BilletHead

Yes we did Chief but Sadie ate them, Now a night in the town of Butte and a stop in Livingston then up the Yellowstone Valley and Pine Creek, Well after deciding not to venture any further up the South Fork of the Flathead we dropped back into Columbia Falls area. The slow dirt road really ate up time but hey we had no immediate plan. Stopped off at one of those tourist traps looking for grandchild stuff. First place nothing, second place was where we found out the real scoop on the endangered huckleberry. Huh you say? Ok going in it was huckleberry this and huckleberry that. A big glass window separated us from a huckleberry processing area. A cute looking gal working in there and grinning at the folks peering in. A family at the counter buying stuff. I listened as they and the owner were discussing things. He told them the season was about over but he had pickers out still looking. They asked well what are they worth. He responded I buy choice berries for 78.00 DOLLARS a gallon! My jaw dropped. Their eyes all got big. One of them said they had picked a bunch days before. The owner asked where they had got them. Fellow said in Idaho in a state forest. Owner grilled them again and said he would call his pickers to jump over there to look. Unbelievable I thought. Now I know why those folks in the junky vehicle with Washington plates were out in the boonies. Making Christmas money picking huckleberries. Figured out the hand full I found and ate came to ten bucks worth. Went down the road a bit further to a fruit stand. Flathead cherries and huckleberries advertised. As I said last year in my posts Flathead lake is so big it creates a micro climate. Major cherry groves are strung along the East side of the lake and cherries were in season. Talked to the girl who said they had picked that morning and right there next to the stand was a young man dumping five gallon buckets of cherries onto a sorting table as he sorted he washed them. We bought a couple of big bags and they were the best cherries I think I have ever eaten. Not picked early, not trucked across the country etc. I asked where the huckleberries were. She said pickers out now, should be back soon and how many do you want? I said thanks we got to go and off we went. Down the road we went along the East side of flathead lake spitting cherry pits out the window amazed at the loaded cherry trees, so loaded branches touching the ground. Really neat. Worked our way south to I-90 and headed East stopping at a KOA for the evening. Kind of bummed s I pulled into the campground not fished for the day. Then we seen a small creek behind the KOA. When Pat checked us in I told her to ask if there were any fish in it. She came out and said yes they guy said that there were brook trout in it. Hummmm? After setting up we walked over to see this town walking and biking trail along the creek with busy noisy I-90 on the other side. I looked for a trail through the willows and high grass, making it to the water. Peered into the mossy trickle. Back for a shower and dinner. Then Pat says you going to try? I don't know. She they says I am going to take Sadie for a walk you might as well string up and try as we walk. OK you twisted my arm. Well guess what I caught some and missed some. Who would of thought it. Bicycles, joggers and walkers looking at me like I was some kind of crazy man. Next morning up at dark thirty and on the road before sunrise still heading East towards Livingston.. Checking the map along the way making a short plan, BilletHead Coming up the FFF conclave and Pine Creek

Yes we seen dippers, many of them. Fun to watch. BilletHead

Ham, We do carry a water filter when fishing and use it a bunch. You would be surprised how parched you can get in low humidity fast. We do carry some bottled water for drinking and even making coffee. Do not even like to drink straight from the water tank. Just wanting to top it off because you never know if you get stuck or hung up somewhere. We have been places we did not see anyone for a couple of days. I have had a case of giardia one time when bowhunting for elk in my younger days. I would not wish that on anyone. Well maybe my enemies? All we had was a couple of five weights each. I know we might of pinched in a couple more rods or gear but space was at a premium. Not into tenkara yet but you guys have me thinking. In the meantime I will cut a long straight branch like we used to use bamboo poles for bluegill . Yes there is other fish to be caught but we did not try. Seen lots of native sculpins in the creeks. I think the locals call them bull heads. Lots of dead rattlesnakes dead on the road. None while out fishing. Mammals yes will get to some of that on another installment. Birds ,yes and some neat ones. We seen some goldeneye ducks on Grave creek. Fast whitewater mom was swimming upstream with her little ones following. They would all disappear in the waves, now you see them now you don't. I could hardly believe it in such a small stream. Maybe that is why we blanked there. They ate the fishes . The neatest thing bird wise on the same creek was the cedar waxwings. The small flock actually followed us up and down the creek very unafraid. While high sticking a run I had one try to land on my rod tip. If i had not been swinging with the current it would of lit, BilletHead

