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5/18 Nice sunny day drive via Stevens Pass. Very little traffic, lunch at first pull off past bridge.

5/19 Went to High Desert Fly shop in Ephrata in morning for flies and fourocarbon leader. Martin arrived about noon. Went to Rocky Ford in pm. Fished from about 1400 to 1900. I got 5 very nice fish 3 on elk hair caddis, 1 on san juan worm, 1 on small dry stonefly. All drifting fly to visible fish. Plenty of fish visible in area about 2/3 of way to farm. Martin had quite a few hits but only landed one.

5/20 Fished Dry Falls from 0930 til 1330. I had no hits. Martin hooked and lost 2. All in northwest corner. Rowed all way through shallows to southwest corner. Found deeper water (2-3 feet) and visible fish. Martin hooked and lost another.

5/21 Fueled at Ephrata PP then drove to Missoula. Nice trip. Stopped for boat inspection in Idaho, just a quick check. Messed around with sat finder app setting up dish-took awhile to get it aligned. I think I now have the Droid compass aligned.s

5/22 Hung out in am, got Missoula paper, etc. Flooding forecast in central Montana, Missouri River is quite high but not forecast to flood. ? Prospects for fishing at Craig. Went to Old Ft Missoula and Military Museum. Both located on grounds of old fort. Both interesting. Old Ft Museum includes train yard, logging , and other historic buildings from Montana early days. Called Crosscurrents for fishing and river report. Sounds like river will be very high and fast, but fishable. Deep nymphing. Decided to stay another day in Missoula to visit a couple of quilt shops.

5/23 After calling shops at Ennis and Twin Bridges we decided to cx the Missouri, stay here til tomorrow, and go to the Beaverhead River near Dillon. The Beaverhead flows from Clark Canyon dam above Dillon. The dam is managed for irrigation in summer so it is storing water now, thus the river stars at lower flows. If the rain can be held to a reasonably low level the Beaverfhead should be ok.

5/24 Nice drive to Dillon, I-90 / I-15 all the way. Fueled at PP Deer Lodge. Steady Rain all day. Stopped at Back Country Angler in Dillon. Lady says Beaverhead is too muddy after over an inch of rain today. Mud comes from creek just below dam, but should clear fairly quickly with no rain forecast tomorrow. Also stopped at very nice quilt shop-No 1 Ladies Quilt Shop. Rain continued all evening.

5/25 Partly cloudy and sunny morning. Launched at High Bridge 1300, to Henneberry 1700. Great river for pontoon. Constant curving, many braids and islands. Flow about 450 at Dillon. Plenty of good places to stop and wade. Visibility about 1 foot. Nymphed all day with san juan worm with small nymph dropper. No fish. Plenty of other boats but everyone seems to accept people drifting by, etc. Very nice drift. All private land. Locals fish only from boat, law says ok to wade and walk on shore if not posted, but fly shop advice is not to do so. Probably most acceptable to stop and wade but not go on stream bank.

Susan went to Number 1 Ladies Quilt Shop again and found some items. Forecast for rain and lightning tomorrow, decided to tourist and fish again Friday. Paid to stay until Monday, Memorial Day weekend so want to have spot reserved.

5/26 Very windy over night. Sunny morning, no sign of rain or lightning, still quite windy. Went to Beaverhead County Museum. Nice local museum including one room school, rail depot, etc. Quite a few displays of local family history. Lunch at Papa T's. Drove to Twin Bridges, quilt shop there closed.

5/27 Floated High Bridge 1030 to Henneberry 1600 again. Visibility much better, about 2 -3 ft. Seems like I got launched between the majority of floaters, only say about 3 boats all day. Stopped to visit with a couple of locals in a pontoon. They suggested Henneberry to Pipe Organ or Grasshopper Creek are also good. Just after Grasshopper is a narrow chute, and fishing drops off anyway. To Pipe Organ is very short. Flow about the same as 5/25 around 450 at Dillon. Fished mostly san juan worm with small nymph dropper, tried a couple of streamers also. Got one fish on nymph at large deep hole. Very nice day upper 40's with occasional cold gusty wind. Excellent day.

5/28 Drove to Twin Bridges quilt shop again. Quite nice small shop. Susan found some unique fabric and saw several nice quilts. Visited with the owner for awhile. Then to Virginia City for lunch. It was "opening day" of the season with a small parade of about 8 entrys, one of which was the marching band from Kingston Washington touring around on their summer trip.

5/29 Mixed rain and wet snow on drive. About an inch of wet snow on ground at West Yellowstone when we arrived at about 1300. Continued snowing all afternoon. Went to Arrick's Fly Shop for annual park fishing permit and recomme4ndations, including to try nymphing with soft hackle dropper on nymph.

5/30 Fished Firehole at Mallard Creek small riffle directly opposite parking area. Flow about 500 CFS Near West Yellowstone. Used nymph setup suggested by Arrick's. Hooked 8, landed 4, nice fish in about an hour and a half. Had lunch and visited with three fellows who suggested fishing farther upstream. Went part way to Biscuit Basin in PM-water deeper and harder to access where I chose. Looks better just below Biscuit Basin. Got one on nymph at deep hole below some rocks.

