Went fly fishing for the first time, and caught fish!

So a couple days ago I bought a fly fishing setup, at least something to start with. I went down the street to a school yard to practice my casting since it'd been well over 10 years since the last time I've used a fly rod back in the midwest. It was just like riding a bike! No problem.

So last night I looked on my trail map and found a set of lakes just up Big Cottonwood Canyon that supposedly had fish in them. This morning I woke up early (about 6:45 is super early for me now-a-days), and headed out the door just before 9 to the lakes. It was a 3.5 mile hike up a fairly steep trail, but not too bad. The lakes are 3 in series, each fed by a mountain stream, with about 40ft difference between the first two, and maybe 10ft between lake 2 and 3. The first lake has the most fish, but worse for casting a fly rod. The second lake has fish, but not near as many as the first, and the 3rd seemed to be fairly empty compared to the first.

So I spent a couple hours at the first lake and caught 6 small rainbow trout, lost about 4 flies, and figured out quite a bit about fly fishing lakes. First off, you need clear line, and I have fluorescent green/yellow made for streams, and long leader is a must. The water is clear and the fish can spot the line and YOU easily. Sneaking up to them is very important. Anyways, here is a pic of one of the fish, they were pretty much all the same size varying no more than a few inches. I'm guessing there are bigger fish in the lake but they are probably out deeper and don't feed as much.

Done with my first road trip.

So a couple weeks ago I took off from Salt Lake City heading south, then west for a couple week trip. To sum up the travel path I headed down to southern Utah, then into northern Arizona, through Vegas, up along the Sierra Nevada's in California, then across Nevada back to SLC...all in 2 1/2 weeks.
- Southern Utah: Zion National Park looks amazing. I didn't actually go into the park, but from what you can see on the edge the scenery looks amazing. I will definitely go back down that way when it's cooler and do some sight seeing. I rode Gooseberry Mesa, one of the more popular mtb destinations in the region. One word to sum up Goose', FUN! Not super hard, definitely not too easy, but a great flow and plenty of technical fun.
- Northern Arizona: Headed to the Grand Canyon, first the northern Rim. The big surprise, the high altitude. You'd think going south would mean going downhill, but the north rim is a oxygen reducing 9,000ft up, and quite a bit cooler than the surrounding low lying areas. After the north rim visit I headed back north to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam, the third tallest dam in the US. I quickly headed down to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to find a camp site. After quite a bit of driving I managed to get settled and got in my tent rather quick. Woke up freezing the next morning around 5:30, it was 39deg! I checked out the south rim view, watched the California Condors soaring (the largest bird in the US), and then headed south.
- Flagstaff: Well, I wish I could say more about Flag, but it was more of a quick stop and go town. Visually, Flag is beautiful, cool temps (it was 59deg mid day), and seems really down home small town living. Many people walking and riding bikes throughout the town which was nice. I'd definitely like to spend some time in Flag.
- Sedona: I've heard amazing things about Sedona..."the retirement capital of the US," "best weather anywhere in the country," and much more. Well, it was more desert looking than I thought, and much more tourist oriented then expected. I rode with John and James for two days with beautiful weather. Unfortunately I was a little under the weather, but I tried my best to keep my spirits up even with some achy body parts.
- Phoenix: Hot, not cool, sweat inducing, and it wasn't even hot for Phoenix. It was 95deg when I got there, and it never dropped much more than 10deg over night or in the morning. I visited my long lost sister Marilee which I haven't seen in about 10 years. Her dog, Zeus, a Siberian husky, is still making it at 13yrs old although a little slow. We ate lunch at the Elephant Restaurant and I had a wonderful jambalaya!
- Vegas: Stinking place took more of my money. So far I'm down a little over $1,500 to Vegas and I'm not sure I'll try and get it back. Had dinner with my friend Matt, he took me to a wonderful steak house that had the most unique dining style I've been a part of. You don't order off a menu, and it's one set price. So how does it work? Well, there's a salad bar and sides you can get buffet style, and mashed potatoes served family style. The meat, oh the sweet goodness, there are employees walking around with a cut of steak, lamb, and chicken on a sword, yes, a sword, and if you want some they will cut you off a chunk or in some cases give you a piece (small fillet medallions). So instead of getting one type of meat you can sample everything, or just your favorite. My favs were the bacon wrapped fillets and the flank steak...SOOO YUMMY. Thanks a ton Matt!!!! Looking forward to trying some food at Cut when I come back in Sept.
- Sequoia National Park: WOW, WOW, WOW. The trees are amazing, huge, breath taking, spectacular, mind blowing. You have to see them to believe them, they are THAT BIG. Pictures do nothing, take a vacation and go see them.
- Yosemite National Park: Hmmm, how do I top three WOW's? Well, Yosemite beats them and then some. The views in the park, especially the valley are wonderful. El Capitan and Half Dome are awesome, and the numerous waterfalls are majestic. Since it's so close to Sequoia I encourage everyone to take a vacation for a week and see both parks.
- Driving across Nevada: boring
- Salt Flats: cool to see once, would be better if I was racing my ole busy on the track. Driving across them, super boring. The road is STRAIGHT and you can see about 70miles to the other side. Ok to do once, hope next time I go across them someone else is driving and I'm sleeping.

