Inspiration

Got a little inspired after reading Jacob's entry about rock climbing...

I remember about four years there when a few of us guys would head up to the Naha River for some early season fly-fishing for trout. It was late May or early June. Here's some of those involved... Always Jeremy Wolf and I, sometimes or once... Matt Wolf, Jim Parrott, Sam Miller, Michael Bjur, Calin Bjur, Josh Hendrick, Justin Lanfell?, and who knows who else.

Here are some random memories:

Jeremy Wolf putting gas on an already lit fire and then throwing the flaming can with gas squirting everywhere into the bushes. Don't worry, no wildlife was hurt in the episode.

My waders having a blowout half way through our trip one year.

Jeremy and Matt wading the river without waders... remember that the river was full of water strait from snow fields? They were miserable and I was laughing. I can see them both upriver saying "Shut up Jeff!"

Catching some big trout. Cooking steaks partly with a stick and partly with our bare hands (on White River). I don't think that steak ever got done. It was so dark we couldn't tell.

Dunking all of our sleeping bags because someone came up with the brilliant idea of rafting down river to the campsite. That was a cold night.

Sleeping on a bear trail.

Forgetting a can opener.

Jeremy making cheese noodles one time with water and mayonnaise when it called for milk and butter (they were sick but he said "Hey... these are pretty good").

Writing wacky stuff in one of the trail cabin's guest book. Stuff like "There are bears everywhere. We've already lost one of our fellow campers."

It makes me so thankful for some of those memories. And the best memory of them all... standing waist deep in the Naha river in waders with a 5 weight fly rod in my hand working the riffle water. Jeremy is up stream somewhere around the corner and the other fellas are downstream. I hook a 16" rainbow, admire him without taking him out of the water and pull the barbless hook free. He swims away. I can't restrain a smile. I do the same thing three casts later. All you can hear is the water. The sun peeks through the clouds and you get that warm feeling on your back when you're all sweaty and a little cold. The best part of it is you get to go make hamburgers on a campfire that night and get up tomorrow and do it all over again.

Now that is living.