A Tale of Tenacity (or stupidity) redux

[Fly Guy Dave]

There is a Japanese proverb that says: “A wise man will climb Mt. Fuji once; a fool will climb Mt. Fuji twice.” I know that where I was is no Mt. Fuji, but perhaps I still fall into the latter category all the same. Three years ago I took this trip: https://www.billkiene.com/forums/sho...nacity-A-Fish- Report&highlight=
and I believe I swore that I would never go back. Well, I guess my resolve weakened and I impulsively did a solo return trip a few days ago. The road in was positively worse and the “trail” in was as bad as I remember, and I probably took 75 million breaks on the way up to catch my breath, but I made it all the same.
Why? For this very rare trout:













Oncorhynchus clarki seleniris, a.k.a. as the Pauite Cutthroat trout.

The stream was in much better shape than last time too, the flows were just about perfect.



Speaking of water, last time we had a gushing seasonal spring for our water source, which saved a mile or so of hiking with a heavy backpack, but this time I had to improvise and dig a bit. I still was able to spare myself that extra bit of hiking as a result. Thank goodness!



Going solo was kind of stressful, as this place is WAY off the beaten path, but I gave very specific details, GPS coordinates, etc. to my wife, but all of that was for naught, as I made it back in one piece. I did see a large heard of big horn sheep, but they moved through so quickly that I couldn’t get to my camera on time. There are a lot of hoof prints and scat up there from them, so this is definitely their home turf. However, I did see a herd of wild horses on my way out, once I was back in my rig.



I hope now that I have gained some semblance of wisdom and that the next time I fish for Paiute trout, it will be in their native drainage, which is not as difficult to get to. I hear that they have been replanted and I hope that they are prospering, multiplying, spreading and doing well down in their home waters. Fingers crossed.

Anyhow, enjoy some pics of a rare North American trout.

Cheers!