Cooke City, MT

BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS OF MONTANA FROM GERRY KHATCHIKIAN. Gerry Khatchikian posted about Montana today and brought back a flood of memories of a month I spent on a camping and fishing trip in Yellowstone National Park.

A CAMPING, FISHING AND HIKING ADVENTURE. Tent camping, hiking to interior Lake Louis and Lake Shoshone, nine miles in and 5 miles back to the car by a different path gave us a fabulous feel for the magnificence that is Yellowstone Park. On most days, we fished Lake Yellowstone for Cutthroat Trout, a delicious red meat fish, fabulous when grilled over charcoal coals. Careful though, we were limited to only two fish each in possession at any time. Also, the fish kept had to be under 13 inches. They let fishermen keep the young ones and keep the breeders in the water. We caught many, many 16-28 inch fish and all had to be returned to the water. Except for one that swallowed the hook. Of course I released it in Lake Yellowstone and within about 30 seconds a Bald Eagle swooped down, picked the dead fish up out of the water and flew back to his tree. What an adventure.

Wyoming must be on to something with fish management because Lake Yellowstone teams with fish dispite the fact that it was the small catches that were kept, just the opposite of fish management in most waters where only the large fish can be kept. On many days we would get out early, catch 2 Cutthroat Trout each, go back to the campsite, cook them, eat them and back to another spot to catch more. Don't even think of exceeding the 2 fish in possession. The park swarms with Park Rangers who are very friendly, but. . . . . . .

THE BEARTOOTH. After 3 weeks of this adventure, we headed north to Cooke City, across the Beartooth Highway, on to Red Lodge and east to home. Some memories last for a lifetime.

I bet these wild ponies on the Beartooth Highway were not as surprised as I. Fortunately, I got a fabulous shot of them. The photo below was taken with a 35mm camera just before the introduction of the digital.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.