Yes Snagged good guess! They go good with anything and on anything and in anything. Scramble with eggs, endless possibilities. I will be making some grilled cheese sammaches tonight and there will be some in there too. I will link to a recipe later on that sandwich. BilletHead

We will call this installment Graves Creek although there is much before reaching the creek South we headed to Kalispell where we stopped at a fish and game office. We had a couple of ideas and wanted to ask the local experts for info. Went in and asked the young lady at the counter some questions. I have only been here three days let me get some help. Guy comes to visit. We ran some things by him. Well he said water is pretty warm, fishing slow but you can go to lake X and catch. Wanting streams I said. Oh you had better go to Snappy's to ask that question. Go here and turn here and look for this car dealership turn right and there is Snappy's. We finally find Snappy's and go to the fishing counter. Fellow there says he doesn't really work this department let me call for Joe. Joe shows up and we grill him. Well all he knows is there have been lots of hopper patterns of all types purchased. Then everyone have been going to the top end of Hungry Horse Reservoir, driving to the end of the road and hiking up the South Fork of the Flathead. He said long bumpy road, fill up before you go. Might check out Handkerchief lake on the way up. State record grayling was caught there. So a plan was hatched and we began to prepare. Stopped in Columbia Falls to do laundry, eat lunch and top off the water tank in the camper. Laundry dome and road grime washed off the truck and camper we began to look for water. Spied a big campground. Keep in mind we are really close to the entrance to Glacier Park. It was a good Sam campground which we are Good Sam Members. The membership pays for itself as we get three cents off a gallon of gas at Pilot and Flying J stations. We have one at home and I use it to fill truck and car. Pat is driving so we pull in, I head for the store. Guy in front of me so I look around. Find a collapsible step stool we need as the one we use for getting in and out of the camper went South and broke. Get closer to the counter to hear the guy having a heated conversation with the lady behind the counter. Guy wants to know why he has to move spots after being there for days. She says we have yours reserved for another camper, well why don't you move the reservation to the spot you want o put me in? She says sir you will have to move or vacate the campground. He agreed to move and left in a huff and sigh rolling his eyes at me as we passed. I bought the step stool and asked if I could get five gallons of water at one of the empty campsites. She gave me a funny look and said I will have to call someone. Well someone came in and said no we are full and have people moving spots. I say five gallons and five minutes right here at site 1. No again. As I go out I see Pat having a conversation with one of the campground workers. He said with a grin good luck getting anything or any help here. We leave and find a city park for lunch hoping for a water faucet. No faucet and lunch ate I spy a chamber of commerce building. Went in to a self serve kiosk full of pamphlets from the area, sign said help yourself to anything needed. Well outside there was a water faucet so we made like pirates and borrowed some water! Problem solved. Onward and upward we went. Huckleberry this and that all along the road on signs. Stopped by one more tourist wannabee fly shop to look around. I asked about all the huckleberry signs. Season is winding down. Got to go high now to find any. Big deal he says. So along the West side of Hungry Horse Reservoir we go, getting later and road getting worse. Washboard Sadie pacing in the back seat Pat and I getting grumpy. Looking at the map we see a campground at the lake we had been told about, campground listed on the lake. Small lake this will work and turned off. Went up a more rough road to the lake. No campground. Ran into a couple of destitute looking man and woman coming out of the woods where a beat up car with Washington plates. He was not moving fast and she ad a cane. I stopped and cracked the window down. Asked if there was a campground? Not here and we have been all over. Ok I ask as I seen them with a container. Are you picking huckleberries? Ah yes kind of sheepishly. Found any? Ah a few. How many. Ah about a quart and we have been at it all day. I wished them good luck and we headed back to the main road. Up a bit further we see a campground sign and turn off up a road. It follows a creek that is naimed Graves. Humm we just came from Grave creek maybe it was a sign? We find up the creek a small pull out with four picknic tables, three fire pits, an outhouse and the creek next to all. We have landed. Set up and of course hit the creek while we had light. First cast a rainbow, tiny rainbow but it was a fish. We began to explore upstream catching many, many fish. Rainbows and rainbow cutt hybrids. All between four and eight inches. Almost every cast. Again fun was had. Pat spied a small bush of huckleberries, I feasted on the treats thinking maybe there is something about this berry? Back at camp I fired up the grill and again fat mallard breast was on the menu, A good nights sleep and out of that bumpy road in the morning, BilletHead

That must mean Hy-Vee.

