Great story, George, it enthralled us all. Maybe, especially me.
Living in south central MT my entire life, I have spent 33 of my life's
33 summers fishing and exploring the Bo....oops...Big Rock River valley.
It was fantastic to hear another's adventures, and, in fact, I'm headed
up there this coming weekend.
I certainly hope you make this trip again, and if you do, I have gobs
of advice/tips/bestspots etc., if interested. One thing struck me as
humorous, though. Those of us who know and love the...Big Rock,
consider the West Big Rock to be the "Forsyth" of the Big Rock Drainage.
Delapidated. OK, at least barren compared to the most beautiful place
on earth, the main flow.
Only the first handful of miles have these vacation establishments you
wrote about....the higher 40 miles or so past Natural Bridge are about
as wild as you can get, aside from primitive campsites, a few one room
cabins, and a church camp. This is where i suggest you need to be to
see the most amazing beauty and best trout fishing the lower 48 has to
offer.
I assume you rented one of the Forest Service cabins. There is one on
the Main BR that is smack dab in the middle of some of the best trout
fishing in the world, and even better, noone that rents it knows because
they, like most, don't know where to go once they're there.
"A River Runs Through It" was partially filmed here, along with a few
other stretches across MT. Most people that camp on this stretch think
the fishing is good, but they actually have no clue as to the goldmine
they are on because they don't know where to go. Locals, too, have no
clue. And we're not talking about 2 hour hikes from camp.
I'd love to tell you more if you ever plan on making another trip.
But I have a far better place, a fish every cast kinda place, with
scenery that blows the barrens of the WB away.
I know you had a great time, but you were maybe 30 miles away from
easy access, 20 minute walk from camp, mind-blowing action.
And as an added bonus, almost all bears here are black bears, not
griz. Well, unless you go further up.
By the way, Brokaw and Keaton do have places on the WB, thats where
most of the private land is. As for whether or not you saw their SUV's,
well, there are probably 50 high end SUV's per square mile in MT, and
gobs of Hummers. Maybe, maybe not. But hey, when you took the trip to
Natural Bridge, you passed Brooke Shields' place. Take your pick. As I
said, however, the further past Natural Bridge you go.....no more of
that crap.
I'd love to talk to you about this area. Actually, I'd love to give
you pointers, then read your great stories about it. You do a fantastic
job of taking us all with you.