Mom and her babies out for breakfast        Hello there from across the lake!!

A great trip with substantial wildlife counts for 2026: 1 Grizzly Bear, 12 Moose, numerous Pronghorn Antelope, Elk herds, deer in the campsite, Bison (of course), Osprey, Eagles, Hawks, Great Grey Owl, Red Fox, Coyotes in the campsite, Trumpeter Swans, Canadian Geese, Ducks, Loons, Grebes, Chipmunks, Red Squirrels, and 5 species of fish (Westslope Cutthroat, Grayling, Rainbows, Brownies, and Brookies.

And the usual 4 days with 30 miles of hiking again…thank God for the Park providing mules to carry most of our camping stuff in, and out.  And all for the benefit of science dedicated for the protection and recovery of native fish.

 

I love those mules and horses…                                   

Cuz the walk  in and out; well…Jim looks a bit tired after 4 days!

Yes, there were indications of drought conditions with ALL of the in-Park streams (but not the lakes) closed for three days; then just the Madison, Gibbon, and Firehole in the Park closures; and finally early in September the park streams were finally opened up after all the rain and cooler weather.

  

Dry and low water in Elk Antler Creek in the Park.  "Hoot Owl" and closure time.

         

Rainbow time on Grebe lake post-storm

Greg fishing the early morning shift in the fog

Oh, did I mention the rain?  It was intermittent while on the backcountry 4-day trip, and when it rained…well, it included heavy wind, thunder, lightning, and hail the size of peas.  And those continuing after the Park got more of the same; rain in Montana, rain in Lander Wyoming, and rain in the Wind River range of Wyoming, and eventually down in Silver Creek, Idaho as well.  It was a good thing that everyone had Scotchgarded their tents so while dry, it still made for messy lunches and dinners.

 

TVFF storms Grebe Lake with Phil & Mitchie                                

Fishing the shoreline at Wolf Lake

And what were the boys and girls catching?  Beautiful native Westslope Cutthroat and Grayling; and some 300 of them...a job well done for the Park science program monitoring.

 

Tom shows off one of his Westy's and a Grayling being tagged

Dee, Mitchie and our three intern helpers.  Along with a few scruffy TVFF boys and Project Manager, Paul Weamer.  

The backcountry was serene, private, and gorgeous as usual. Fish counts were down about 25% from last year, supposedly due to the warm water driving the fish away from shore and into the depths.  Nevertheless, the group (Jim Knecht, Tom Serrano, Phil Reggiardo, Mitchie McCammon, Greg Bandino, and I were joined by Dee Johnson and James Kibler from last year’s team) still managed to catch over 300 fish versus the 3 weeks earlier team who netted 220.  So TVFF absolutely held up our part of the Park’s native fisheries conservation program.  Well done, team!!!

 

Measuring, dissecting, and DNA/fin clipping to determine heritage                  

A nice sunrise with gathering clouds at the lake

Tom took the short route home (978 miles) after coming in early and fishing the Madison, while Phil and Jim tackled SW Montana and Northern Idaho. 

Rob and Mitchie went East for an extended visit to the Little Bighorn National Battlefield Park (location of Custer’ s last stand), then down the Big Horn river to SW Wyoming, up into the Wind River mountains, over the hill to the Tetons, over to Silver Creek (again), and finally to Boise for cleanup before driving home after 19 days on the road and in a tent. 

Greg?  He flew to Hawaii to recuperate, in the rain.  As well he should from an exhausting, taxing, but very worthwhile trip.  You go, Greg!  Sunshine ahead for you.