Family Float Down The River

 The Badgers were enjoying life. James' cell phone didn't work so he was able to unwind with his kids.

 Emily and Dustin had their kids out as well.

 Anytime we stopped, I would try and fish. 

 Fish on! All the kids were pumped...

 Maybe I don't get to fish 24/7 on these trips but getting the kids excited about fly fishing may be my best use of time. Look at that brown!

 And look at the kids..

 Mother in Law rapid. Liv jumped onto the Badger boat.

 Emily, Dustin and crew take the white water.

And Dylan takes a nice nap...

Floated the A and B and we camped at our favorite camp spot on the B. Lot's of fun and made some new friends. Might have even made some new fly fishers...

Thanks,

Chris Giles

F*#king DuHawks Go West!

 "Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread." Ed Abbey

 So we took off for a bit of wilderness. There were some nervous souls but on the whole everyone was excited.

 Had some engine issues and our brightest minds quickly solved it. Wet spark plug... Thanks McGuinn and Shawn.

 Once we got moving we could feel the wind in our hair. Cutty was hell bent on getting to Spanish Bottoms that night. So we did. 50 river miles!

 Gigari takes in the white rim layer. What a great shot!

 McGuinn takes over the motor boating duties and Cutty stretches his legs. Buzz enjoys some conversation.

 So it was Greg, Cutty, Giles, Downing, Buzz, McGuinn and the DuHawks - Sammy, Jorge, Sawyer, Pedro and Shawn. 11 in all... Above the DuHawks take in the Doll's House.

 Excellent photo taken by Pedro!

 Fucking DuHawks...

 We laid over at Brown Betty and horseshoes ensued.

 If you are going to be in the peanut gallery might as well be at Brown Betty. Teams were formed and it became clear that the DuHawks were not brushed up on horseshoes, hence they spent a lot of time getting beat and watching. They also didn't bring sleeping bags! To be young.

 The Utah Boys at sunset.

 Where the DuHawks lacked in horseshoes skills they made up for it on the jam session that evening. Everyone grabbed a stick, fork, can, or board and we howled at the moon for several hours.

 Dawn broke and Jorge drew the dish duty straw. Probably better than the biffy duty though...

 Rapid day was tense. CFS around 45,000 and the biggest any of us had seen. I had the back oar and loved every minute of it. When Greg and Cutty gave the safety speech that morning it was a captive audience to say the least.

 Like a meer cat troop it was heads up looking for potential danger. Lots of video of actual rapids on social media so check there for the action.

 Having a moment in between rapids to look up.

 The whole crew minus McGuinn. Pure freedom when you are in the canyon.

 Some of the DuHawks take a dip. Buzz thinks better of it though and enjoys a cold one...

 God damn the take out and the bridge warning.

 Cutty almost got in a fist fight taking his time on the boat ramp. He was in strap land and had a bunch of "commercials" lined up behind him.

 We got out of there though and enjoyed the drive up out of Powell, past the Henrry Mountains and into Green River. Had a good laugh when Downing was bitching about the keys not being where we specified... Cutty said "did you check under the floor mat" "of coarse I did" says Downing. "Check again" says Cutty.... "Oh, there they are..." classic!

 A quick dinner at Ray's hit the spot. We found out that the Warrior's/Cav's series was going to game seven. Love coming off the river learning of ground breaking sports history...

 Ended up at Swasey's outside of Green River. I had to call it early that night but the energy was off the charts. I was missing Ash and the kids...

 DuHawks sleeping in the dirt. Nice spot to sleep in the dirt!

What a good mix of generations... Hopefully the DuHawks have an appreciation of life in the west (sleeping bags and all). I eluded to it in camp one night but it takes a ton of commitment to take on a trip like this. I tip my hat to everyone who made it. And to Cutty...! Who has lived the river life for years and accumulated a bevy of Cataract grade equipment, inspired me personally to buy a boat and live the life for myself. 

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Good Day Sunday

 Shot of the Kennecott mine on the approach into the Salt Lake Valley. Not a lot of run off water is affected by this mine but there is one proposed mine up in a special drainage in Montana that has people talking. One of my buddies drew a permit to float The Smith's River in August and graciously invited our family. Been drooling over this 60 mile road-less area for a long time and it will be a dream come true floating for four days through one of the most scenic canyons on earth. A mine would not be a good move for this area and history would view it as short sighted. Currently it is a blue ribbon trout stream and mine tailings/adverse strains would potentially take this top rated stream down a few notches.

 Meanwhile in Utah... Stream access is not ideal but I am thinking it will get back to high water mark soon. Above McGuinn hooks one on a streamer...

 The fruits of a long day walking and switching flies constantly.

 Just under 20" and he attacked the streamer right on top of a rifle which caused a nice explosion. 

 One more close up.

 After a couple hours of trying different bugs Jon Boy started catching them on streamers. I stuck with bugs and had a rough go. I finally caught a little brown but that was it for me. Had this been a competition Jon would have won by a large margin. But it wasn't, it was a great day walking a river and lots of bull shitting.

 Wild flowers are out!

 Smoked a pizza on the Traeger that night at home. What an amazing contraption!

Checked out another free stone stream on the way home. Prime time for this stretch. The fish can't see you as well and you don't have to be so sneaky...

Thanks,

 Chris Giles

Ice Off

 Annual ice off at a favorite high mountain lake. 

 Lost track of this guy for a minute.

 4lbs and over twenty. I need to write a song with that title... CSNY anyone?

 Found a couple dinosaur eggs... The crane family was near by yelling at us to stay away. Had to grab a quick shot...

 Moose, deer, ducks, magpies, crows, squirrels, trout, a few bugs and  lots of...

 Elk.

 Fishing this lake is tough but very rewarding. McGuinn had a couple on but lost them and his streamer. These are big fish. Catching one is consider a good day. Water was murky and we were blind casting streamers. Should get better and better as the season goes on.

 We started up Parley's committed to the Provo. Then we gravitated to the Weber. Then we decided to take a chance that the snow was off the dirt road and go for the high altitude lake. Wish McGuin would have landed one but we will be back...

 

Had some auto body work done by Woody at Driftwood Auto Body. We go way back as family friends and we both share a passion for big trout. When I walked in he showed me his recent bamboo fly rod project. Unreal... This guy also builds wooden drift boats from scratch and he has also started building his own custom nets. He was showing me one of his nets and as I was admiring it he casually remarked "Just don't tell me I never gave you anything". What a classic... Walnut wood boat net. Polished to perfection. Well made gear is what its all about. Now I got to buy one of his bamboo rods.

Thanks,

Chris Giles