Greetings from beautiful Ennis, Montana! Deep in the heart of the Madison River Valley, thus of course near the banks of the world-famous Madison River, we have our own little slice of paradise here at basecamp. After gathering everyone this afternoon at the Bozeman airport we began our drive through the Big Sky and Gallatin Mountains, a quick hour to our destination. Upon arrival we set up our tents and sleeping bags, and everyone got to know each other whilst sharing a dinner of cheeseburgers and corn on the cob. We took some time to introduce, or reintroduce, some of the basics of fly fishing like casting, knots, fly selection and identification, and also went over the trip’s itinerary. Everyone is getting along well so far, it’s always a pleasure to get 12 like-minded boys together to do what they love! After hiking up the foothills to watch the golden light of sunset hit the mountains we are getting ready for bed, excited for the adventures that lie ahead.
Tomorrow morning we will have a hearty breakfast before packing up camp and entering Yellowstone National Park, our home for a few weeks. After a day getting oriented fishing in the Park we will depart on our first backcountry trip, a relatively short, two-night expedition to Grebe and Cascade Lakes. These serve as the home waters for bountiful and hungry populations of West Slope and native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, as well as shots at big, native Arctic Grayling.
We will come again with our next update following the conclusion of that trip — until then, tight lines!
Shane, Hunt, and Jacob
