Day 48 Mile 654-669

Finally walking along water again is a relief. Filled my water from the reservoir before pushing off again and spoke with a fisherman who had caught many little fish. Then a ways down the road I Stopped again on the Magic Reservoir and met Neil who had grown up out in this country and who affirmed what many folks and ranchers had told me that the water levels this year and over the past several years is disturbingly low. Global warming is the word and these are the most conservative folks in the nation and they have absolutely no love for Al Gore but still the words are global warming. Neil was going water skiing this afternoon once his friend showed up. I met Richard Sessa who had moved out to Idaho from Pitsburg and even though he liked his home back East, nothing could take him away from the North West. I met him along the river and he hadn’t caught anything but just enjoyed putting his feet in the water. Made it to this great campground and fish hatchery called Hayspur where tenters and RVers can stay for up to ten nights at no charge. Coming in to the park I met Joe and Vicky Stimac and there grandson Jarek. They invited me to join them for dinner and some conversation Joe, now retired had been an instructor of welding and his wife vicky had been a Nurse and a nursing instructor. Her favorite job was in the army nursery caring for us new ones. They had come out west from Wisconsin and still after 30 years missed the snow, especially since we’ve been getting less and less of it in the past few years. Jarek is sucha bright young guy and he had such fun energy and a desire to be helpful. Most of the pictures below are from Jarek the Photographer. He has a fascination with gadgets like phones, cameras, and iPods. His joy of life will take him far. Jarek took me over to the stream and showed me a good place to set up for the night. I visited with Josh who was fishing there and he and all his extended family were out here camping. The two guys next to us had caught (and released) 14 trout. In nearby Silver Creek which is the worlds trout fishing destination, there are over a thousand trout per mile, and they are smart trout who will peek up above the surface and if they see people the won’t bite.