Laegreid Outdoors

This is mostly a post to let you, dear readers, know that Jodi and I are still mostly alive, though in a very zombie-like state. The flight from Denver to Reykjavik was smooth, though sleep eluded us. The sun came up while we rode the bus in from Keflavik, just in time to illuminate some of the countryside as we cruised past. We got off at the main bus terminal, grabbed our packs and chuffed our way over the hill to our first hostel, Kex, which is a really neat place at first glance.   The Bar  View from the window We can't check into our room until 2pm, at which point I'm sure we'll take a nap and ruin our plan of getting on a good sleep schedule right away. Tomorrow will be for exploring; we'll take a few days to gather stories, photos and rest a bit for a more entertaining post.   Until then!  

The first leg of our journey (the packing and driving part) was a hectic, foggy, sleep-deprived, 55 mph torture test, and was completed safely and without much blood loss. My lovely wife and I arrived in Laramie a little haggard, but otherwise in one piece. Hopefully while we're out here there will be some outdoor adventures before we take off for Iceland. Today we took a nice little jaunt up a snowy hillside with a couple of shaggy dogs; tomorrow we'll join my father for a Trout Unlimited meeting. Since the lakes are frozen but the ice is thin, it might be hard to get out ice-fishing, so I may be limited to just tying flies and doing fish art. There is always the possibility of going to the range and burning some powder, too; we've got a few options. For now, I'll leave you with some pictures. I sure will miss Washington and the people and places I've come to now and love there, but Wyoming is doing it's darnedest to make up for it.   Moody Blues...

That's right, folks, 2015 marks the year where L.O. travels across the pond to visit EUROPE! The wife and I have left our jobs and are cleaning out our Washington apartments to start a brand new adventure, and we'll be taking you along for the ride. There will be scenic vistas, lots of hiking, new and interesting people, and perhaps even a little fly-fishing if I can figure out the regs. We'll be starting our trip in Iceland, land of hot-springs and volcanoes, where, if the weather permits, we'll try to catch our first glimpse of the Northern Lights. In addition to the Aurora, we'll be checking out Reykjavik and perhaps doing some hikes in the wild and wonderful countryside. Before we get there, however, there is still a lot of moving and packing to be done and some quality time in Wyoming to be had. This may include some ice fishing, painting, and shooting of paper targets. Once we're over in Europe, posts will come in when internet is available, so keep ...

Though it may seem like I've fallen off the edge of the earth, I've actually just been really busy! The holidays were good, and I hope yours were as well. As this will probably be my last post of 2014, I'll do two things real quick. First is to wish you a happy, outdoorsy, and fruitful New Year! The second thing I'll do is leave you with a cliffhanger! There is a big announcement coming soon; what it is will be revealed on my first post of 2015!  Have a safe New Year's Eve, dear readers; I look forward to seeing you next year!

The paintbrush, that is! Since I don't have the pictures ready for the post I had wanted to do this week, instead you all get to see my wee paintings. They are  wee, too, the longest being just under six inches. So, without further ado, here is the cream of the crop from my return to the wide world of watercolor: School of fish Spotty Bow Troot Head Eel (watercolor & pencil) Squad of Squid Chinook (watercolor & pencil) And that's that for now; next week will bring a post with some more meat!

I'm not sure where the superstition came from, but apparently bananas are bad luck while fishing. Try to bring a banana on a charter boat and you may well get tossed in the drink. You can imagine my reservations, then, about buying a vessel that looks like a ten-foot long, overripe banana: the Intex Explorer K2 inflatable kayak. As of yet, however, most outings in the banana boat have resulted in at least one fish brought to hand, so perhaps the superstition only applies to fruit. Lets run down the specs! Dimensions: 123 x 36 x 20 inches Weight: 36 lbs Seats: 2 Chambers: 5 total; the sides and floor that make up the body of the kayak, and the two seats are also inflatable. Comes with: 2 paddles, detachable skeg, hand-pump Pros: Easy to set up and take down. The pump that came with the package seemed flimsy at first glance, but is surprisingly efficient. Total set up time is between five and ten minutes, depending on how badly I want to get on the water Comfortabl...

Graphic in the way that flowcharts are graphics, of course! Instead of a photo-filled post, today's post is some fishing-related graphics I've done recently. I've already shared my Annual Fishing Goals graphic; let's dive into a few others. Note: If you follow Laegreid Outdoors on Facebook and Twitter you might have already seen these, but I think they're cool, so you get to see them again. Yay! The Salmon ID Flowcharts Salmon are amazing fish. They're strong, they're delicious, and in saltwater, they all kind of look the same. This is the issue my brother-in-law had when he moved from Oklahoma to Washington. With the regulations as they are in Washington, it is very important to be able to distinguish between the different species while they are in their ocean phase. The WDFW provides a nice pamphlet (from which I nicked the photos. Thanks, public domain!), but I felt it might be good to have a helpful guide to aid in identification.  There ...