After following the westward trail of the journey Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery for most of the trip, we headed in a new direction and made our way to Billings, Montana. We shuffled hotels, settled the dogs in for the night, and enjoyed a really nice dinner at Rex's in Old Town Billings.
Monday came early - time to load up the hounds. We ran into a couple of hunters from Georgia, shared a little info, and headed toward Custer's final destination. Lots of stops in America are tourist traps. The park at the Battle of the Little Bighorn is not! It's a must see for people who enjoy the history of America and above all the West. It tells a great story if you can take the time to read about it beforehand, and can imagine the battle in your mind's eye. The visitor's center if full of relevant facts and information from both sides of the conflict. A great read on the subject is "The Last Stand" by Nathan Philbrick.
We switched gears, boarded the dogs for the rest of the day, and moved southwest to Ft. Smith, Montana. Ft. Smith is located in the Crow Indian Reservation on the banks of the Bighorn River. Dale Davisson, one fantastic fishing guide, met us at the Bighorn Trout Shop. We loaded up in his MacKenzie boat and spent the afternoon on a marvelous drift on the Bighorn. The browns and rainbows we caught (on #18 hares ear with San Juan worm) averaged 16/17 inches. Dale was really patient with a couple of Delta perch jerkers! The Bighorn IS the Disneyland of flyfishing.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end....we've learned enough on this trip to adjust our itinerary for next year to include more days in the right places (Don't ask exactly where). Our next entry will be a picture gallery. We've hired a new IT expert (Steve/Sandy are you there?)
Thanks for reading.
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