vernon and stopped at the store and picked up some refreshments and then headed into the freshly snow covered Vernon range.  Got to Vernon res and found it still had the middle capped off with ice but plenty of open water.  We stopped and started fishing Bob hooked a little bow on his 3rd 0r 4th cast and we thought alright ice off is going to be good.  NOT, we dang near froze our hands off it was so cold with the wind blowing.  That was the only fish we could coax to the bank.  I fished for about an hour or so and then couldn't feel the line any longer, Bob gave in long before then.  We headed back to Vernon and then headed East down toward Allen Ranch and stopped in a small canyon to shoot.  The gun is a good shooting pistol felt good in my hand, we set targets at about 30 yards and got a few in the target...lol.  All in all it was a good morning better than sitting at home.  Til next time keep smilin' Oh ya Spring Break maybe Sally and I will get out and have a couple adventures.

Days with Bob

Well its been a couple weeks since I posted anything.  Depressed a little, with out my partner in crime available I have to find another partner.  Bob has been willing a couple times and we have gone out to a couple lakes.  We hit Vernon and it was still capped off so we headed north and ran into a full blown blizzard at the Tooele depot and headed back toward home.
So this week we headed south after reading reports on Palisades, I wanted to go check on a couple waters and hit Yuba on the way down it was clear but windy so we went on  and drove past 9 Mile to see that it was still capped about 3/4.  Looking up the valley we could see that Gunnison Res was still capped as well.  We made it to Palisades and started out by the power house and then ended up at the dam.  We fished for about 4 hours and I got one rainbow landed on a Jake's.  We had a few hits but very slow!  An absolute beautiful day on the lake.  Still miss my partner, Parker he is doing great in England and is very excited to get out of the training center and to move on.  Sorry no pics today forgot the camera :(.

Great Day @ Alta!

Parker wanted to hit Alta before he left for his mission to England.  So we headed out for Alta Monday morning got there in time to catch the first load of chairs.  We skied the hole mountain from Wildcat to Supreme.  We spent most of the day on Supreme skiing steeps and bumps.  We had a great day!  By the end we were both spent and could barely walk back to the truck.  Parker will leave Thursday and return in 2 years I think he was sent off with a good memory to reflect on in those times of idleness.  We skied Powder for the first run of the day in Ballroom bowl it was good snow probably knee deep, we headed into East Greeley from there and hit some powder and I showed Parke Pyramid Rock which I jumped in my younger days, I think he was more concerned about getting down the mtn at that point ;).  We then went up Sugarloaf we had our picture taken by the photo dude at the top looking back at Timpanogas and I showed him where Sundance sat on the mtn and it was quite a bit lower than where we were at the time.  We then went to Supreme and skied the steeps and bumps the rest of the day.  I finally had to tell him I would catch up with him at the bottom of the bumps, and found some good air and soft slopes for me to ski.  He enjoyed the day quite a bit and we both left with grins.  It had been years since I skied Alta, it didn't take long to remember why it is still my favorite mountain to ski, the quiet solitude, the steep open bowls, and overall great attitude.  We watched a Golden catch an air pocket and soar for miles, excellent day!  If this is the last runs I put in this season, I had a great season!  I plan to hit a few more runs but if not a great day to finish on.  Til next time, keep smilin'

Sundance Night Skiing

Monday evening at Sundance what a great night.  Snow was a little hard on the groom.  Got off on a couple side runs a found some soft crud.  The stars were shining brightly, nice crisp air and great people on the evening shift.  Not too many ski days and nights left lets get out and go.  Till next time keep smilin'

Vacay day

Parker and I spent the morning on the mtn. Soft bumps were the order of the day 7" of new snow and clear skies last night created some good runs today. Our first run was at mach speed, you know the kind where your forehead freezes and eyes water and freeze as it goes down your cheek, oh ya it was fun! Then it was speed in the bumps nice and soft. Had a wonderful time with Parker. Came home met up with Rogan and had lunch with the boys again today nothing better :)!

St. George!

Went to St. George this weekend with my girl. We hit Snow Canyon for a few hours before the conference started. Went to 3 ponds, 3.5 mile hike through sand dunes. It was a beautiful day! Nice and cool the light in the canyon was awesome. Did okay the hip only locked up a few times. It was great to hike without full winter gear on.

President Day at Sundance

Parker and I headed to the Mtn to put in a few turns. We had a ball. Made a number of bump runs and felt like I was 21 again for a moment then the body and lungs reminded me I wasn't LOL. Snow was decent on back mtn. Crowds started showing up early due to the holiday but we still got in 10 runs and speed was the game of the day with bumps in the middle. til next time keep smilin'

Sundance skiing

Today Parker and I went up for a couple hours. The snow is excellent right now. we skied back mountain and had a blast. No lines to speak of and soft bumps for the running. Did a few bumps but it cut my day short the back played out before the legs did. High speed cruising on corduroy and they have Head Wall groomed it always gives great speed. Til next time keep smilin'

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!

