Montana Backcountry Camping & Fly Fishing Adventure: Part 1

 

Montana Master Minds Epic Camping Adventure Crew

 

Around the beginning of the year, a good friend of mine Cary Jack @cary_Jack, out of Bozeman, Montana, reached out with an idea.  He wanted to bring fifteen high level entrepreneurs out into the backcountry of Montana on a digital detox trip while hiking, backpacking, fly fishing, and camping in the wilderness.  This event is called The Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventure, and the next one sold out in a few hours after we returned.  Cary wanted me to be one of the instructors on this trip, specifically teaching everyone the art of fly fishing.  We also outfitted everyone with an El Jefe Combo and all of the gear they needed to catch fish.  The idea of joining a Mastermind group to connect with like minded individuals and learn from so many different people and their business was very intriguing.  The idea of a digital detox was somewhat unnerving to me.  Think about it, when was the last time you didn't have access to a phone, signal or any electronic device for six days.  I highly recommend this to everyone, the feeling of absolutely disconnecting is incredible.  If the idea makes you a little nervous, that's a big sign that you need to do something like this too.  Also, the idea of sharing my knowledge and passion for fly fishing was also very intriguing.  I've taught dozens, maybe hundreds of people to fly fish on a one on one basis, what would it be like in a group setting?  I have never been on a backcountry camping trip where we hiked in our own tent and gear, so clearly it was time for some new equipment.  Below I'm going to outline both the fly fishing gear as well as the camping gear I brought with me on this epic adventure.

 

Jeff Ditsworth and his Gear Hiking The Beartooth Mountains

 

It's funny how my mind works, when I first began working through the gear I would need for this adventure, all I was focused on was my fly fishing gear.  Not to worry, a tent, sleeping bag and all that was an afterthought.  I was laser focused on the amazing and colorful trout that live in high mountain lakes and the streams we would find.  I'm told that we would be camping at elevations around 9,000-10,000 feet.  From my experience, these trout are the most colorful, but also do not see a lot of anglers.  High mountain lake trout are one of my favorite categories of trout, I call them "uneducated."  I don't say this to disparage my swimming friends, but they don't see a lot of angling pressure, and will generally eat most flies presented half way well.  When you get off the beaten trail, trout are very happy and simply eat.  I love it!

 

Rock Creek in The Beartooth Mountain Range

 

I would never hike seven to eight miles into the wilderness with only one fly rod, so I was excited to pack up our new double rod tube with a sweet pair of El Jefe Combos.  Back up fly rods are essential on all trips in my mind, accidents happen.  I brought a three weight and a five weight with me.  This new tube, which will be available in the fall of 2021 has a large reel pouch built in and is a perfect way to bring a pair of rods with you.  It's only twenty two inches long, and perfectly holds a pair of El Jefe Packable Rods with their matching reels attached.  It's also super easy to attach it to the outside of your hiking backpack.  Our double rod tube also has a sweet strap so you can take your gear with you easily for day hikes, which we did many times.  I also brought our Go-Pack Sling Pack to hold my sunglasses, fly boxes, and the other fly fishing gear we would need for the week.  Again, this pack is perfect for day hikes and keeps your gear handy at all times.  The fly selection I brought for our new friends is our normal fly selection we give to our customers that purchase a new combo.  We used the dry flies and woolley buggers primarily, but I did fish a dry and dropper quite often, successfully.  When learning to fly fish, I find it best to keep things simple, and stick with one fly, either a dry or a streamer.  The top fly up there was the Parachute Adams.

 

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness - Watch out for the Bears!

 

As far as camping gear goes, I assembled my gear using a fantastic list that Cary and his Brother Grant (@grateful.grant) put together for us.  The trick is getting all of this to fit into your backpack, which proved to be a little more difficult than I would have imagined.  Difficult, but doable.  The main items were a backpack, small tent, sleeping bag, inflatable pad for sleeping on, inflatable camping pillows, and a compact camping towel.  I also picked up a new pair of waterproof hiking boots as well, which proved essential as I was able to get into the very shallow shelf where the river drained into the lake and catch fish at will without getting my feet wet on several opportunities.  For clothing, I brought a couple of dry fit short sleeve shirts, a couple of dry fit long sleeve shirts, one fleece pull over, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of light weight pants, and four pairs of hiking socks.  I brought a pair of water shoes for wet wading and walking around camp during the day.  I picked up a new pair, made by Crocs a couple of days before the trip.  They worked perfectly.  I also packed a super light rain jacket from Patagonia.  M's UltraLight Packable Jacket.  This jacket was incredible and kept me completely dry during a crazy downpour full of close lightning and huge thunder.  I highly recommend this jacket.  We weighed our packs prior to hitting the trail and mine was just under fifty pounds.  This was going to be a solid workout since the seven to eight miles in will be straight up, around a 2,500-3,000 foot climb.  

 

High Mountain Lake, Full of Brook Trout & Cutthroat Trout

 

High mountain lake trout are not known to be super large due to their shorter than average growing season, however I'm told some of these lakes can surprise you.  I wasn't sure what species of trout we would encounter, but I was very optimistic about the beauty of these fish.  To me, an eight to ten inch colorful beauty is worth the eight to ten mile hike just to see them.  

 

High Mountain Lake, Crystal Clear Water, Full of Trout

 

Cary also brought a professional photographer with us on the journey.  Mau Cortes is from Costa Rica, and he is incredibly talented.  If you are in the market to hire someone to assist with professional photos or videos for your business, check him out.  @mau.Cortes.e  

 

My Friend and Photographer Mau Cortes

 

We hit the tail head at The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness mid morning on a pretty hot day, and began our journey to Keyser Brown Lake.  The trail followed Rock Creek the entire time, which was breathtaking and a bit tortuous for me seeing killer pocket water and holes behind boulders the entire way up.  I focused on the hike and actually didn’t pull out El Jefe one time if you can believe it.  I’ll let Mau’s photos tell you more about the hike.  

 

 

 

 

We finally made it to an amazing meadow at the base of Keyser Brown Lake and set up camp.  Within minutes of setting up my tent and helping get the main camp set up, I was assembling El Jefe.  

 

Our Home away from Home in a beautiful meadow on Keyser Brown Lake

 

Stay tuned for more about this epic adventure in our next post.

Until next time, tight lines my friends!

Jeff

 

Wild Dry Eating Brook Trout in Montana