September 2016. Telluride, CO. When fishing with our friends Marshall and Richard up in Telluride, we decided that the perfect match for some freshly caught trout would be some chanterelle mushrooms. So, with local guide John we hunted down mushrooms and learned about all kinds of food to eat and not to eat in the woods.
As everyone knows, some of the most beautiful mushrooms are the most toxic.
We were fortunate to find some chanterelles and catch some trout in the West Fork of the Dolores and had a wonderful evening with these wonderful Telluride folks.
My year of 52 rivers would not have been the same without Pat and Carol Oglesby. I look forward to many more years of exploring and fishing with them.
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The words of my new friend, Bill Eaton…
“It is interesting the way that Shelley and I have become friends. I was told of this lady who was going to fish 52 rivers in 52 weeks. I found her Facebook page and friended her and started to follow her adventure. I noticed that we had some things in common like rivers we had fished and guides we had used. So I emailed her and we started corresponding.
I enjoyed her blog and looked forward to the next river she would fish and what she would encounter. She is an accomplished photographer with very striking photos of the rivers she fished. I have also looked forward to her summation of the guides that she hired. For those of us who can’t travel to all the rivers that Shelley did, her blog has allowed us to fish those rivers through her.
We met at the Denver Fly Fishing Show in January 2014 after her year of fishing. We then set up a time to have dinner with my wife and her husband. I can now say we have a new pair of friends. One can never have too many friends!”
Thanks, Bill, for coming into my life and sharing my special year. Shelley
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I met Steve Schweitzer at the Denver Fly-Fishing Show two years ago. Steve is the author of Fly Fishing Rocky Mountain National Park, a great guide to the Park. Steve self-published his book and has passed on all his knowledge as I move forward with self-publishing my book.
I had a publisher who was interested in my book but after several conversations with several fly-fishing authors, I decided that I would lose too much control over my content. My story falls into several categories of writing – part travel log, part essay, part storytelling. Time will tell whether or not I can pull this off. In the end, what a luxury it is that I have the opportunity to try.
I need to thank Steve in large part for this chance.
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While fishing on the Pecos River, my guide Norman took me to one of the private stretches of river to which he has access. The same storm that had done so much damage in the Boulder area of Colorado had its effect on New Mexico as well. Norman had heard that the storm had changed the course of the river on this gentleman’s property.
And right he was. Although I had not been on this river before, Norman pointed out where new channels were carved and how different the river now appeared. While showing me all this, the owner of the property, Kelly Shannon, came out to visit with us. He was a gentle soul and told some stories of his life here by the river. We observed him feeding the trout in the stream, much as you or I would our pets in our home. It made me yearn for my own stretch of river property. Now that’s pie in the sky!
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I just learned this morning that my long time friend, Carol Dorfman passed away yesterday. This comes as a shock and great sadness. She leaves behind her two sons, Noah and Jordan, both of whom I have known well as adolescents.
Carol and I spent a lot of time together over the years vacationing, laughing and working through life’s issues. Carol had a wicked sense of humor and helped many people through her coaching business.
What has happened to Carol is precisely why I took this year to follow my dreams. I lost my mother at 62, the same age as Carol. We all know to live in the moment and never take the future for granted, but most of us just can’t wrap our brains and actions around that. Do it my friends…
I will miss you very much, Carol…
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I met Kiran Levy in downtown Santa Fe after I fished the Pecos River. As always, I am attracted to anyone who has east coast roots as I do, and Kiran grew up near to New York City. Her subsequent life has been so interesting and inspiring.
Much of her formal education took place in New Delhi, India. She continued to explore Asian culture and then proceeded to live in Spain, Greece, Nigeria, Morocco and Sweden. As she states, “The portrait photos and pencil sketches of the people she encountered while traveling reflect a passion for capturing in a moment the essence of their spirit.”
Kiran earned a vendor license on the Santa Fe Plaza in 2001 where you can now find her with her full array of watercolors, acrylic paintings, and etchings where she focuses on downtown storefronts, churches and portraits of people and animals.
I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of pieces of hers. Visit her when you go to Santa Fe. She’s directly across from the Palace of the Governors on Palace Avenue.
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(Photo by Ross Purnell)
April Vokey is one of the most well-known fly-fishers in the world – and yes, surprising to some, she’s a woman. April is going to be profiled on the November 6 episode of 60 minutes Sports on Showtime. I met April at the Denver Fly Fishing show last December when she presented on a panel of women who are well known for a variety of reasons within the fly-fishing world. (Peg Misken – profiled in my Friends column – also presented at the Denver show.)
April has guided on the Dean River in British Columbia for the last 4 summers where she helps her clients seek out steelheads – a sea-run rainbow trout that usually returns to fresh water to spawn. I have not yet had the opportunity to go hunt steelheads but everything I hear about it excites me.
April has done a lot to bring women into the sport of fly-fishing and has been very active in her work to ensure the future health of rivers. She has a blog where she tells of her adventures and her life story.
I would certainly watch the show, but I’ll be fishing.
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Peg Miskin is the national program manager for Casting for Recovery. Peg moved to Hamilton, MT recently from California. Within a very short period of time, the Hamilton community has embraced her for the wonderful work she is doing to help cancer survivors.
The Casting for Recovery program encourages women breast cancer survivors to apply for a weekend of empowerment after the trials they have had to endure going through cancer. The women don’t need to know anything about fly-fishing. They come together in one of 35 programs across the country to find strength, joy and confidence… and fly-fish.
Huge kudos to Peg and all the others who make this wonderful organization work.
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Another six degrees of separation story. I arrive in Hamilton, MT, not knowing a single person. I am attending the first Casting for Recovery (CFR) national fundraiser. This organization brings together over 600 women breast cancer survivors for a weekend on rivers in 35 states. More on this in a later post.
At the meet and greet kick-off party at Peggy and Bob Ratcheson’s home I discover that I’m surrounded by a New Jersey contingent. Dee (on the right) lived in my home town of Upper Montclair, New Jersey for 15 years (after I left for Colorado.) She and some of her friends are volunteers for the CFR program in New Jersey. I also discovered that I was born in the same hospital as another one of the women. Besides these coincidences, it’s just so easy to establish instant rapport with fellow Jersey girls.
Mary (on the left) came out to Hamilton from New Hampshire and was my fishing partner for the day. She is a school administrator and a breast cancer survivor, and perhaps one of the most humble and gentle souls I have met.
I didn’t get photos of all the wonderful new people I met, but to Eddie, Betsy and all the others, it was certainly my pleasure.
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