That's how my legs feel right now. Fat old man + Telemarks = AAARRRGGGHHH!! Great day on the mtn, haven't had my tele's on for a number of years. But today I blew the dust off and put them on the slopes. Surprisingly I had lost a whole lot of technique, it was never pretty to begin with. Any how went to Sundance, Parker got called in to a job and couldn't go, we were planning to go to Alta, got in 6 runs before the legs completely noodled on me. Good to know it can still happen.

On the way home I stopped off and threw a few lures at the fish in Provo river, not much to talk about but still it was fishing.
Til next time Keep Smilin'

Rockport Fist Holes of Season

Parker and I took off a little late for the first ice fish of the season, around 10:30.  We stopped at the Road Island Grill in Oakley and had lunch, good food and good atmosphere.  We got back on the road about 1pm and headed on to Rockport.  We pulled off at Crandall Campground and went out about 60 yards off shore.  We settled in and cut 2 holes the ice was easily 18 inches thick, tons of folks on the ice with us.  Parker got the first hit of the afternoon and missed the set.  They were hitting very light and not very often.  We fished til the sun was setting and getting cold.  We didn't run our tent on this trip but it was a nice day a little overcast but no wind to speak of.  We had a number of hits, but I only coaxed a couple to take the bait, a perch pattern crippled hearing with a couple meal worms hanging off of it.  Parker was working paddle bugs and curly tails with wax and earth worm tipped.  The first fish was 20 inches and good sized the second was a planter of about 16 inches, both had nice pink fillets.  We got home around 6 pm and I had them on the grill within 30 minutes and eating dinner, Rogan joined me for dinner, he likes fish just not catching them.  Until next time keep smilin'.  

1/9/10 Skiing Sundance

We started the morning off a little sluggish planning on being in the parking lot before 8:30am and that is when I rolled out of bed, I then got Parker up around 8:45 and on the road.  Got in the upper lot by 9:05, yep can still drive the canyon pretty good.  We loaded thinking the back mtn must be packed got to back mtn and no line our thoughts turned positive right away.  We skied the first 2 runs just cruising high speed the Parker needed a little more excitement and went for some bumps so I followed wasn't pretty but made it.  Then we ventured over to the headwall and found out they had groomed it, what a great little pitch!  We then went back side and hit Freddy's and Snowstake both had nice snow and coverage.  Then a couple high speed cruisers and then hooked up with Brad H. he is a Mountain host and skied a couple with him.  It was a cloudy day and flat light but the groomers had laid out some nice corduroys on the slopes.  We took off around noon and went the back route on Roundup and hit Expedition on the way out again good snow and coverage.  It was an "OK Day".  Parker and I then went visited mom and dad for a minute.  Sorry no pics today just cruising, come and ski with us some day promise not nearly as crazy anymore....hehehe.

A good morning at the Dance

Took off on my own this morning Parker is pretty sick and didn't feel like going up this morning.  Got there thinking it would be crowded beyond belief, but to my surprise I got to park in the lower parking lot and was on the 10th chair of the morning.  Rode up with an instructor from Pittsburgh, it was awesome talking to him he was very knowledgeable about the Steelers.  He was on the mtn in transition waiting for his "real job" to begin.  The day was great, turned into a Blue Bird day on the mtn and the snow was good a little new on the surface and groomed well.  I skied a few runs then hit the shack at top and grabbed a snickers, note to self take my own.  Spent a few minutes just relaxing and letting the legs rest.  Made a few more runs and never waited in line.  Legs played out long before the soul did, I didn't push it though.  When I couldn't stand up straight anymore I called it a day ;-).  Hope to get in better shape soon and be able to push past noon.  Want to hit Alta before Parker takes off.  Made a stop on the way home on the lower Provo and threw a couple lures at the Brown's that inhabit that area but couldn't find what they were looking for today, it may have been due to the Beaver that was swimming around my cast the whole time, LOL.  Come and join us anytime.

A Day in the field with Z

Went out to find some bunnies on Dec. 29th with my good friend Zach.  It had a been a while since we had to hang out together.  We made a day of it, started with breakfast at Callies in Orem and then off to the hunting grounds.  He had set up some of the OHS staff to come along with us, so there was 10 of us counting Parker.  We got the area I thought might hold some and we seen a few shot at'em and got a couple.  It snowed on us all day it was nice.  Then we did some target practice.  The morning went by quickly and then we headed for home.  We had fun and it was great to visit and meet new folks.