TROUT FISHING ON THE GORGE: One story Jan recounts was when they lived in Rock Springs and were fishing on the west side of the Flaming Gorge not too far from Green River. Mike had baited his hook and casted it out then went to work getting Jan ready. Before he could tie the hook on her line, Mike had a bit and caught a nice rainbow trout. He re-baited his hook, cast it in the water once more and proceeded to get Jan going. Before he could get the hook tied on, again he had a bite and pulled in another nice rainbow trout. This went on for about 30 minutes, and finally Jan was getting mad and Mike got the message. Mike got her line ready before he cast his in the water again, but by that time the fish stopped biting. Jan was not a happy camper and Mike knew it! THE MOOSE VISIT: One time when they were south of Pinedale, WY spending the weekend camping and fishing, Mike had gotten up early to fish in the creek and beaver ponds, leaving Jan in the camp to sleep. She got up and started to prepare breakfast and heard something. When she turned around she was looking into the face of a cow moose. This was the first moose she had seen at this close range and didn't know what to do. She stayed really still and the moose finally ambled off into the willows. She was shaking like a leaf for sometime after that.
SUMMERS IN DUBOIS IDAHO 1976 & 1977: When Mike & Jan moved Dubois , Idaho to start Mike’s career with the federal trapping program, it was a very big shock for Jan. They had been told that they would have a self-contained camp trailer to live during the summer with all the conveniences of home, but when they arrived in Dubois and met with the District Supervisor,
the camp trailer was a little less than first described. It didn’t have a bathroom or shower. The bed was about to fall apart and the whole camp was in disrepair. This didn’t bother Mike, because he would have done anything for the job. Jan on the other hand was quite disappointed. They soon got over the shock and followed the District Supervisor out to a ranch west of Dubois where he
had made arrangements for them to park the trailer and live. It was a beautiful place on Medicine Lodge Creek, owned by two brothers who were bachelors. They had about five teeth between them and tobacco juice was dribbling down their chins. Jan wiggled her little finger at Mike, motioning for him to walk with her. He was told under no uncertain terms that she was not going to stay there alone while he went traipsing off around the country on the trap line. Mike sheepishly went to the District Supervisor and told him they had better look for another place to live. They ended up staying just outside of town on a sheep ranch that was no longer operational. It was a nice place and had a two sitter out house complete with a toilet paper eating goat. There was a stream with fish that ran right over th
e fence from the trailer. Since there was no bathroom, Mike and Jan took turns taking a bath in a #3 tub. One of the local families took Jan under their wing and kept her occupied while Mike was off having fun. As the sheep moved up the country, Mike moved the trailer to Island Park. One of the sheep outfits let them park in a beautiful meadow just before the Boot Jack summit. Dubois and Mike’s work was a total new experience for Jan. There was no family within three hundred miles and they learned to depend on each other. As they look back on those two summers, they both agree that it was a time the drew them close together and helped their marriage through rough times.
FISHING AT CORRAL CREEK: Mike and Jan loved to fish and Mike found a little pond north of Dubois. Corral Creek was a small stream and disappeared in the ground before it crossed the main road, so most people didn't know if had water, let alone native trout. The pond was constructed for irrigation purposes when Martins homesteaded Rattlesnake Creek to the west. Most of it had washed out over time, but the beaver kept building dams to keep water in the reservoir. On Friday night, Mike & Jan used to frequently take their tee pee tent and stay at the pond. One evening the fishing was jumping for flies pretty regularly and Mike had is fly pole trying to find the fly they were taking. Jan, also wanted to fly fish, so to get her out of his hair, Mike gave her the oldest, scr
aggliest looking fly he had, just so she'd quit bothering him. He put it on a leader attached to a bobber and left her while he wandered around the pond casting his "high powered" flies out to entice the trout. All the sudden he heard Jan let out a squeal, wanting him to come and help her with the trout she had on her line. At first Mike thought she had snagged a beaver that was frequently swimming by, but then he saw the fish jump out of the water. He dropped his pole and ran over to help her pull in a 5 pound native cutthroat trout. After all he did for her, she wouldn't give him back her fly.BEAR IN THE CAMP: When Mike & Jan moved their camp to Island Park during the late summer, they stayed in a meadow surrounded by lodge pole timber. The camping spot was in the horse pasture just off the main road. Mike noticed a deer had gotten hit by a vehicle and had died in a small stand of timber on the edge of the pasture. One evening Mike & Jan were sitting in the camp trailer visiting with a sheep operator and his wife when they heard a commotion outside. When Mike opened the door, one of the young horses he was breaking stuck it's head in the camp and was coming in. Pushing it outside, they went to investigate. A black bear had been feeding on the deer carcass and had wandered through the pasture spooking the horses. Mike had to leave the next morning for two days to travel over on the west side of his district to check traps, leaving Jan alone. He told her not to worry, that when his cousin had visited Yellowstone a few years prior, a grizzly bear had came into their camp, pushed his arm through the window trying to get in, but didn't hurt anyone. Of course this eased Jan's nerves. She talked the ranchers daughter into staying with her until Mike returned.
TRAPPING BEAR ON SAWTELL PEAK: Mike got a call from one of the local sheep men that a bear was killing their sheep on Sawtell Peak, on the west side of Island Park. Mike went up to investigate and found where the bear had killed a lamb the night before, but ate everything. Normally, a bear will kill a sheep or two, eat about half of it, and come back the next couple of days to feed on it. This makes an ideal situation to capture the bear with a foot snare. In this case, the bear ate the whole sheep, leaving nothing to set a foot snare on. So, Mike went down to the valley and the rancher had a fresh dead lamb that had bloated in the pasture. Mike gathered it up took it back upon the peak. By the time he got there, it was just getting dark and a fog had sit in around the peak. He had his dog with him and was gathering small pieces of timber to make a cubby to place the dead lamb in, and set the foot snare on the trail leading into the cubby. All the sudden, the dog started barking and rushed out into the fog, chasing something. Mike continued setting the snare, and the dog did this three times. Finally, he got the snare set, got walked back to the truck and went back to camp. The next morning Mike got up early to check the foot snare. A bear had came into the cubby, broke into the side of it avoiding the foot snare, took the 115 lb. lamb out and ate the whole thing. It was real grassy and Mike couldn't see any tracks, but knew this was a big bear. He followed the bones and wool for a ways then saw a track of a big grizzly bear on a fresh dirt mound made by a gopher. Had it not been for the dog, Mike would have probably been fertilizer upon the peak.
TETON DAM BREAK: Mike & Jan were in Idaho Falls buying groceries when the Teton Dam broke. There were alerts on the radio for every to evacuate the area surrounding the Snake River because of the devastation that happened in Sugar City. They hurried and bought their groceries so they could cross the bridge just below the Idaho Falls Temple. The thing that struck them was that there were quite a few people lining the bank of the river waiting to see the flood. Mike told Jan it was natural selection taking place. Fortunately there was enough open country above Idaho falls, the flood dissipated and took another day to reach Idaho Falls with very little damage. Jan was called by the Relief Society to travel to Rexburg to help in the clean up. She helped clean clothes, remove mud and debris from basements, and tend to the affected families needs. She will never forget the experience.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment