.. It seems a bit of an error to say "HAVE A HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY."
.. We wish for you a thoughtful and reverent memorial day. Celebrate our freedom and the contentious diversity that our heroes have provided for us.
.. Democracy is always messy and diversity is it's soul.
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THE VERY BEST MEMORIES
.. Both fishing and catching are proceeding apace in Yellowstone National Park. We pause now and would have y'all do the same. This is a time for reserved joy as we understand that what we have is a gift from others.
.. Pray we do not squander it with the exigences of the moment.
.. The faithful are gathering. Even today's rain can't slow the crowds. The bison are moving both ways on the roads. Some are sleeping on the double yellow lines.
FIREHOLE CANYON FLY
.. The biggest bugs are already in the lower Firehole River Canyon. Clear as it is, (sort of,) the Firehole River is running at record discharge, (LINK FH.)
.. Mid day water temperatures are in the middle 60's and there are noses in the foam lines. The faithful shall be rewarded.
.. Not so clear but still highly fishable the Madison River is running just about 300 cfs above the seasonal norm, (LINK MAD.)
STIMULATOR WITH A HAIRCUT
.. The wild temperature fluctuations on the Madison River are spiking at about 60°F. The low end of the range is hanging at the low 50's. In water visibility is over four feet and there are fish noses during the bright mid day caddis hatch. .. Weather will bring a mixed bag for fishers over this weekend. Friday, May 25, 2018 will see mostly clear and bright skies with a near zero chance of rain -- high 72°F.
WHAT DRY DO YOU DO ?
.. Saturday, May 26, 2018 should have high clouds building to overcast and late afternoon drizzle followed by evening rain, (. . . late little bugs?) High temperature should peak at 69°F about one or two O'clock. .. Sunday, May 27, 2018 will be perfect for the little bugs. Overcast, occasional drizzle, some rain and a smidgen of cool should grace the west side rivers. High temperature may reach 60°F by 2:00 PM.
TRY IT BIG
.. The wee mayflies will be at their species biggest size and less prolific that later in the season. Fling your favorites. You can even float the softies that you have tied on behind your buddies back. .. Please remember: NO FELT SOLES, BUY A PARK FISHING PERMIT, SHARE THE WATER, PARK SAFELY, KEEP 'EM WET, BARBLESS ONLY, WORK LOTS OF WATER, TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE! .. This coming "mixed-bag" weekend will provide myriad style opportunities on the west side rivers. Just about any fly will work at some time - some place.
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.. So then; this morning's rain will wash the swallow poop from our vehicles.
SCRUFFY
.. The gutters will run clear and, visitors will whine about the lousy weather here in the high country, feather merchants will talk up a storm and, trinket stores will praise the rain for keeping folks out of the park - so be it. .. It's about time for a second breakfast. The coffee is gone, (new is always available.) Maybe some spam, scrambled eggs, a waffle or two and strawberries. We'll probably follow it with a slice of the first fresh rhubarb pie of the year and a nap. .. Then . . . . . Notellum Creek in the rain - eager fish.
.. According to a story in USA TODAY the earth just had its 400th straight warmer-than-average month thanks to global warming, [LINK-A.] .. More fake news. We're glad we have a president that understands that global warming is a hoax. It's all a Chinese conspiracy.
"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." [LINK-B.]
.. The genuinely smart people in America are beginning to believe the president about this and other issues facing our nation, [LINK-C.] We're pleased to live here where the air is clean, beautiful, and healthy. We even got our garden in two weeks earlier than the historical average. We are surrounded by the genuinely smart people of this earth.
"Give me clean, beautiful and healthy air - not the same old climate
change (global warming) bullshit! I am tired of hearing this nonsense." [LINK-D]
.. Our nation is obviously far better off with access to the insights provided by our president. He's so smart that he is single-handed making America Great Again. We feel better already. The tweet archive just proves it, [LINK-E.]
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.. Just think, soon there will be fewer cold water fishes for the elbow swinging visitors to our neighborhood. Hell, there will be fewer cold waters to nurture all those fish that the NPS is moving around. .. The last time the earth was as warm as it has been lately was 125,000 years ago, [LINK-F.] That's probably just more fake news. Who was there to take the temperature? .. The failing New York Times reports that:
"2017 Was one of the hottest years on record. And, that was without El Niño, [LINK-G.]
.. We all know what that reporting is worth from that failing paper with is phony news and poor reporting. They even get names and places and business contacts wrong. How sorry is that?
The Failing New York Times wrote another phony story. It was political
pundit Doug Schoen, not a Ukrainian businessman, who asked me to do a
short speech by phone (Skype), hosted by Doug, in Ukraine. I was very
positive about Ukraine-another negative to the Fake Russia C story![LINK-H]
.. The paper also reported that in 2017 the earth set a temperature record for the third straight year, [LINK-I.] .. Right now in West Yellowstone we are getting a Spring mix of snow, hail, and rain. It sure doesn't look like global warming to us. .. We're so glad that there will be 7 more years of this president and the absolute best people in his administration. Just think of all the money we'll get from our tax break. We may be able to afford steak twice each quarter!
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FIREHOLE CANYON ?
.. We've planned a brief foray into the bowels of the feather merchant morass. We do this periodically as a check on the new hires and congeniality of the staff. We're seldom surprised. .. Dinner is ready, if the barbee hasn't cooled too much. If it has we'll just bask in the cool non-globally-warmed drizzle and fling in some more plum-wood chips.
.. Just a note to remind our friends about traveling to the Clark Fork River up by Missoula, MT.
.. Not only is the flood stage higher than any in recent memory - it's predicted to come in surges for the next week or so and, will stay high all summer. Even the Golf Course is in danger of losing some turf.
READ IT:
100 year record >> L1
Flood Photos >> L2
High Water Rescue >> L3
Extent Of Flood >> L4
Environmental Contamination? >> L5
Evacuations Ordered >> L6
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.. Our rain has dwindled to an intermittent light drizzle - gray and surprisingly high humidity!
USE THE BIG 'UNS
.. The garden is too wet to fiddle with so we're going to the clear still waters of the Notellum Backwater. It's in exceptional shape right now.
.. Last years snags and this year's flood debris have raised the level and encouraged the cute little fishies to the calm clear water. HA! - little do they know.
.. Better Late Than Never? The Firehole River is now showing discharge rates far above record rates, (FIRE LINK.) It is running at over 900cfs. That is more than 250cfs above record for the date. The gauge height is more than 4.5' above datum = NWS Flood Stage.
.. The Madison River is flirting with flood stage and just waiting for the Gibbon River to fill it up, (MAD LINK). This must be Spring.
.. For those of you that are looking to enjoy the Lowland Madison River, please be prepared for record runoff down there too. With all the tributary water the river is about 300cfs above the daily record, (MAD KIRBY LINK.)
.. Lash on the mud flies and have at it. This is an event that will rejuvenate the river beds. It will rearrange holding water and hides. It will cause curses and disappointments. It is like what we were familiar with not too long ago - on an annual basis.
.. Oh, by the way, a warm and gentle rain is watering the garden. We're glad we got most of it in over the last three sunny days.
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.. In searching for garden supplies, provisions, bills at the P.O. and a stroll through the darker environs of trinketonia we gathered up some interesting bits of local conversation.
SPRING STORM
.. We share them here without prejudice:
>> The folks in Canada are planning to fund a border wall,
>> The big corporations that own bits of this little village are looking to hire Michael Cohen,
>> River guides are drawing straws to see who gets the privilege of escorting Ryan Zinke,
>> Foreign investors from China have gobbled up three campgrounds and RV facilities in our village,
>> Foreign investors from China have gobbled up two working ranches and three small motels in our village,
BOX SHORTAGE
>> Foreign investors from China have built two motels, (and two under construction,) in our village,
>> Only one person now owns all five T-Shirt shops in town,
>> One local family now owns three of the six gas stations in town,
>> Our local fast food joints are among the most expensive in the United States,
>> The local Post Office is understaffed and running out of boxes for the transient visitors and workers. General delivery mail is running out of space too,
WORKER'S QUARTERS
>> Village merchants are moving in travel trailers and motor homes for seasonal employees - all rentals are full,
>> The new government agency is called the Environmental Pollution Agency,
>> AT&T is looking to hire our one lawyer for advice on a merger with the local radio station,
>> There are openings for the local TSA agents for our single commercial flight into and, out of town,
>> Since the United States Does Not do business with Iran; should we sanction our allies, neighbors and friends?
>> Two bears were bagged during the Spring Bear Hunt,
>> Visitation to Yellowstone National Park is already showing new daily records for the early season,
.. Spring is haltingly making it's presence known in the neighborhood.
.. We got most of the garden in. It had a bit of nitrogen enrichment with a light dusting of snow: makes for sturdy plants.
.. The wide swings in temperatures from nocturnal to diurnal have nearly broken the recorder on the Firehole River, (LINK-F.)
.. The little stream is currently flowing at a new record for the day. It's up by more than 110cfs over the max that came just last year. Can two records in a row make a trend?
WARM RAIN OVER THE DIVIDE
.. The Madison River, (LINK-M,) has been rather recalcitrant in spilling over it's banks but, it will happen in the next 48 hours.
.. It is flowing just below daily records and the gauge height is 2.70' above reference.
.. We are under another hydrologic alert. The coming rains will be wafted this way on warm zephyrs and should bring absolutely no snow to even the highest peaks in the Continental Divide.
.. It is wise to remember what the English author Douglas Adams has remarked: "The single raindrop never feels responsible for the flood." We're scheduled to get a few up here.
SPRING AMALGAMATED WEATHER
.. The surface weather map shows an interesting amalgamation of systems and wind directions.
.. This will make it hard for the ravens to precisely strike preferred targets with their fluid discharges. Don't look up today.
.. Given the spud planting schedule just over the Divide in Idaho we may get a mud rain this afternoon.
.. Or not, depending on how rapidly the Great Basin High builds back. The fluky winds of Spring are a capricious lot, indeed.
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MOTHER'S DAY ?
.. Time to visit the Post Office and the hardware store: rumors, gossip, pure political lies and, fish stories await our receptive ears.
.. Our current sociocultural atmosphere provides for great entertainment in a village this small.
.. Gossip, rumor and speculation are the unifying triumvirate in this little village. Out the door.
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WALLPAPER: BANANA LOAF WITH ZANTE CURRANTS & PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
.. If you don't have the time for homemade mole, this is the way to go. .. Cinco De Mayo has somehow magically transmogrified into Hispanic and Mexican pride celebrations in the United States. Often just another excuse to get pie-eyed with just one more drink. .. In Puebla, Mexico it is still a celebration of the battle of Puebla: a battle where poorly equipped Mexican heroes destroyed a French army. That's the reason for the extra pulque.
.. Mole Poblano Con Pollo is the dish of choice and it is fitting for the celebration. We do it a couple of times each year. .. For some norteamericanos there is never enough tequila to get this down the gullet. For some of us it is just grand the way it is. Fanta naranja is a good chaser. .. We use chicken wings but, it is much better with iguana rear legs.
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.. Whisper it quietly - we may get to 70°F in the next couple of days. Word will certainly spread fast enough.
.. From the earliest days of 'discovery' in Yellowstone National Park, place names have been scattered around the landscape like rice at a wedding.
NATIONAL PARK MOUNTAIN
.. One of these names is "National Park Mountain." Ever since the naming, folks visiting the park have used the name.
