Hi families!
What a trip! We made so many great memories, shared laughs, and caught lots of fish along the way.
Our adventure started by picking the girls up from the airport and stopping by a fly shop in Bozeman before heading back to pick up Ness. From there, we made our way to Ennis to spend our first night at base camp, excited to get out on the water the next morning. On our first fishing day, we fished the Ruby River near Ennis and had great success on both dry flies and streamers. Before we got started, everyone set both personal and fishing goals for the trip, and we spent time talking about what each of us hoped to get out of the week. It was a great way to kick off our adventure together, and we couldn't wait to see what the rest of the trip had in store!
The next day, we went through all of our gear, packed everything up, and got ready to head into the Bob! We made a quick stop in Augusta for a few last-minute supplies and candy (at the girls' favorite store, "The General Store") before making our way to our campsite along the Sun River. Once camp was set up, we spent the evening fishing, cooking backcountry burritos, and cooling off with a swim in the river. It was the perfect way to settle into our backcountry adventure and get excited for the days ahead!
Unfortunately, Ness was not feeling well so we had to change up our plans. But what is an adventure without a few unexpected things? We camped a night in Craig, MT which quickly became our number one swimming spot. We made a delicious dinner, checked out the fly shops, and spent some quality time with Ness before she had to fly home the next day. After saying goodbye, we headed out to our new site — Cascade Lake in Yellowstone National Park. During our drive in, we saw huge herds of elk and jammed out to some great music. We did not know what to expect, and Yellowstone did not disappoint. We hiked through beautiful meadows filled with wildflowers, little creeks and streams, and beautiful pine forests. We made it to the lake and set up our camp, then immediately made our way to go fishing.
The girls caught some absolutely gorgeous Yellowstone cutthroat on dry flies, wading into the shallow lake. We had some backcountry Thanksgiving dinner — mashed potatoes, chicken, stuffing, Craisins, and gravy — and headed to bed. The backcountry is always loud at night, and we got to hear a pack of coyotes, a wolf, and a huge thunderstorm. We woke up the next day ready to fish, and made our way around the lake, catching cutthroat, admiring the view, and having a great time. The next morning we woke up to a huge bull moose 100 feet from our campsite. It was an insane sight to see, and we quietly packed up our tents and gave the moose some space.
We explored Yellowstone a little longer, went to the waterfalls, got some custard, and made our way straight to the Madison River. After spending a few hours out there we headed to the Ruby River and fished until sundown.
We camped at Valley Garden, the girls finally spent a whole night cowboy camping. We woke up and fished the Madison again, and caught a nice brown on a tiny mayfly.
We then met up with the Madison Valley Conservation Society. We headed to two creeks, South Meadow and Moore Creek, and got to learn about stream testing. The girls measured the conductivity, temperature, flow, and quality of the two streams. They were very engaged and absolutely loved being out in the field and learning more about the health of our rivers.
The last day, the girls headed out on a float trip from Ruby to Varney Bridge on the Madison. They were locked and loaded with pranks for their guide and had an absolute blast. They each caught a handful of trout and came back ready for our banquet dinner. For our last night, we ate pizza, drank root beer, made a stop at the local Town Pump for a treat, and had our last swim in the Madison. We ended the night making bracelets, listening to our trip playlist, and reminiscing on our week.
These girls are so, so special. Getting to spend time with them for the second summer in a row has been such an honor. They are hard workers, not afraid of anything, so hilarious, and genuinely kind people. By the end of the trip they felt like our little sisters, and it was so sad to say goodbye! Perseverance and fun absolutely describe this trip. The girls persevered through illness, changes, and the incredibly hot weather and tough fishing, and made the most of it.
Thank you, parents, for trusting us with your wonderful kids, and for raising such fierce and strong girls.
Until next year!!
Brooke and Ellen
