Yellowstone National Park is less than an hour from home, yet I make the drive up the Paradise Valley to the entrance at Gardiner infrequently. The only reason I can think of for this neglect is an unwillingness to do battle with the hordes of visitors that overrun this spaced-out venue most of the year. When I think of the miles and miles of classic trout water, the magnificence of the place, and the numerous natural world anomalies, I realize that I should put the aversion-to-crowds nonsense away somewhere. Walking off from the road upstream through the forest leaves most people behind in a hurry. Factor in rivers like the Madison, Firehole, Lamar, Yellowstone, Gardner, and others along with dozens of little-fished creeks, lakes, and ponds, and I realize that this season I’ll be making the effort to fish the Park a lot more than in past years. The hell with the hordes of tourists, and after all, I’m one myself.
Yellowstone Park
John Holt