Pretty Pink Trout, Firm, Juicy, Thick, Delicious

Fishing Pole The Stick--Trout On Top Of Backpack


Yellowstone Wilderness
September


When I got up this morning, I thought the weather had turned. A wet
cloud touching the ground greeted me, but the day turned out to be
even nicer than yesterday. It was a no-shirt day, and I even
jumped into one of the creek's deep pools. It was a little too cold
for that, though. In the afternoon, I found a stick and tied my line and hook
on to it. To my surprise, I caught three beautiful Rainbow Trout. As I
fished, a pack of coyotes howled in the distance. They didn't worry
me, but on the way back to camp, I heard a distant roar. That did
worry me, especially since I was carrying dinner-for-two.

Sept. 18

It's nice to have someone to talk to, someone who listens without
affirming or rejecting what I have to say. My journal grows fat in
times of solitude.

For dinner last night, I had the best tinfoil cooked trout I had ever
eaten. The fish was juicy, firm, and thick. They were also the
prettiest pink you've ever seen. I ate two for dinner and the other
one for this morning's breakfast. My coffee and last night's leftover
biscuits with jelly on them put the finishing touches on a great meal.

I just washed my blue jeans in the stream, and am now lying naked in
the hot sun. Before I get dressed, I'll wash up with my sun-heated
water. Later today, I plan to hike up
the mountain and see what I can find. I'd like to get some animal
pictures, but so far I haven't had any luck in that department. The
elk didn't come back last night, but I still could hear one or two off
in the distance. I guess the large expanse of grasslands acts like a
soundstage because I never seem to be out of range of some distant
animal cry. Right now the experience is one of community, not fear.

I think my sensitivity is slowly coming back. Yesterday, when I was
washing the fish smell off my hands, I lost my Hawaiian ring. I was
very disappointed. That ring was the only material thing that I had to
remind me of living on the beach on Oahu. I hadn't realized how much I
valued it until it was gone. After a while, though, I began to feel
okay. I even felt good about it. It turned out that losing my
attachment to that ring was even more important to me than the ring
itself. I'm really enjoying my stay here now. Tomorrow I will be ready
to go back to Deadwood. I feel good.