THE WIND RIVERS!

For the past 20 years Kaytie's family has been making an annual trip up to the Wind Rivers (for those familiar with the Uintas, it's very similar). The last two years I haven't been able to go because of work conflicts, but this year I was finally able to make it happen. The trip usually includes the aid of llamas to help with the packing. This is me with "Pancho." I had the pleasure of leading Pancho for two days, but after two days he was more commonly referred to as "whimp" or "butt head." He actually did very well, but every once-in-a-while he would stop on the trail and roll in the dirt. Yes that is a lawn chair strapped to my pack.

The first two days we spent hiking and getting camp set up. On Wednesday and Thursday we hiked to different lakes and fished. According to some the fishing was poor compared to previous years but we still managed to catch our fill. Most of the fish were small, between 10 to 14 inches, but occasionally we'd reel in a 16 to 18 incher. This is the biggest fish I caught. I ended up killing it because it actually swallowed my hook and bled out, poor guy, but he sure did taste good!

We hiked a lot of miles, so many that my feet were pretty much hamburger by the end of the trip. It's a good thing I had a lot of mole skin and electrical tape handy to hold'em together. The trip ended up being fantastic, despite the sore feet and the billions of mosquitoes. The scenery was beautiful and I had a great time with Kaytie's family. I'm looking forward to next year!