The Wanderer and "Welcome to the Jungle"

 Ulysses S. Griggs- the Rough Rider, the land surveyor, the civil engineer, the Lakota's friend, "The Wanderer" and my great-grandfather. Here is the missing link to my love for exploration and adventure, its been in my blood this whole time...





But I digress, this summer season I was offered a chance to visit a place I've been only once before many years ago. A place that often is left behind on my list of places to travel or fish in- "off the radar." A place that I knew almost nothing about. A place with mountains that once stood taller than Everest, with the second most annual rainfall in the nation behind Seattle, and some of the most rewarding hiking and fishing opportunities I've known yet. Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina was my stomping ground with Will Lillard, the fearless leader of Lillard Fly Fishing Expeditions, for the month of June.

It's truly a jungle experience, think canopies of trees usually shaded us at all times, and thick undergrowth of vines and rhododendron filled in the river banks and valleys, while in other areas the ground was blanketed by lush ferns and grasses. Will and I led the first trip of Memphis University school for two weeks across this lush and beautiful area for two weeks.  We did a bit of "front-country"camping along the Davidson River, just outside of Brevard, NC to get the group on par with their fishing techniques. Then for five night, six days we hiked along the East Fork of the Pigeon River and the South Mills River.

The fishing in PNF is usually for small yet wild, spooky, and spunky brook, brown, and rainbow trout. I've spent years and years on spring creeks full of trout of similar stature, but this fishing was some of the most technical and physically demanding that I've done. The only way to catch these trout was to cast from downstream and float the fly over them. Not so crazy, right? Keep in mind that these rivers are ancient, these mountains has withstood the tests of time, the rivers have eaten away much of their beds straight to the bed rock, there is no way you can fish from the bank (as illustrated from the photo above,) and once you take a few fish from a hole you have to move on. The name of the game was to hike down stream a mile or two or three and walk in the river back up to camp through rapids, over falls, and your on top of impossibly slippery boulders and bedrock the entire time. In short- its so f***ing awesome! The fish hide under the shade along the rhodo and behind rocks and in the deep pockets below waterfalls and in the rapids, and despite their size of 6-10 inches, I had multiple rainbows and browns fight like they were twenty inches. They'd go running up stream, down stream, and swim circles around you until you put your hand on them...even then they don't stop fighting- truly wild and beautiful fish.

 

The back country was a great experience for all of us on the trip. And the rainforest stuck true to its name- it rained everyday for two weeks, and anything that was left outside and got soaked was soaked for the rest of the trip as the intense humidity wouldn't allow anything to dry. It didn't phase us though, at least those who didn't choose to level their packs uncovered and tents open. Other than the weather, the first trip went without a hitch and I think all of us came away with an experience we'll always remember and better outdoor/fishing skills we can take all over the world.

Its a beautiful and delicate ecosystem in the jungle, with a maze of footpaths that tangle their way through tunnels of rhododendron and disorient your views with a overwhelming array of green life. You start down a foot path and walk what would seem a good distance and yet have halfhearted faith of exactly where you would end up, you stop at one point and listen, through the birds and breeze, for the roar of a waterfall. If there is nothing, you turn around- if there is a roar hidden within the maze, you keep trekking deeper in and continue the routine until it gets louder and louder, and then through a crack in the tunnel you can see it. The falls acted as sirens, a luring voice calling through the unknown, calling you to paradise. You'd twist and wind through the under growth until, BAM, there you are at the foot of this massive wall of water and rock. I'm so used to the big sky and open plains, this was truly claustrophobic at some points, its eerie to go it alone, but that was my style. I aimed for the pools at the base of the falls, not only because they held fish, but for the excitement and sense of adventure they held to try and find them. That's how it was in Panthertown Valley on Cold Mountain, same as the civil war novel and the start of the blue ridge mountains, we spent two days there on the second trip. There's waterfalls everywhere in that jungle and all of them are awesome in there own way.

      The second trip was my favorite by far. Not only was the weather way better than the first half of the month, but the group of kids was great and I was able to us the skills I've picked up in Ely and Outdoor Leadership. There's nothing quite as cool as getting a group of teenagers from around the country to become friends and efficient back country travelers and fly fishers. It was the coolest thing ever when the kids who more experienced than the others would go out of their way to help and teach their peers.

A life changing, and addicting experience was what I got from my time in the jungle. Its unlike anything I've seen or encountered before, a place that challenges you around every corner and forces you to be witty and creative, yet has the power to slow you down and make you stand in awe of its ancient beauty. And if you really slow down and take it all in, it can reward you with treasures and memories that will last you a life time. I shall return.