So, back in SLC. Feels like home right now. A bed (futon) that I'm used to and sleep well in. Friends to talk to, and a consistent place to shower...much needed. Thinking back on the trip, I'd love to go back to Yosemite and climb up Half Dome and pack it in the park a few days. I still haven't got to do much in Vegas and would like to, just without spending much money. The southwest, well, just not my cup of tea. I like dirt, grass (natural), and seeing fall colors in the trees.

Next up: Carrie is coming out in less than a week (please let time fly bye) and we are going to have an amazing 5 day out here full of adventure. In the meantime I'll do some riding and hiking around here, and prepare for Colorado in July. Looking forward to seeing my brother and his family when they come to Colorado for vacation. I'm so glad I'll get to spend my birthday with family, just wish Carrie could be with me too (and I for her birthday which is 3 days later).

Tons of pics and vids posted. I rearranged my Smugmug page, mainly the Travel and MTB sections which are now divided into States. Good deal of vids on youtube under my user name: iambquinn. Feel free to check them all out. Warning, there are about 500 pics! Don't forget to read the captions on the pics.

Thanks for reading!

Finally got pics/vids uploaded

Too much to tell, but got pics and vids uploaded to see. I changed up my Smugmug page to separate pics into states rather than just one folder for mtb pics, one of travel...etc. Should be easier to browse now. Enjoy

Quick update on Bob

Left a few days ago from SLC, headed down to southern Utah and road Gooseberry Mesa, awesome place. Camped that night then headed down to the Grand Canyon on Friday. Hit up the North Rim first, then went up to Page where Lake Powell and the Glen Dam is, then took off for the South Rim area to find a camping spot before it got dark. That night it got down to 39deg! I woke up around 5:15 freezing because I was in shorts and a tee-shirt and in my 45deg sleeping bag rather than my 15deg bag. Whoops. That morning I checked out the view from the south rim then headed south again to Flagstaff. That town is really nice, would like to spend more time there! I felt like crap all day, had a sore throat (still do) and was tired so after Flagstaff I went down towards Sedona but missed the turnoff and ended up heading down highway 17 instead of 89A. I spotted a road on my map that jump between the two highways, but it ended up being a mountain pass rather than a road, so I took it! Up top the mountain I stopped and took a nap in the woods for a bit before heading down to Sedona. I was surprised to find that there is no camping around Sedona, so with night fall coming I heading to the cheapest motel I could find to get some good rest.
Today I rode with two fellas, John and James, both locals. We took a rather epic ride, of about 26miles through the most technical trails I've ever been on. A little too expert rated for me, ended up walking through a few tough sections. My throat was killing me all day, made things less enjoyable. I'll post pics up as soon as I can, but I'm sitting on James's laptop and got tons of pics to deal with that wouldn't be feasible at this time. Tomorrow either heading down to Phoenix or staying here and riding again with these guys, but on a less difficult trail...I hope.

My first somewhat Epic ride left me beat up a bit

First off, if you don't know, Epic in the mtb community means a long, memorable, ride that is usually out of the way back into the mountains or just way off the road. Long to me means at very least 15miles, but more like 20+ miles and not a bunch of switchbacks on the side of a mountain. That's 20+ miles heading back off the road to a point where you look around and see nothing but other mountains and no sign of society.

