Last Night.

 

It’s the last night of my solo trip .

 It’s been a great time .

The weather has been almost perfect .

A little breezy during the day but mornings and evenings it has calmed down for the fishing and that is all that I can ask for.

I will be sad to leave tomorrow .

There is still so much to do in this new area.

I will get up a little after 4 like I have all week and will be on the water by 4:30 for one last dance with the lake and the fish .

I do miss Lisa that’s for sure . 

We are not apart much anymore .

There was a time when we were apart a lot for work and we got used to it . 

One year I spent 187 nights away traveling for work !

Not anymore.

With no cell service here I can get out one text a day.

When I drive down this one road there is a 100 yard stretch of road that I can get 1 bar LTE.

One foot either way NOTHING. Stay within the zone and 1 bar LTE ! 

Just enough to send off a note .

Just a quick note to report in that all is well, and I miss her . I usually drive out after my morning fishing .

She would be ok if I didn’t report in at all,  and on some trips reporting in is not an option but I know she worries about me up here alone.

 So I make the trip and send off my report .

Each night even though she knows I won’t get it until morning, she texts me “good night love you “ as she crawls into bed.

We say it every night to each other as we settle in for the night, a ritual that has lasted 37 years now.

Each night around the campfire when I think she is headed to bed I whisper “ good night, love you “ into the darkness.

I get my “good night” message each morning when I hit my 100 yard stretch of signal .

She knows my message will never be heard, yet will always be sent .

14 miles down a dirt road . Send the note, get a note and 14 miles back .

Although I am sad to have to leave tomorrow , I will be going home just a little better than when I got here .

No, trips like this don’t change the world or solve all your problems .

No, they won’t take away worries or fix anything that may be broken in your life .

They can’t erase heartache or poor choices .

Trips like this can’t do any of that .

But I will go home tomorrow just a little bit better than when I got here Monday .

I will be ...... well ..... just a little more of who I used to be .......

A little more….

 Me.

I love you good night .

Lucky !

The lake has finally calmed down after a day of very windy weather .

 There is about an hour left before darkness overtakes me.

Up here when it gets dark , it really gets dark !

My paddle silently dips into the water as I slowly move the canoe along the shore . 

The small Brook Trout are rising to the surface eating insects and they are taking anything I throw at them .

Although fun, I am hoping for something a little bigger to cap off a great first day here . 

I am looking for the telltale sign of a bigger fish among the endless rings. 

The ring left when a fish of size breaks the water feeding on a bug . 

Normally a bigger splash and bigger ring means a bigger fish.

As I round the bend on the shoreline I can see a large Boulder in the water . 

I silently make my way towards the Boulder .

 I fish up to and around the Boulder ...... nothing . 

As I start paddling on down the bank I hear a splash behind me that I know was a bigger fish . 

I kick the back of the canoe out with the paddle and make a cast in the direction of the ring . 

Within seconds my line is tight and a large salmon breaks the water ! 

After a brief battle that lasted only a couple minutes, I land the salmon in a trout net made for much smaller fish .

My personal best salmon!

My heart is racing at the size and the beauty of this fish! 

I didn’t take time to measure it as I wanted to get it back in the water as healthy as possible but I know it’s the biggest one I have ever caught . 

The fish is tired after the battle so I take a moment to revive it before it bolts away. 

I grab the paddle and again start making my way down the shoreline .

I would love to weave a tale of skill and stealth that caught that fish .

 

A tale that speaks to time stalking the fish and working hard to catch him but that truly would be a fish tale . 

Truth is I got lucky!

I heard the splash , I chose to cast back at it and the fish bite!

More luck than skill but that’s ok .

 I’ll take luck anytime ! 

The peeper frogs have started to sing their nightly song and the birds are already resting up for tomorrow. 

I have about 30 minutes and it will be dark .

There wasn’t another bite to be had that night and frankly I am ok with that .

With a new personal best salmon on

 the books and a quick video to show proof I am content with the evening . 

I turn the canoe around and head for camp .

It’s time for a fire !

Getting back to ........

They call it getting back to nature .

A trip like the one I just took thrusts you head long into everything Mother Nature has to offer, both good and bad !

With no electricity , no tv , no one to talk too, it’s easy for a person to focus on things that they can’t focus on while battling the daily grind of life .

When I go on one of these trips, what I enjoy most of all , is the solitude it provides me .

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy camping and fishing with Lisa or friends also. As a matter of fact, by the end of each trip like this, I am excited to share my time and adventures with anyone who will listen.

No , I am far from the hermit type person who would relish in never seeing another soul for as long as they existed .

I love my wife , my family, and my friends too much to slip off into the woods and never return.

I do however enjoy one or two trips a year where I can “get back to nature “ as they say .

I think part of the enjoyment of a solo trip is the lack of responsibility I feel when I am alone .

I know that may sound selfish to some but hear me out .

When I camp alone, I don’t have to worry if anyone else is having fun.

I don’t have to worry about the fish not biting and trying to figure out how to catch fish so the person I am with is having fun.

I don’t have to worry if what we are doing is enjoyable to who I am with .

You see for me, these trips are 100% about me .

I get to do what I want , when I want, and I don’t have to worry about anyone but myself .

Selfish ? Maybe .

When I was growing up, I was very much a loner .

Most fishing trips or time afield were taken alone .

When I was too young to drive, I would ride my bike to any and all fishing spots I could get to.

Once I had a car my territory expanded, and I would often strike off alone for a day’s fishing to exotic places like The Forks and Rangeley.

Yes, I fished but I also explored on every trip . I would check out everything I found along the way .

I would roll over rocks just to see what was underneath.

I would take a trail just to see where it went.

I would follow a brook for miles just to see where it ended up and see if maybe, just maybe, there was a waterfall somewhere along it .

As a child I found more things under rocks, at the end of the trail and around the next bend in the brook than I have since I became an adult .

For some reason as an adult, I lost or gave up the full pursuit of exploration that I cherished as a kid . Yes , I did some over the years but nothing like I did as a youth.

I can’t tell you the last time I rolled over a rock just to see what was under it.

I normally don’t follow a trail if I don’t know where it goes, in my hurried adult life, time afield usually means going to places I know, to ensure no time is wasted and the best possible experience can be had with the little time I have to spend .

So you see for me the chance to head off into the woods at least once a year alone, is a precious gift.

To leave the hustle and bustle of life behind .

To have zero distractions from tv, radio, no politics , no work worries , no Facebook , emails, or messages !

No news, headlines, or soundbite of the day!

No, I have nothing to focus on or worry about from everything our modern lives have become .

To spend 4 days and not say a word may sound strange to some but to me its enjoyable!

I guess it’s not about getting back to nature .

Really , I guess for me,

It’s getting back to “self”.

I rolled over rocks, I took trails that lead nowhere, and I followed streams just to see where they went.

Just me and who I used to be getting aquatinted again .

We had a great time !

Let me tell you all about it !