Gallatin River Cleanup… and Dawn on the Water

A fall dawn on the Upper.

Ten days without a post. In all reality I have no excuse, save that an extended stretch of 0400h mornings, political interviews for the press, and a series of startling life decisions have been kicking my derriere.

Realizing I had to get outside – away from the computer and out of cell range – I headed up to the Upper Gallatin for some dawn patrol fishing before covering the Blue Water Task Force’s Upper Gallatin River Cleanup Day this morning.

It was refreshing to see the canyon section of the river being taken care of. The Gallatin is a heavily utilized river and it’s good to see people giving back. I worked with a few groups – my favorite was the creative removal of this large piece of metal pipe. It was pried from the bank and then loaded onto a stand up paddleboard and swung across the river. As you can see, there were some… minor difficulties. But, true to the Montana ethos, these men “got ‘er done”.

While temperatures are still unseasonably warm – it’s nearing seventy-eight here in town as I write this – fall color is starting to show and it makes for a stellar time to run into the mountains. Anglers and hunters are bemoaning the weather but, in the end, make the trek outside just the same. Driving up the canyon at 0600h this morning I could make out in the darkness the looming shapes of pickups pulled off on the side of the road, their drivers already into the hills after their quarry.