Won't let it happen again.

At least the socks are on and you haven't been shaving your legs. We were in you neck of the woods last Saturday. Stopped off at Cabelas for a break on the way home. Started to call but figured you might of been polishing the DECK. I said DECK. Pat said not to stop you in mid polish, BilletHead

Please put your pants on outside and during dinner. Does not matter if you wear them to the liquor store. I am sure there have been others purchasing their hooch in stranger attire. Maybe ask Joe what he wears to the liquor store? Seems to have an opinion on everything else. BilletHead

Still some cooking going on here in BilletHeadville, Picked some figs off of our fig bush. I say bush because in this climate it freezes back all the way to the ground sometimes. There have been years the shoots survive in mild winters. This past winter it did and I have a bunch of figs. So we bacon wrapped some deer loin. Grilled that and the figs. As far as the figs we sliced them, put the sliced sides down for a short grill. Then turned them over, skin side down. Made a little cup of sorts. The innards would start to bubble and boil. Paired the steak and figs with a baked tater topped with sour cream and chives from the garden. I bet those figs would be good on some vanilla ice cream. Only lost four or so between the grates of the grill. Next time I will use a double sided basket for them, Next thing we tried is some jalapeno corn fritters. Yowzer very nice. Topped them off with some sour cream with cilantro and lime wedges on the side, another keeper. Lastly when we were in Springfield Tuesday Hi-Vee had Hatch chili peppers for a 1.99 a pound. Mild or hot. We choose the hot ones. Blistered them on the grill and then put them in a paper sack to steam, When cool I peeled of the charred skin, seeded and wallah pure goodness was left, We have a neighbor and friend who has a sister in New Mexico. A few years ack they brough some ome and gifted us a bag full. I have been hooked ever since, Thanks Steve BilletHead

Yep no Agenda. Just make a decision at the right moment and act! So what next? Hey what about heading North? Way north to almost Canada? Sure lets go for it and we did. We decided to revisit Grave creek. This is where last year we caught some westslope cutthroat and juvenile bull trout. On the trip up we finally hit some rain. All over the state it is needed. Took the blacktop off the main highway which turned of course to gravel up to where we had camped last year. Muddy, sloppy mess. Drove out of there and headed farther up. Checked out a couple of spots and when we did came around a corner to find in the middle of the road a giant young man splitting huge logs of pine. We waved as we negotiated around his truck. I told Pat now that is a man as I looked in the rear view mirror and heard the whack as the ax hit the log. After looking more we decided to go back to a spot we liked the best. As we drove back by the wood cutter I stopped to chat. I said you are the man. He smiled and we started to converse. He inquired to what we were doing. Told him our story and he said you going to have a fire tonight? Yes if we can find some wood. Just then I heard a crash and down from above us a log came rolling onto the road. Is that your partner, nope my son as another big young man came from the woods. Son lets split these folks some fire wood. I got big eyed, we can find some, no this is good stuff and we can share. Whack, whack, whack and into the back of the camper. What do we owe you guys? Nothing. No I will buy you some gas. A few bucks, a thank you and we were on our way for the afternoon and night. Set up, cool so we put on the waders and into the water we went. Nothing, nadda, not a strike. Still do not know why. Looked good, felt good. Expected it to be like last year. Weather change? Water pretty cold as it was glacial melt? Who knows, did not matter look where we were! Time for some chow. Olive oil and rosemary seared deer loin, mashed taters,more homegrown Mo. tomatoes and our sour dill pickles. A quick heating of stream water to clean up with and fire going it would be a relaxing evening. Another location tomorrow. Graves Creek BilletHead