5/32 Lunch at Old Faithful Lodge then fished nice hole at Mallard Creek for about an hour, hooked 9, landed 5, from riffle. Flow about 500 CFS Near West Yellowstone. Water higher than last fall but still easily waded. Tried Fountain Flat at upper end of road, lots of weeds and high water. Got one small RB. Then stopped at Flyfishing Only pull out lower on river. No response to nymph rig. Changed to small olive woolly buggger with bead head. Hooked 3 or 4 and landed 2 in about half an hour. No surface action either day so far.

06/01 Drove to Mammoth for lunch in the lodge dining room. The north part of the park is beautiful with some snow left in spots, snow on mountains around. Stopped at Midison River at parking area just below the camp. Several buffalo including several calves. Susan watched as the calves crossed the river with their mother. Mother waded with water above their bellies, the calf swam alongside on the downstream side with mother breaking the current. Neat. I walked upstream a way and fished a bit but the water was high and fast. Too much to fish. Went back up to the Firehole and fished a couple of spots lower, then up to fly fishing only park and caught several fish on olive woolly bugger. Nice day with temps upper 60's all day.

06/02 Cold and very windy with intermittent snow showers. Stayed in for morning. Shopped in West Yellowstone in PM. I drove up to Mallard Creek about 1630, fished an hour and had a few takers on nymphs then landed two Browns on olive woolly bugger. On the way back there were many bison walking up the road in several groups including adults and calves.

06/03 Lunch at Happy Hour Bar on shore of Hebgen Lake. Cast streamers while wading in lake for about an hour and 1/2-Nothing. Went up to Mallard Creek and walked down Firehole around bend to first riffle. Some good looking water with larger rocks, etc, but a little too deep to fish well at 550 CFS near West Yellowstone. Fished about an hour with no takers.

06/04 Drove the loop. No animals at higher levels around loop. Several feet of snow remains above 7,000 feet. Entire area Montana, Dakotas, and Midwest bracing for record runoff soon. Lunch at Yellowstone Lake Lodge (my favorite) was best of lodges. Read in lobby room overlooking lake. Finished driving loop with stops for photos, walked guiser paths. Nice relaxing day. Quite warm and pleasant at 6,000 + altitudes below Old Faithful, about 70 degrees at West Yellowstone.

This trip: Many bison adults and calves, eagle, elk, 2 wolves.

06/05 Warm sunny drive from West Yellowstone. Temp 78 in PM. Drove to Henry's Fork Anglers in Island Park for fishing licenses. Also found nice sweater on sale, and very nice Sinmms chest pack (not on sale). Fished at camp about an hour around 1700. Water high at about 750 CFS and very clear. Waded across plain gravel bottom 2/3 across river, more structure at far side but no sigh of fish.

06/06 Nice in AM, increasing clouds and then rain after 1600. Walked up the trail to Coffee Pot Rapids-2 Miles. Fished a little from shore, one take on elk hair caddis. River obviously quite high at about 750 CFS.

06/07 Steady rain overnight and all day. Put on waders and went up the trail and waded to fish a few places. Flow about 800 and visibility about 1 1/2 to 2 ft. Saw a few fish roll in river, but no action on small olive woolly bugger or elk hair caddis.

06/08 Overcast but pleasant morning. Drove around the scenic road by Wood River Falls to Wood River. Very nice park area at the High Falls, wood walks and stairs to view points. Followed Fisherman's Drive from Wood River to Ashton. River was very high and brown but it looks like there would be some good places to wade at lower water levels. Stopped at Henry's Fork Anglers at Last Chance to visit, fellow there said it is a nice float from Wood River to Ashton. Should be excellent for pontoon, no rapids, etc. Browns come up into the river in fall for spawning, plus other hatches as well. Would make a nice fall trip.

06/09 Didn't bother fishing. Drove around the area a bit, out to Big Springs.

Worthwhile few days. Learned some about potential Henry's Fork fishing. Wood River to Ashton float. Wading would also be good in the Last Chance area working upstream. Coffee Pot area might also be ok later in the year.

06/10 Pleasant, interesting drive along Hwy 20 to Ketchum. OK RV Park to stay for a couple of days. Narrow sites.

06/11 Visited a nice quilt shop in Hailey. Dinner at Sawtooth Club in Ketchum-neat multi-level restaurant. Bar on lower level overlooked by dining on mezzanine and lofts. Very nice.

06/12 Shops at Sun Valley village. Bough Bike, Lunch at Lodge, reading in lobby, coffee in town at Tullys on way back. Very nice relaxing day.

06/13 One of most beautiful drives ever on HWY 20 from Ketchum to Burns, OR. Through widely varying types of mountains / hills, farm/ranchs and along Malheur River valley. Wonderful day for driving.

Spent night at Burns RV Park. Nice neat not fancy at all. Good place for a stop.

06/14 Another beautiful drive on US 20. High plateau rather than mountains and valleys. Nice Forest Service campground along the shore of Diamond Lake. 412 Sites spread along the shore.

06/15 and 06/16 Drove about 50 miles each day to Crater Lake Lodge. North entrance closed due to much snow. Rim drive also closed except for first one mile. Record snow still leaves several feet. Both days totally clear blue sky, beautiful views of lake from lodge area and the short portion of rim drive available. Had to climb on snow to see lake except for one short area below lodge. Very dramatic and beautiful. Had lunch in lodge and read in lobby for awhile both days. It was so impressive the first day we decided to go back for a second look.

Susan ran generator and did a load of clothes on the 16th. Holding tank and water supply fine for 3 nights stay plus on load, no max conserve of water, did normal showers etc.