Another Eagle Rock Post...

Every year around this time, shortly after the first cold snaps of the fall, the sleeping bags and packs come out of the summer hibernation. Ruthie and I took a friend of ours to Eagle Rock to earn her patch. All of the goals we had planned were executed with precision. We only had about two and a half days to make the six hour drive both ways and finish the 26.8 miles. While trying and be back at a decent hour to get up for work monday morning. One of my goals was to catch a fish with my tenkara rod somewhere along the Little Missouri River. We parked and hiked to Winding Stair the first night and I had about twenty minutes to fish before sundown. A few of the fish would charge the fly and stop just short. A fingerling sized hybrid bass ate the wooly bugger as I was drifting the fly and walking down the riffles.

There were more people on the loop than I have ever seen before. We passed no less than thirty hikers throughout the weekend. The fall colors were starting to pop and the nights were just cold enough to be warm and cozy around the fire. My trail karma caught up to me on the second day. The mini dropper bottle holding my bleach had fallen out of my pack pocket unbeknownst to me. Not three miles down the trail I came across a Sawyer Water Filter that was lying at the base of an old laydown you had to walk around or play limbo with to proceed.

It's a great time of year to get outside. Something I will be doing plenty of this fall and winter.