schumachers take wyoming: part II

On Day 2 of Niki and Adam's trip we went looking for wildlife in the Lamar Valley.


Though the wolves weren't out, we did see (thanks to Adam's eagle eye) two large grizzly bears hanging out on the far side of Soda Butte Creek. A little further down the road we saw a black bear crossing a hill. The mama bear was quickly followed by two small cubs bounding after her.

With the sun starting to set, we rigged up the rods to give Adam a fly casting lesson on Soda Butte. He got the fly cast down with no problem but the previous day's rain had made the river too muddy for him to catch anything.

The next morning we were up early to hike up Mount Washburn. It was beautiful day for a walk and soon we were passing people (and pikas)


left and right as we climbed to the fire tower on top of the mountain.

After making it to the top we had some time to relax

before we decided to head back down where it was warmer and less windy.

After we dropped Wendie off at work, we hiked into the Gardner River canyon so that Adam could get back on the water. It didn't take him long to get his casts going again, and was soon fishing like a pro. Sadly, though he hooked three fish, my instructions about landing a fish weren't up to snuff, and all three got away before we could get them in hand.

Though we didn't want to get skunked, when the wind started picking up and the sky clouded over we decided to get out of the canyon before it started pouring.

Since the weather held, we decided to try one more spot, a small pond behind our house. Just as we were going to get out of the car and try some casts, a small black bear popped out of the woods about 15 feet from the car. Instead of fishing, we snapped some photos and let him have a run of the pond.

After we picked up Wendie from work, we headed down to the K-Bar for some burgers and beers. Luckily, they had a couple of Team Chicago's new favorite Montana beer, Bent Nail, chillin' in the fridge, which was a perfect way to end the day.

Hopefully the lure of Bent Nail will get the Schumacher's back to Wyoming again!