.. Park employees use the name. Rangers and interpreters use the name. This is a simple example of the subtle tyranny that words slam into our understanding of the world around us.
.. The name applies to a prominence that was left behind when the glaciers left the interior of Yellowstone National Park. It is not a mountain especially when viewed from the Madison Plateau. It can be 'called' a mountain when viewed from Madison Junction.
SURFACE GEOLOGY OF YELLOWSTONE
.. Interestingly; there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain in the English Language.
.. Elevation,
volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as
criteria for defining a mountain.
.. It's a matter of usage and local conventions.
.. Geologically this prominence is just that. It is a bit of the Madison Plateau that exists because of glacial scouring and, erosion of the rivers adjacent to it.
GLACIATED YELLOWSTONE
.. This glacier scouring has left behind several hanging valleys that did not have the available water to erode them down to the valley level of the master stream.
.. The Madison River Valley as it currently exists is a product of an ice divide that produced shear forces, (down slope,) toward the narrows at Hebgen Dam.
.. The same processes created the celebrated Mount Haynes.
.. This is not as trivial as it may seem. It is, in fact, emblematic of the way we perceive the world and the way we communicate with other folks about that world.
.. Most folks, fly fishers included, believe that the words they use are perfectly well understood by the people with whom they are talking.
.. Be they technical terms or, words from daily vernacular language the assumption of mutual understanding works a tyranny that can lead to gross misunderstanding.
THE ULTIMATE FLY
.. Depending on one's exposure to any one of the fly fishing cults that exist, verbiage can be precise or slipshod. .. Granted that the day to day vernacular is sufficient for most common interactions, it is seldom accurate when talking about flies like the "common transparently mutated and variegated imitation asphalt cased nymph." .. This particular fly is widely known by the fishers of Notellum Creek. Another bit of gear used by this particular cult of fishers is the "single handed, switch-spey, noodle-actioned, composite naturalized, artificial fly rod." .. When the neighbors are armed with a combination of this fly and this rod they take enormous amounts of good fish. My, my, my.
SWITCH OR SPEY NEW OR OLD
.. Politicians, feather merchants, gear manufacturers, industry representatives, guides, and other lucre motivated personages understand this subtle tyranny. They also understand the value of repetitive utterances of their preferred verbiage. .. Try this: 'no collusion,' 'no collusion,' 'no collusion,' 'no collusion,' - or 'Spey Rod,' 'Spey Rod,' 'Spey Rod,' 'Spey Rod,' - or 'Switch Rod,' 'Switch Rod,' 'Switch Rod,' 'Switch Rod,' - or 'good fish,' 'good fish,''good fish,''good fish,' - or 'streamer fly,' 'streamer fly,' 'streamer fly,' 'streamer fly,' 'streamer fly.' .. Of course the ultimate aim of fly fishers and politicians and feather merchants is obfuscation - not precision. It keeps things interesting and keeps the mystery forefront in the cults. .. Belief in the tyrannical words we adopt rapidly becomes dogma. From belief to dogma to religion to infallible pronouncements are rising in fly fishing and politics. Such an entertaining time we live in. .. We do enjoy the conversations of guides, counter help, feather merchants and marketing organizations as they pretend to impart information as they, in fact, are busy proselytizing converts to their religious cults. .. We know of only a few folks, guides, feather merchants, or organizations that are honest enough to utter such phrases as: "I don't know," "That may be the case," "There are many ways to accomplish that," 'In my humble opinion." .. However, whether talking about mountains, fly fishing, beer, food or politics, we know many folks that utter these kinds of phrases: "Best ever," "Can't be beat," "Absolute best," "Unquestionably, "The only way," "Everyone says," "I know," etc.
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.. We don't know if the myriad flies we intend to use this afternoon will catch a good fish. In our humble opinion the rod we will use is only probably the right kind for the fly we suggest may entice a trout. We think that we are fishing for trout. Perhaps we are even fly fishing. We won't use a gill net.
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