trying to conceive of adequate words to describe the blissful days spent
in graham county while sitting here in the Pitt of north carolina
counties getting ready to resume the grinding & churning amidst other's
worries is tough. i've posted pictures on ABPF that provide some sense
of the recent days spent with friends pursuing the great mystery in the
nc mountains.... these few words are surplus and inadequate.

rachel, sadie, and i left here on oct 9 around 6 am, looking forward to
two weeks in the places i love most in all of nc. i'm doing my best to
convince rachel it's where we should confront our final destiny, but she
remains a bit reserved and uncertain on the adventure. having
experience with my innumerable misadventures, and noting my slobbering
and rapt re-reading of "don quixote" and "on the spine", she has reason
to be cautious.

boat in tow, with expectations of using it to visit the streams across
fontana lake, truck packed as if on a trip to alaska, we merrily headed
out and onward. drove a bit slower, took a bit longer (8 hours), but no
problems...except for a road rage trucker i apparently offended in my
benign road meandering somewhere near hickory and who tried to run me
off i-40 (unsuccessfully). hmmm... prophetic event? ah well, onward.
stopped in morganton at wally's shop... he was sleeping late g, so
chatted with his fiefdom workers, monty and zack, bought a few flies (as
it turned out, all were wrong for this trip), and headed on to the
snowbird rental house. arrived mid afternoon, settled in after shopping
and prepared for the coming week of fishing.

oct 12th was my birthday, oct 21st was rachels, and, well, near bout
everday is sadies's. my plan was to fish hard during the first week
when most folks were expected to be about and then to slow down and
enjoy the second week with rachel - sort of an atonement for the october
i abandoned her for the hazel creek campout with wolfgang and bob patton
(though it's quite clear i'll never fully atone, nor will i ever truly
regret, that particular october's choice and decision of two years ago).
i looked forward to rachel meeting some of my fishing friends and to
involve her more directly in a bit of this unusual connection and
obsession. surprisingly (because we are intentionally unsocial and
introverted folks), rachel loved the gathering and developed her own
personal friendship with becky and wolfgang, asadi, and bob. jennifer
and her friend kim shared a brief supper with us one evening, but their
pleasant and gregarious spirit and conversation was another highlight of
the gathering. because of her physical limitations (osteoarthritis),
rachel is unable to share my fishing hikes. it was nice to have her
share the spirit of good company and conversation among those with whom
i am privileged to go trout fishing.

bob patton was the first to deposit himself near us on snowbird... he
showed up just in time, around 8 or 9, as i'd been prepared to leave
since 4:00 am. we promptly headed out to launch the boat at cable cove
for a test run over to hazel creek. bob is easily the friendliest of
fishing companions. soft-voiced, knowledgeable about the area, willing
to sally forth, and happily occupied when stepping along the soul
soothing streams of the smokies... but, clearly, not fully prepared for
miller's navy. G

fontana lake's cable cove is almost directly across the lake from the
entry to hazel creek. an easy launch and a quick ride over, we were
fishing soon after arrival. bob did have an unfortunate misstep on the
landing, but recovered quite well for a missouri landlubber it was
one of the few sun-filled days during the 2 weeks. bob fished the
horseshoe, i fished just below and above second bridge. hazel is
generally a tough creek to fish, but i usually catch a pleasing number
of fish in the 8-10 inch size. this trip, all of the fish i caught were
over in shady side pockets and channels... none were caught in the
normal prime lies. a weather front was moving in and the temps had
dropped a bit. locals claimed the fishing was off. in truth, the
fishing was fine, but the catching...well, though nymphing was probably
the ticket to catching, we were committed to the fun and fulfilling
folly of dry flies. didn't catch a lot, but it was a splendid day.
posted on ABPF a pic of one fine rainbow caught on an EHC in a dark side
channel protected by a fallen tree...tough cast, quick drift, and a very
satisfying catch. reminded me of watching wolfgang catch a fine big
brown trout in a seemingly impossible fast current pocket under a fallen
tree's rootball along the bank of the ontonagon in the UP. those are
inspiring moments and memories for a mind too often mired in less
pleasant pursuits.

according to a park ranger who walked down the hazel creek road from
above the bone valley campsite (about 7 miles, he said) bob and i were
the only folks fishing on hazel creek on that beautiful sunday. there
were some folks visiting the memory of their ancestors buried near hazel
creek, and a few hikers, but no others in pursuit of that day's
exhilarating spirit emanating from the mountains, the water, the trout.

on the walk back, we chatted with the ranger. he was concerned about
the developing machinations involving the north shore road. for those of
you who love the GSMNP, it is urgent that you let the park service know
of your opposition to the construction of the road along the north shore
of fontana lake in the Park. although many like me believed the road
issue had been won because swain county and bryson city agreed to accept
$52 million as compensation for the failure to complete the road to
nowhere, it seems (according to the ranger) the matter remains undecided
and there is a risk that the current "politics" are favoring the road.
if the road is built, it will destroy the serenity of one of the last
genuine wilderness places in this area of the country. public access to
the north shore areas of the Park currently are limited to hikers,
either from trails or from boats. it's a special environment that
should remain free of motor vehicles and manunkind. if you care, send
the GSMNP superintendant (he's a new guy) a message expressing your
concerns.

(to be continued)...