Mikey and I have spent the past three days at Angler's Lodge in Island Park, Idaho. It's my first time north of Ashton and the first time Mikey and I have taken a summer fishing vacation and stayed at a hotel.

Angler's Lodge is a special place for a fisherman. The Henry's Fork runs right by the lodge about thirty feet from our back deck. After the first morning of fishing we returned for a late breakfast, eating at the restaurant at the lodge. The food was good, inexpensive and we watched several anglers working the water for rising trout. And hundreds of trout were jumping.

We've fished every morning and evening and ridden bicycles during the heat of the day. I've put in rides of 47, 53 and 75 miles. The road between Ashton and Island Park is fairly flat, except for one five mile, 6 % grade hill. Our first ride took us down the hill to Ashton. The return trip was brutal. That 5 mile stretch took me 37 minutes. But who's counting.

The second day Mikey refused to go to Ashton. I suggested we leave the truck at the top of the hill, ride down and then I would ride back up the hill, get the truck, and return to give Mikey a ride back to Island Park. He agreed. We got our ride. The hill took 36 minutes.

Today we had to change hotels. Anglers was hosting a wedding and did not have a room for tonight. Mikey rode with me for 37 miles and then I took off to Ashton while he got the gear together and checked out of the hotel. 75 miles is my longest ride to date. I was surprised at how easy it seemed.

It's been a great vacation. We've caught fish, spotted a momma moose and her calf on two rides, ran into a group of five elk this morning and had a good time. We did have a sad experience. The first day we talked with a couple of young boys that were playing around the hotel. At about 1:00 AM we had a knock at the door. Two people excused themselves and asked if they could look in our room. One of the young boys was missing and had not been seen since 5:00 PM. We were a bit dazed, but let them in.

The next morning Mikey couldn't stop talking about that early visit. He thought it was strange. Certainly I'd never had an experience like it. We left to fish at about 6:00 AM and there were search & rescue vehicles in abundance. It was the main topic of conversation all morning.

Upon our return we asked at the restaurant about the status of the boy. He had been found. Dead. He was playing with a friend in their tree fort. After the friend left this boy fell from the tree with his neck caught in a rope.

He was the son of the hotel owner and the youngest of three brothers. Nothing much more to say. We were very sad and subdued all the rest of the day. It's hard to imagine the pain the family must feel. Mikey and I kept wondering how any of us little boys ever make it past 15. We all climb in trees and make forts. And we have all flirted with disaster on more than one occasion. So maybe it's miraculous that more of us haven't met with a bad end. We offered our heartfelt sadness and sympathy to the family and tried to get on with our fun.

MIkey's dad passed away 5 weeks ago. The tragedy at Angler's Lodge got us talking about life, death, family. You know, all the deep stuff that a couple of guys usually are able to avoid. After all, we were at a beautiful place with world class fishing, great weather and nice roads for riding.

We found a little light-heartedness when Mikey got after me for getting him into road biking. We talked about it in April and he started riding his mountain bike to train for our August trip through Yellowstone. But last month he decided to get a real road bike. He originally though about getting a used bike for a few hundred dollars. By the time all was said and done, he'd purchased a new bike and dropped close to $1500. That's just one of the hazards that comes from being my friend. Obsessive, expensive and fun............
10:23:29 PM    comment []