Zion Subway

Andy
Kristian
Matt a.k.a. EAZY-E
Katie

Had a great weekend down in Zion National Park hiking the Subway. It was hot, real hot. Thanks to plenty of water to navigate it kept our core temperatures down. The first pool was the deepest and coldest. Some standing water yet debris free. Ran into a couple of groups, all a bunch of no talent *** clowns. The rest of the water wasn't too deep or cold and we got to navigate around most of it. There was supposed to be a few mandatory drops using ropes and harnesses but we only needed about 15 feet of rope for one and in hindsight we did not need to use it. Thankfully, we hiked in four harnesses and 150 feet of rope... pure overkill but it helps to be prepared. I think we hit it at the most perfect time. The most fun was just navigating the obstacles of run off and boulders. The water was not the problem but getting down some slippery slopes was a must. Katie battled the rocks with her head literally, but turned out ok.
K-dog brought the bends with Matt and Katie, and I brought down the blue baller: the last road trip for me and my WRX as I am now going to sell it... but that is a different story. The bends had some difficulty in the very very soft sand and we needed to push it out, with a little help from some other dudes we got it out just fine despite a viscous attack by some fire ants on Jr.'s ankles we made out just fine, yet from there on out someone became very aware and afraid of ants. We also ran into some cool wildlife of a non-threatining kind, frogs, tadpoles, and fish. I didn't think fish could live in that environment but the warm water didn't seem to bother them and their 2"-6" bodies.
Overall Zion is awesome, a must see destination, and one of the most beautiful places on the planet, hope you enjoy the photos:

Just what I needed

I'm so glad I learned to fish!
Well, I went alone so no one stole my fish...

Sunday turned out to be just what I needed. Met some very nice cowboys and a cowgirl gearing up their horses to wrangle up some cattle. They were nice, polite, and they even tried to feed me breakfast, but I declined, I just wanted to hit the water. Thanks to a heads up from Bryan and Nate I was armed with the right fly on top and then my newly designed nymph that grew some legs from my original, and the two worked great together. From about 8:35 am- 12:30 pm the fishing was 'hot and furious', after that it got sporadic. There seemed to be a hatch going off ALL DAY LONG and the fish got tired from filling their bellies all morning at the Bug Buffet. I landed a couple cutthroats, very happy about that, the first two of the year with more to come I hope, and hopefully next time I don't have to go alone...

I always seem to get extremely and dangerously close to moose and I am very afraid of them. As some people are aware I have a magnetism for moose. Not in the automobile, but on foot, I have been 5 feet away from two bull moose at Snowbird with Jr. years back, at Brighton in the summer 30 feet away, with Bryan at some lake, on some mountain, in some range, in some state we ran into a crazy bull moose that went into the lake to swim after us, where was that again B.G.? Then, for the second time where I was fishing, came across a bull moose that made me almost crap my pants. How can animals that are so large be so stealth and just sneak up on you? One second I am casting to a rising trout, the next thing I know there is this giant black animal 15 feet away staring at me, ears perked straight up! I quickly, or rather I QUICKLY reeled in my line and backed up quietly, climbed a steep embankment and snapped some pictures from a safe, high distance. As the moose did his thing I figured it was time to take a lunch break and watch this moose continue downstream and out of sight.

June Camping

Hit the same spot I've hit all season, the best thing is it keeps getting better. The worst thing was my batteries in my camera died so no photographic evidence. Any ways, measured up the fish I did catch and topped out at 16.5 " rainbow, followed by a 15 " and so on. The lake did not produce with the spinning rod, but the river was on fire, even some of the dry. (about 4) the rest came off my own BCW killer again, I think it is time to tie some more of those. The first morning we woke to a snow storm and high winds, the winds kept at it all weekend, but Sunday turned out to be sunny and great fishing. Next time I will remember extra batteries for the camera and will grab the camcorder off the floor before I leave, duh...