Blackfoot, Grave and Graves creeks, So we then headed towards the Blackfoot drainage to explore. Had a book with us and I had seen a stream called Cooper creek. Had a pretty good review and said it was not a drainage of Cooper Lake. Never did find Cooper Creek but did find Copper Creek that drained from Cooper Lake. Now Copper Creek had a ok review, we seen it but it ran through a burned out area and was a mess. This turned out to be a wild goose chase driving all over we spun our wheels. Did see some nice looking water on private ground and although you can stay below the high water lines and go on any creek in this state we would of felt funny jumping a fence to do it. Not an option for us. Also we were beginning to be in areas under "Hoot Owl Closures" No fishing after 2PM until I think 10PM. Parked for the night and would regroup first thing in the AM. Next morning we went to the National Forest Office in Lincoln. Found a nice young flyfishing kid working there familiar to the area. H. e recommended going up to the end of the road up the North Fork of the Blackfoot river. Also fishing the Blackfoot right in town. First we drove up the North Fork Blackfoot. End of road. Seen a few horse trailers and vehicles of all sorts. Talked to three spin fishermen from ST. Louis that were going to hike up a trail to some falls. We opted to drop into the canyon and fish our way upstream. We could hear the water below but not see it. No trail either. I figured if we could get to water we could surely find a way back out? . We stumbled our way through the brush, trees, rocks and dead fall to one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. Gin clear water, deep holes where you could see the bottom. Right off the bat I turned a couple of small fish. They would dart up from the bottom like a rocket, hit the hopper and go back to the bottom disappearing into the rocky bottom. Working our way up the river I ran into a bunch of brush. A sharp twig went right up my nose. The blood flowed and freaked out Pat. Finally got that mess stopped! Proceeded to miss a two foot plus bull trout that rolled on my hopper. I shook from that strike. Then a long no hit stretch. Puzzled we could not figure out why? Then as we both peered into the depths we seen a huge bull trout cruse by. Not saying a word we both turned to look at each other. Like silently saying did you see that? We did. Next hole we again could not fathom what we seen. There were seven bull trout. I mean the size of dreams. Two to three footers, fat giants. You could see the brilliant colors. White tipped fins. No wonder we were not catching. Apex predators right in front of us. To feed this bunch of behemoths could clean out a hole fast. We seen two more sections like this.. What a sight. Endangered I thought ? Guess so. Finally ran into another fisherman. He was nymphing deep missing a couple of fish. He was going downstream and I told him what he was in store for. He had never seen a Bull trout. I asked how they had come in. Well ask my buddy when you see him. Ok How do we get out of here he responded. I told him how we had got in, what to look for. Ok I still hope they found their way out . Found his buddy who told us of a trail. Said it was pretty steep. Instructed us to keep gong up until we found the horse trail leading us back to the parking lot. He had caught two fish. We did not hook anything. Up the trail and I mean up. Taking our time, helping each other no more blood was shed. Back at the truck our net was missing. Despite this and the bloody nose it was all worth it. What we had seen that day is still burned into my pea brain. The next four pictures do not do justice to this gem of a place. Someday I hope to try it again, Our sore beaten bodies headed back to Lincoln for a campsite and real shower. Huveos rancheros on the menu with the pot licking dog waiting for her share, Next morning a small amount of vengeance on the smaller Blackfoot right in the edge of Lincoln. Small rainbows,and rainbow cutt hybrids. Small dries. Madam X and Trudes, More a bit later, BilletHead

I'm back to Mo. JD, Sorry bud but your snowball melted when I hit the flatland. BilletHead

Breakfast and Skalkaho creek, Up the next morning and breakfast. Leftover carnita meat with eggs and onions. Rolled up in a tortilla. The ultimate breakfast burrito. Last view from this camp, Check this out boys and girls, Over the Skalkaho pass and down to Skalkaho falls, Then to the creek for more fishing, Really bushy along the banks. Hard to find a place to get to the water but once you do it is game on, We caught some of these and one juvenile bull trout. Mrs. BilletHead had the fish of the day. I was really impressed. Had it netted, in her grip for a photo as I was getting the camera ready it flipped out of her grip and gone. She cried. I bet it was over fifteen inches. So we then drove the rest of the road down to the valley below. As we cleared the trees there was smoke lots of smoke West of Hamilton. Big fire in the Bitterroot National forest. So sad and this was not to be the first fire we would encounter on the trip. As we entered Hamilton I had my driver Wife stop the truck so I could get out and snap the city limits sign. Right away I sent a photo and text to our member Ham to mess with him a bit to see if he could guess where we were. Some back and forth jousting and a few hints he finally got it. Great fun that was . Then it was off on the road again To the North Fork of the Blackfoot,Blackfoot, Grave and Graves Creeks. BilletHead

Dang Ronnie I did this for nothing? BilletHead

JohnsFolly, Bought it at Bass Pro, you know that place where you will be a greeter someday after you retire, BilletHead

On a schoolteachers budget? Oh wait he was a lawyer . Just kidding RPS, BilletHead

