Up for an early start today, 5:30AM, on the road at 6:45. 42-degrees. 1,953-miles from Spokane. Coffee and rolls at the Super 8. Chatted with the desk clerk about fishing around Fernie. Her husband was a mill supervisor in the "old days" and had keys to all the gates on the logging roads. She told us about driving down to the confluence of the Wigwam & Elk and the great fishing there. A long walk (~10-miles one way) if the gate isn’t open.

She also mentioned the Bull River? Not sure where that is?

And she told us a story about a guide taking customers up to the Wigwam River, parking at the trail head and someone broke into their vehicle and stole $4000.00 worth of goods!

A few miles out of Fernie on Hwy. 3 we saw an elk killed along the road. We wondered if we were required to stop at the "Animal’s Killed on this Road" sign and update the numbers?

Stopping in Cranbrook we used up the last of our Canadian money to fuel up the vehicles. At 8:30AM we crossed back into the Pacific Time Zone and crossed the boarder at 9:15AM Mountain Time; 8:15AM PST.

We made the mandatory stop in Sandpoint, Idaho for a cup of Starbuck’s. Seeing all the people with ear-buds, Ipods, cell phones, bicycles, cups of Starbuck’s and Crocs put us on civilization overload immediately.

Stepping into the parking lot we were almost killed by "the most deadly creature on the planet." No not a Grizzly Bear, Moose or Mountain Lion….or even a 2000# Bull.

It was a teenage girl driving a Honda with a cell phone in her ear! Why were all these people in such a hurry? What could possibly be THAT important?

Walking back to the vehicles we saw a 1956 Corvette Station-wagon, yes, I said "Station-wagon" drive by. Blue & White, it was unbelievable! We saw it park a few blocks down and wanted to get a picture. Unfortunately by the time we went around the block it was gone. I did go on line to see if I could find a photo of it, but only found a scale model of the car on a model collector website. Sure wish I knew the story on that car, it sure was unusual.

As we’re driving out of town, JR photographs a pickup truck with an ATV in the bed……now that’s not all that unusual…..especially in Idaho….but this one had a huge moose head strapped to the ATV! AM thought maybe it was a legal requirement to be able to drive in Idaho? AB said…I don’t care who you are….That’s funny!!

The next CB chat revolved around AM’s idea of making an automated fly tying machine! Since all the motions required in tying a fly are relatively repetitive, AM saw it a somewhat easy process to design a machine that would build them. The fly tying machines could not only be used in a factory environment, but also a fly shop version could be produced where the angler placed $2.00 in the machine, dialed up the fly pattern and the machine would make it right in front of your eyes. The key would be to make a machine that was competitive with the current cost of fly manufacturing in Sri Lanka.

AM also suggested that fly shops display photos of customers fish with the fly that caught the fish to encourage fly sales…..now there’s a great idea!! Any fly shop using this idea can send the royalties to the Yellowstone Gang "Make OUR wish!" foundation.

You can tell by now that we have been out in the "bush" too long!

We arrived in Spokane at 11AM, 2,165-miles Spokane to Spokane, 77-degrees. We fueled up the vehicles just before pulling into MS’s house. On the last run the Jeep got 22.6 mpg, the diesel Ford truck 20 mpg.

The trip back to Seattle made the voyage some 2400-miles, approximately 400 – 500 miles on GRAVEL ROADS!

• Fish S.W. Alberta & Montana, nicknamed the "Mon-cana" or "Can-tana" trip.
• Heritage Trout Slam in California
• Return to the "Best spots of the YG" in & around Yellowstone Nat’l. Park.
• Fortress Lake
• Idaho
• Canada
• Colorado Rockies
• Oregon
• 2008 seems really open for the right idea.

We had a discussion about moving the trip time to later in September for a couple reasons. Yellowstone rivers are often shut down in late August due to high water temperatures….that stress fish and Canadian/Montana forests are shut down due to fire danger or forest fires. Also, having the trip over the Labor Day weekend causes lots of folks to be in the woods and on the road due to the holiday. Maybe having the trip the week after Labor Day might provide cooler weather & less traffic? Negative: It might snow on us.

• This trip was more exploration than exploitation…but that’s ok.
• Finding new places was great!
• Gravel road sometimes terrible….I don’t think I ever want to drive a gravel road again.
• Diverse fishing conditions….muskeg to mountains; dense forest to rolling grass lands. Big rivers to small creeks. Grayling to Bull Trout.
• Canadian Zoo…..without bars!
• Big Bull Trout!
• Always fish the FOAM BACKWATERS!!!
• PMD’s (pale morning dunn), BWO’s (blue-wing olive) & Emergers top flies.
• Couldn’t crack the code on large grayling.
• Why grayling north & trout south, yet whitefish throughout…..what causes that?
• Bull trout are to Dolly Varden as Rainbow Trout are to Steelhead??
• What’s with Tim Horton’s menu….sandwiches & donuts??

• Andy’s Big Bull Trout, Mike’s Cutt, Al & JR’s Rainbows
• Grizzly Bears
• Gap fish for Al….BIG Cutt.
• Mike’s Big Bull Trout on the Wigwam.
• JR’s lost Bull Trout on Panther Creek.
• JR taking a "nose dive"!
• AM’s rod breaking….painful moment!

MS: Low point: Not setting the 16# test Bull Trout World Record.

High point: Catching a 6 lb. Bull Trout.

AB: High point: Catching a beautiful 10# Bull Trout that tied the current World Record….a fish of a lifetime. Seeing Grizzly Bears…..close up. Landing a HUGE Cutthroat for Mike! Coaching JR with his HUGE Cuttbow! Seeing AB catch a couple HUGE fish!

Lo point: Seeing all struggle to catch fish at times…..we fished hard on this trip. Not quite figuring out the Grayling, especially at Wedge Pond.

JR: High point: Guiding Al to his first Bull Trout on the Lodgepole!!

Lo point: Stream X was poor.

AM: Low point: Livingstone….what’s up with constantly hooking trees?

High point: Helping group find fish on the Crowsnest. Helping Mike with two great fish!