Laegreid Outdoors

I had to drive up to Casper, Wyoming for a business thing on Friday. This was good for two reasons:first, it meant a day driving and out of the office. Score! Second, it meant I would be in the neighborhood of the fabled North Platte, one of my favorite rivers. Double Score! I loaded up my gear Thursday evening and eagerly awaited the next morning's drive. After the roads opened up (they closed due to a snowstorm, which also knocked out power at our HQ) I bebopped on up through the shirley basin, bucking a wind that was probably 35mph sustained, with some seriously butt-clenching gusts. Always fun. Got up to Casper, did the meeting, and headed to the Gray Reef. The tent was pitched right away, and I geared up and headed down to the water to see what was what. On the river, directly below the damn, I got about zero hits and no interest shown from the wiley Platte River troots. They were rising very sporadically to midges, but all of my imitations fell short that evening. Such...

Dear Mr. President, American Sportsmen and Women are tired of seeing hoot-owl closures on their rivers. We're tired of fish kills caused by extreme water temperature . We're tired of seeing our forests killed by beetles because our winters are not getting cold enough and our summers are hotter. We're tired of ocean conditions making salmon survival even more difficult. We're tired of longer, hotter forest fire seasons . Sportspeople are out in the wild parts of our great country more often than most, and we are seeing the effects of climate change on a daily basis. The sporting way of life is in danger as a direct result of the warming earth, and you just withdrew us from the Paris Agreement. Mr. President, you (and your son) have said how you want to protect the rights of sportsmen and women, second amendment rights and land usage rights and so on, but none of that matters if we don't have fish and game to pursue. If the environment goes, the game goes,...

I've been distracted with things, so this week's post is a photos! The fiance and I camped in the Olympic National Forest this past weekend. It was beautiful, sunny and quiet, and just what we needed. So without further ado, here are some photographic highlights of the trip: This not-so little millipede had some striking yellow spots; I'd not seen one like it before.  These flowers were all over and very pretty. I'm pretty sure they're Trillium, but I could be wrong. If so, feel free to correct me in the comments! The Caddis hatch was on! What's camping without a good fire? The Peninsula was full of spiders sunning themselves, but this little fellow was the only one kind enough to hold still for a photo. See you next time!