Poo, I have actually seen that video before. I am way too long in the tooth to take on “The Frank” but envy you for being able to do it. Embrace it. Love every minute of it. Do it every chance you get. What a magnificent place. I have only spent limited time in Idaho. Elmer Keith lived a large portion of his life around Salmon so I had to go there at least once. His book “ Hell I was there” is a must read for the true outdoors man. Did a drive about 5 years ago on hwy 93 and 28 from Missoula down through Hamilton, Darby ( home of the Yellowstone tv show ranch ), Salmon, and ended up in Twin Falls for a couple of nights. Nice town. A couple of other brief trips to Idaho and that’s it. It’s on the list to explore and I am going to look you up whenever we make that trip. The Rocky Mountains are a powerful thing and once they touch your soul, there is no escape. I tried to talk my wife into moving to Wyoming when we retired but she said no way. Kids and grandkids are here so that was the end of that. I was born and raised here in Mississippi. Lived here all of my life. However, every time I cross the Wyoming border I feel like I am at home. When I leave headed back toward Mississippi, I just feel empty. I have had a good life here but look at the difference. Hunting here means walking for a few minutes and crawling up in a deer stand. Deer, turkey, bobcat, coyote, fox, and some small critters is about it. Last fall in the Teton Wilderness we saw antelope, mule deer, elk, moose, black bear, grizzly bear, Buffalo, a wolf and an eagle. Rode big draft horses in places few people have ever seen. Up in the alpine county. Places that were hunted by the likes of Jack O’Conner and Teddy Rosevelt. Slept in tents with bear spray and a 300 win mag to deal with the grizzly at night. I never felt more Alive. That’s as good as it gets. Great people live in the Rockies. Honest, hard working people with good values. Hard to find a bass or catfish, but standing in a clear mountain stream with a fly rod in hand is the purest form of fishing that there is anywhere. Cody Wyoming is a great town in my opinion. 9,000 people and 14 gun shops. That’s my kind of place. Jeremiah Johnson is buried just outside of Cody. I visited his grave site a couple of years ago, and I know it’s just a movie loosely based on his life, but as I stood there paying my respects to a man I never met, I was humbled to be there. Colorado is beautiful but a lot of it is a little to yuppy for my taste. I did hunt there a couple of times and we had good trips however it just didn’t have a real wilderness feel to it. I have covered almost all of Wyoming and Montana. Great places other than parts of Montana are being invaded by people moving there from California. I guess I am rambling again forgive me for that but it seems that the Rockies is the last refuge left in our County. If you go any further West you get California, Washington, and Oregon. I have traveled all 3 on business. Not no, but hell no. East of the Rockies you get too many people and all of the current drama that goes along with it. If you look at the changes we have seen in the Southeast over the last 30 years, you have to be more than a little concerned about the long term future. Poo, you are a wise man to be raising your family in the Rockies and I salute you. I apologize to to all of the readers for my rambling post but I do love talking about my favorite part of the Country and all of the wild places and critters that call it home.
