AM & AB met at JR’s in Bellevue at 5:13AM. We wanted an early start to the trip again this year as we’d planned to drive straight thru to Fernie, British Columbia, located in the Canadian Rockies near the Continental Divide and due north of Northwestern Montana.

This year we were driving JR’s Jeep Cherokee (24, 650 miles) and Mike’s 3/4T Turbo-Diesel Ford Pickup Truck (127,128 miles). JR had gathered his, AB’s & some of AM’s gear earlier in the month and sent it to Spokane with MS on an earlier trip, therefore providing more room in JR’s Jeep. He’d already installed the CB radio, also saving early morning departure preparations. JR also checked out the new portable antenna that AB had tuned for the trip. "Breaker – Breaker….Radio check." "Go ahead radio check, you’re coming thru loud & clear." "What’s your 20?" "Bellevue, WA." "What’s yours?" "Vashon Island, WA!!" Seems the new antenna was working well! That’s over 20 miles of range!

The remaining cloths, nets, fly vests, waders, wading boots, hip boots, cameras, coolers, water…..the list is endless….oh….then there’s the two-dozen fly rods along with three full sized adults were loaded into JR Cherokee (read: stuffed) and we were off at 5:30AM east toward Spokane on Highway 90.

This year, the first of many, we didn’t have to return to Seattle for something we’d forgotten.

Our first stop was at Indian John Hill near Cle Elum, where JR broke out breakfast….yes…since we left early for this trip and JR didn’t have time to prepare one of his great kick-off breakfasts, he’d packed coffee and rolls for a tailgate breakfast. Yum!!

We reached Mike’s house in Spokane at 10:05AM some 280 miles down the road.

MS & Grady (his Irish Setter) met us at the gate and we began the process of unpacking and reloading all our gear into the two vehicles in an attempt to keep each persons equipment in only one vehicle.

MS had a CB permanently installed in his truck and we checked it out….it was working fine. We left MS’s at 10:20AM.

A quick stop at Garwood, Idaho to top off our fuel; gas $2.78/gal., diesel $3.06/gal.

North to Sand Point, Idaho with a quick stop for a Mr. Sub sandwich and, of course, a mug of Starbuck’s Coffee. 11:40 AM and 345 miles from Seattle.

We topped off our fuel again in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho as we’d heard that fuel was much higher cost in Canada.

A quick stop at the Duty Free store produced a couple bottles of libations for the trip and we headed toward the boarder crossing. On the way, we came across a semi that had pulled off along the steep/soft shoulder of the road and TIPPED OVER! Workers were unloading an entire semi-trailer full of WATERMELONS! It was a mess!

We crossed the boarder into Canada at Eastport at 1:35PM at 388 miles from Seattle, 108 miles from Spokane, without incident.

At 1:57PM we cross from the Pacific Time Zone into the Mountain Time Zone a few miles north of the boarder crossing. It’s now 2:57PM.

The CB’s came in handy for coordinating stops, directions and endless chatter about expectations of the upcoming trip.

Passing thru Cranbrook, BC at 3:25PM, 157 miles from Spokane.

Last year as we drove along Highway 3 from Elko to Fernie we noticed a sign along the road that said; "Caution, Animals on Highway" "Animals hit by autos:"

• 2005 data 2006 data
• Bear—1 Bear---2
• Big Horn Sheep –6 Big Horn Sheep---1
• Elk --- 34 Elk --- 33
• Deer – 83 Deer – 73
• Moose – 3 Moose – 3

It seems that other than Bears & Moose, the body count is down for the year. AM speculates that the sign has something to do with a Canadian lottery. J

Headed back down the road for a few miles, checked into the beautiful condo Riverside Mountain Lodge Condo’s located on the Elk River. We’d rented the condo for 3 nights from Ned Cooper at the Elk River Guiding Company. It’s a beautiful 3 bedroom, three bath, kitchen, living room, deck, cable TV, laundry room,….the condo sleeps 10 …..a great place! We’ve stayed here for 3 seasons now and think the place is terrific.

We unloaded an endless pile of bags and gear into the condo and each YG member chose a room. AM & JR chose the two rooms with private baths on the first floor and MS & AB moved into the basement bedroom with a separate bathroom…..with JR reminding us that he’d slept on the hide-a-bed last year, qualifying him for a "good" room this year.

After a quick lunch/dinner AM & JR take off to fish the Elk River behind the condo….later we found out that they’d changed their minds to try Stream X for a chance at some fantastic cutthroat fishing we’d experienced in the past.              

Meanwhile MS & AB decided to do some exploring and head for the Flathead River. Good thing we’d asked Phil about the roads to the Flathead as there was a "good road" and a "bad road". Well, after some 40-miles of traveling the gravel "good road", over mountains, along sharp drop-offs and thru ruts, we were very glad we hadn’t taken the "bad road"! Arriving at the headwaters of the Flathead River we saw a beautiful small braided stream in a broad scrub pine filled valley with the sheer granite peaks of the Continental Divide framing the east drainage of the river. There were "Bear Warning" signs posted everywhere. We turned south and continued down the Flathead Valley seeing deer, owls and snowshoe rabbits all along the route. We came across a bridge crossing the river near "Butt’s Cabin" and with the light beginning to fade we decided to wet a line.

We’d heard about the big bull trout in the Flathead so we both chose 9 wt. rods (AB an Orvis & MS a custom rod) with sink-tip lines and Bull trout flies. On the way down to the river MS pointed out a set of wolf tracks….apparently following the fresh deer tracks all along the river bank. After fishing several great log filled pools without success, we packed up and started the trek back thru the mountains. After an 80-mile round trip run on some pretty interesting gravel we were back at the highway. We’d seen some beautiful territory and vowed we’d return.

At 10PM the gang had all returned to the condo to share the stories of the day & plan the next day’s activities.