So yesterday I went down to Diamond Fork Canyon just south of Provo Utah to hit up a loop there. It starts at Three Forks Trailhead down in the valley, then heads up Cottonwood Creek trail for about 4.6miles of rather easy going single track. This section of the trail has snakes!!! See my youtube vids for my first encounter with a rattle snake (user name: iambquinn). The trail forks and I headed up Second Water Creek trail to Rays Valley Rd (hard road). At this point you can take the hard road north to Fifth Water Creek trail and back down to the trail head for a 15mile loop, or you can be a man and go up further to the Center Trail...yesterday I decided to be a man.

Me smiling getting ready to head up to the Center Trail (no the trail isn't this wide, this is the entrance off the hard road to the trail which was 100% single track and much of it over grown)

At 5.7miles I crossed the road and headed towards Center Trail which is not an up kept mtb trail. It proved to slow me down too, the choppy trail that was recently ridden by a single dirtbike left chunks of dried earth that kept my tires from rolling easily. After a fairly easy climb up to the first fork where you can choose to go to Strawberry Ridge, the trail starts it's series of 'up and overs' to the next creek and fork. For about 7.5 miles you go over a small mountain, down to a creek, then up over another, and repeat this a couple times. The climbs were somewhat tuff, quite a few rocks and long inclines with some hike-a-bike sections.

The mud clogged up the bike a few times and the clay like soil stuck to the tires and added a few pounds that are felt in a big way on climbs. I must say, I was shot and did not make it up some inclines like I normally do. My body was starving for food, and all I brought were two protein bars that did nothing for me. I thought I could finish the loop in around 2hrs, but my lack of energy and slow average speed drug out the ride more than expected. Eventually I made it to the top of the last hill and enjoyed a fun downhill to Fifth Water Creek Trail which takes you another 5+miles to the trail head with a nice moderate downhill flow that made it all worth it.

An interesting find way back in the mountains...still not exactly sure what it is???
All was good until a nice little rock drop off got the better of me. It was around mile 18 on the side of a steep hill when I came upon a short drop of about 7ft in a couple steps. The first two were over roots and no biggie, then over some rocks to a final small drop-off of about 1.5ft. The drops themselves were nothing to write about, and I did a hundred of them just like it down in Moab, but the run-off was what bit me. The landing is slanted to the left and hard packed with a fine layer of dirt and small loose rock which proved to be my deal breaker. As I picked up speed quickly coming down the rock and drop-off (can't break much on drops) my front tire slid out from underneath and my bike and I slid down the hill about 10ft or so, which was plenty far on that type of surface. Normally when you fall on a bike you feel nothing, it's after you get up something starts to hurt, but this fall was different, in a bad way. As I was sliding my thumb was being pressed into the ground by my grip and I could feel it getting bent the wrong way and immediate pain shot into the big digit and sent the message to my brain. I felt the instant throbbing and discomfort and knew it wasn't going to be a short lived event. The ole right knee got a nice little cut too, but my thumb just got worse and worse.

At that point you can do nothing but hop back on the bike and suck it up, so that's what I did for the next couple miles to the trailhead. By then my thumb was swollen and super stiff with no chance of bending it without help from my other hand. I figured it would be ok, but it just got worse. Anyways, my thumb hurts and I'll get over it, it's just so darn frustrating!!!

The day after, good thumb on the right:
On my way out I met a super cool dude at a camp ground I was checking out. We had a nice long talk, one of those conversations that takes turns in all sorts of directions and ends up being three times as long as you think it really was, but in a good way. Definitely the type of person I was hoping to run into on my travel rather than the typical citizen that doesn't have much unique to talk about. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future so we can continue the conversation we had going.

So back in SLC and resting today. My stinkin thumb kept me from falling asleep last night, so after only 6.5 hours of sleep I've decided to take the day off and rest...much needed.

All in all the ride was OK. It would've been much better with some good food in my belly for some energy and minus the thumb deal. Three hours 24min total, 21.11miles, and prob 12-14 uphill. Do it again, probably not. The Center Trail is just not a mtb trail, but I'm glad I did it once.
Tons of pics on my smugmug site of the ride. Click on the pic below to get into that area, starts on page 5 I believe. A couple of vids on youtube also of some snakes and review at the end.