Finally, off the road. After 40 days and over 5,000 miles of getting from here to there and visiting with family, we are settled into a forested campground off the beaten Interstate. We are having to replace the noise of diesels, trains, and trucks with the sounds of stellar jays, squirrels, and chipmunks.
We are camped at the SnowFlower TTN Park a couple of miles off I-80 near Yuba Gap. We are about 25 miles west of Truckee on the west side of the Donner Summit. The elevation is 5,781 ft, the temperature right now is 78F, and the sky is clear. A mild west breeze circulates the air around the rig.
A chipmunk just found my offering of a peanut -- probably not good for him/her, but that is about the only one he/she is going to get. Enough food for a critter that size to last a day.
I splurged yesterday and bought a fly-fishing rig: rod, reel, line, leader, flies, and a fishing vest. I bought a fishing license this morning in Truckee. This evening when the sun gets off the water, I will walk down on the dam of the little lake here and see if I still know how to cast a fly.
Nearly thirteen years ago I lost my entire collection of fishing gear in a forest fire that ate up our travel trailer parked at Lake of the Springs TTN Park above Marysville, CA. All my rods, all my reels, my fly tying station, my vest and waders turned into ashes. Insurance paid for the value of all those things, but I had also lost my enthusiasm for fishing. It just wasn't the same.
We are camped at the SnowFlower TTN Park a couple of miles off I-80 near Yuba Gap. We are about 25 miles west of Truckee on the west side of the Donner Summit. The elevation is 5,781 ft, the temperature right now is 78F, and the sky is clear. A mild west breeze circulates the air around the rig.
A chipmunk just found my offering of a peanut -- probably not good for him/her, but that is about the only one he/she is going to get. Enough food for a critter that size to last a day.
I splurged yesterday and bought a fly-fishing rig: rod, reel, line, leader, flies, and a fishing vest. I bought a fishing license this morning in Truckee. This evening when the sun gets off the water, I will walk down on the dam of the little lake here and see if I still know how to cast a fly.
Nearly thirteen years ago I lost my entire collection of fishing gear in a forest fire that ate up our travel trailer parked at Lake of the Springs TTN Park above Marysville, CA. All my rods, all my reels, my fly tying station, my vest and waders turned into ashes. Insurance paid for the value of all those things, but I had also lost my enthusiasm for fishing. It just wasn't the same.
A few weeks ago while driving through Kansas I got to thinking about the joys I had experienced fishing back in the good old days. That was when I decided to try it again. It has been many years, but maybe I can find some of that old enthusiasm. We will see on this trip as we visit some of my old fishing haunts. I know the fish I remember will not be there, but much of the joy of fishing is simply watching your line drift down the stream, keeping an eye on the leader or the fly to see if some fish lurking under the water will check it out. It is all anticipation and hope. Most of the time you don't get a strike, but when you do...
sam
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