Yellowstone Primer

I have a healthy fear of Grizzly bears.  Those who know me better would say this is an understatement.  Since I live in Tennessee I don’t have to worry a great deal about coming face to face with a Grizzly.  So it’s only logical that a man with a fear of Grizzly bears would sign up for a week long fly fishing trip in Yellowstone National Park, right?  Some things in life are worth the risk.  

In less than four weeks I will embark on a “man trip” to Ft. Smith Montana to fish the Bighorn River for three days.  When we leave the Bighorn we will spend the next five days fishing various rivers and creeks in Yellowstone.  Yellowstone embodies the American West.  I can think of no wilder place in the lower 48 than Yellowstone.  Where else do herds of Bison roam, packs of wolves thrive, and yes…..there are Grizzlies.

 So with bear spray in one hand and my fly rod in the other, I will venture into this wilderness in the pursuit of some of the most majestic scenery in this country and some of the most fertile trout waters in the US.   I am sure this will not be the first post about this trip, just as I am certain the memories I will make will last a lifetime.  I have never been to Yellowstone and yet there is something about this place that beckons men to come.  Like the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey this place draws you in and something deep inside of you feels you must go.  I can hear the song as clearly as the wind blowing through a meadow and in four weeks I will answer the call.