Family and Friend

About a week ago, I heard mention that my good friend would be in town soon for a visit. Naturally, I was excited, but not nearly as excited as I was when I found out he was coming even sooner. 

Yesterday, Holdsworth stopped in to say hello. 

After driving straight through from the San Francisco area of California, he needed to rest a bit. A three hour nap is what he got and then it was time to dash off with my family and I to the Manti for some time on the water.

Surprisingly enough, the creek we went to was really crowded with nearby campers and their dogs, which really threw the fishing off. It took awhile for us to see any activity at all. 

First fish was a small cutthroat on the fly:



The fishing was still rough going for the next bit until we came upon some nice holes that hadn't tasted the hair of the dog yet. We managed to spook quite a few fish, but getting them to turn on a hook was nearly impossible.

Finally, a rainbow bit a killer caddis and gave me a good tussle.



Aaron hooked into a good one too:



The fishing died after that and we abandoned that creek for another one with better fishing under the circumstances.

It didn't take long and we were bent again.



Then it was my turn and this little rainbow looked like it was dipped in white paint.



Its buddy's white tip was also quite prominent.

After a few fish like those, we collected the family (the kids were playing in a nearby reservoir) and drove to Huntington Reservoir, where we hoped to find some tiger trout that were willing to play.

Again, the fishing was slow. About an hour went by before Aaron walked to the far side, where he got a small one. After awhile, I went across as well, but we saw the sky and knew that it would be a shame to be anywhere but the summit at sunset.





We arrived at the summit just in time to capture some pretty amazing views.







Amazing sky! That mounting thunderhead we'd noticed earlier was ablaze with sunset shades of fire.





I got a little trigger-happy with that area.





So the fishing wasn't exceptional, but fish were caught and good times were had by all. Seeing an old friend after 2 years was really great. Since he's staying with us for a couple of days, we went for a couple of local hikes today, up Provo Canyon.

First stop was a place that a lot of my friends liked to hike to called Upper Falls. It's a short, steep hike to the falls, then a treacherous adventure higher up.

Having the family along, we decided to stay at the bottom of the falls.





The kids had a blast in this little "wading pool".



The falls are a great place to take in some views and get in a quick hike worth breaking a sweat to.







It was great to revisit old times and finally take my family up there instead of talking about it as we drive by, like usual.

A rare sight on that portion of the Lower, a big beaver dam has formed right around the Upper Falls park. Some nice surface action was observed at the head of the pool.



After that hike, we slowed it down for a gentle stroll on the Big Springs trail, up South Fork.







We found a treehouse a short distance off-trail.



Happy Fishing, Humans.