More eating and Fishing finally! So leaving Alfred Flats campground we again headed North and then West into Idaho. We took this route to avoid Yellowstone Park. We would go through it once but did avoid it going up. Pretty neat watching the farmers in Idaho combining wheat on the large rolling hills that seem to go on forever fence less. That and the big potato fields. They give this no biggie but to us it was a treat. When we ended up in Montana a stop off in Dillon for licenses. Up to I-90 then West to highway 1 which took up through Anaconda. Through that town and on towards road 38 which turned to dirt and into the Beaverhead Deerlodge National forest. We took this road that lead us over Skalkaho pass.On the East side of the pass we paralleled the West Fork of Rock Creek. We found a road/two wheel trail down into the creek bottom. Can you call it a creek bottom on a mountain? Mrs. BilletHead walked ahead telling me when to turn the wheels to avoid large rocks and pine branches. One good think about a truck camper and 4 WD you can go so many places others cannot. Set up the camper. Donned the wet wading socks and wading boots, built rods and got into the cold water. We were greeted to some beautiful cutthroat trout. Small hoppers and stimulaters were used, All of this right outside the camper. Time for food. Grilled fat mallard, Missouri Sweet corn and more of our garden tomatoes for sides. A little shot of wine, life is good friends. Sadie being Sadie, Did you guys see this grill the duck was on? We bought this and tried it out before the trip. Just right for two. The grill grates break down to slide into the tube sides. Screw lid keeps it all together. Then the fire bowl twists up to be compact. I gave it a thumbs up for the trip., Coming up breakfast and more fishing, BilletHead

Well I finally got some of this worked up. We will see fishing, food and drink, maybe a few fishes . A couple weeks worth of stuff. No itinerary on this trip just winging it here and there. Even repeated some roads. We will start with the trip out and West Fork Rock and Skalkaho Creeks. Left BilletHeadVille on a Friday Afternoon. Headed West and took a power nap just East of Denver. Back on the road through Denver in the wee dark hours of the morning. Then North over Berthoud pass at daybreak. Beautiful sunrise, first cool weather encounter around the freezing point. After going North we then headed West towards Vernal Utah. Like that town seventeen percent humidity. Picked up a six pack of local brew and then again North through the Ashley National Forest. Had Lunch at the pass. BPT sammaches. That would be Bacon,home grown cubanelle peppers and black krim tomatoes. Yummy! Continued our way North through Western Wyoming and temporarily into Idaho some. Finally landing in Wyoming. Alfred Flats campground in the Bridger Teton National Forest. Time for more food! Evening meal of wild turkey carnitas. Bevarge this evening was the one of the local brews from Vernal. Hey this was good and wish I had tried to bring some home. Sadie doing what she does best now. Getting old and really slowing down. The whole trip we had to lift her in and out of the truck and camper. Both knees blown out, walks funny and limps. Oh well those golden years. Some fishing coming up, BilletHead

# TLM and # SLM Trout lives matter and Striper lives matter. Can't we all get along? A dam like the Trump wall should not be the separation between fishes . BilletHead

Hey I caught my first fly rod striper right below Dawt, I could see the dam and the bridge right below it. Wadda you trying to tell me Ness? I have no taste? Unrefined? Guess I should go back West and snub my fellow flat landers? BilletHead

Funny, Effervescent just like alka seltzer. Yep Alka seltzer for fish BilletHead

Did not see the casting pond Griz but did go into Snappy's. Asked a few questions about and bugged out. Cool little store, BilletHead

Well the deck has that old weathered look, character I suppose just like our buddy Ness. That whats makes us all different. If we had that polished look and all were the same it would be a boring world I think. If we were born knowing everything and had noting to learn it be a bummer. I really hate to tell you Ness (NOT) that I had my trillionth BLT this morning for breakfast. Actually came home to rotten tomatoes on my plants. Had a house sitter this trip. She still had picked and there was and still are forty to fifty tomatoes on the table. Mostly yellow sunny boys. I am not sure why but this has been the best garden for us ever. Guess the stars aligned, we planted the right sign of the moon or just got lucky? Oh and the bread for the BLT came from a bakery from Wyoming BilletHead

Go for it Kayser, We got back yesterday afternoon. Had a great trip caught fish all over but this time blanked on Grave creek. Could of just been the day or us that day? Still think you should check it out if you are able. I will be working up our trip report in the next few days. Keep us all posted on your fishing especially if you fish in the park. Good luck young man, BilletHead