Thermopolis - Part II

May 23rd - After a delicious breakfast at The Black Bear Cafe (a cute little restaurant with a big menu and great food), our guide - Jackson - picked us up at The Retreat and took us to the Bighorn River to put in at the Wedding of the Waters, south of town.

And Don got right to fishing, or should I say CATCHING!!!

Success! A NICE rainbow!!!

And another really nice rainbow!

Swallow nests under a bridge.

I spotted a mink along the shoreline. There was one across the river, too!

Yellow Warbler -

And another rainbow -

This Canada Goose family mooned us!

This fishing is hard work! ; )

More Canada Geese -

And a chizler -

Even saw a killdeer -

Nice brown -

And a fleeing merganser -

The final fish of the day . . . another brown trout!!!

What a way to end the day! Our guide drove us back to The Retreat and, after we cleaned up, we walked to the One Eyed Buffalo for dinner. Great steak place! If you're ever in Thermopolis, we highly recommend it!

May 24th - After another restful night, we had breakfast at the Black Bear Cafe . . . again. And, our guide for the day - Steth - picked us up and took us to the put-in north of town. Unfortunately, the weather had changed overnight. It was now overcast, cooler and sprinkling the rain.

That didn't stop Don. He was ready for anything!

Rapids that our boat had to maneuver through . . .

While Steth made his way through the rapids, Don spent a little time wading.

Canada Geese and goslings -

Saw a woodpecker doing what they do . . .

Fish in the net!

Now that's a really nice brown trout -

White American Pelicans -

Taking flight . . .

A hungry raccoon collecting Russian Olives from this tree.

Peaceful scene along the river at the end of the day -

Another spectacular day of fishing & photography!!! Then it was back to The Retreat to freshen up and then off to dinner at the Mexican restaurant, Los Cabos. "Great margaritas & food" we were told by several people, including our fishing guide. Not so much.

May 25th . . . THE BIG DAY WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO!!!! Today, Don was actually going to fish the Wind River Canyon. The first two days of fishing were outside of the Indian Reservation on the Big Horn River. The stretch of the River that winds through the Wind River Canyon is managed very tightly by the Indian Reservation. They only permit one raft with two fishermen on the upper Canyon and one raft with two fishermen on the lower Canyon per day. That's four fishermen daily fighing the Canyon. Period. We floated the Upper Canyon and Don had his best day of fishing in Thermopolis. It was a beautiful day, a nice ride and great fishing. The shore lunch wasn't bad, either. the Canyon was incredible! Our guide, Noah, was knowledgeable, friendly and an all around great guy.

Rainbow -

A mouthy merganser -

I turned the camera on myself!

Muskrat -

This is a grackle.

Our lunch spot -

I overheard Noah telling that fish he would release it, if it promised to take the fly again tomorrow.

Pink granite lined the walls in some parts of the Canyon -

Before we knew it, our day was over.

What an epic day in the Canyon! Too many fish to count. Great guide and great weather until the rain set in. After loading up the raft, Noah drove us back into "Thermop" as the locals call it, and dropped us off at the Retreat. After freshening up, we headed back to the One Eyed Buffalo for dinner.

The following morning was Memorial Day, we headed out of Thermopolis and back to Moose Point Lodge. Beautiful landscape all along the way . . .

Saw a fox along the road trying to feast on a road killed elk.

It's hard to eat with traffic speeding by.

The Teton Mountain Range in our windshield.

It's always great to get home to Moose Point Lodge. But, we did spend most of the return trip recalling the beautiful scenery of the Canyon and the incredible fish Don pulled in to the raft. Hopefully, now that he is on their list, getting another chance to fish the Canyon won't be as difficult in the future. We're both ready to go back!

Take good care & have a fantastic week.

Love, Barbara & Don