Latest Update: September 5, 2002 by Ben Marcus

8:27 CALIFORNIA TIME WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2002 AN INTERNET CAF° IN WEST YELLOWSTONE

Hello. I found an internet cafÚ with a phone line and I'm checking e-mail.

Nothing too urgent. Time for cafÚ and breakfast with Team G.

Wish I could go into more detail on some things but boy oh boy I cannot.

17:45 MONTANA TIME THURSDAY, SEPTEMBR 5, 2002 THE INTERNET CAF° IN WEST YELLOWSTONE

Hear I sit all broken hearted, tried to catch a fish where it smells like someoneƒ.

Sorry.

I didn't catch a fish again today, but it isn't easy. Team G only got two or three between them, with several hookups and near Mrs..

We are fishing in crystal clear water for wizened Yellowstone River trout with size 16 and 18 flies and 7X tippet. So if you are lucky enough to brush that teensy little fly in front of a trout that is keen enough to see it, and if he takes it and if you set the hook right and if he doesn't break the sketchy knots in a 7X tippet, you might catch a fish.

I haven't even gotten to first base yet, although I think I got a nibble today.

This place is hard. It isn't the Big Hole and it isn't the Flathead.

But if the catching isn't so good, the fishing is because the Sulphur Hole continues to be spectacular.

There were no Bison or Badgers or Pelicans today, just lots of spouting sulphur and sky and clouds and wind.

I got there late, at around 11:00. After leaving the Internet cafÚ I looked for Team G at the Running Bear but they were gone. I had oatmeal and fruit anyway and then hit the road.

The shorter, northern route over the top was open, so I took that thinking it would save me some time. Instead, I got stuck in several traffic jams caused by road construction and spent at least 45 minutes, stopped dead and cursing toward those beautiful thunderheads.

I came up here exactly to get away from the traffic jams in Santa Cruz that are going to turn me into an axe murderer. And yet there I was, watching My Tax Dollars At Work.

But I got there eventually and found Team G flogging away. They had caught a couple and missed a few more and this time I waded out without my Pat A Gonia waders and just went in my non-Patagonia pants and Patagonia wading shoes.

I fished for a couple of hours and enjoyed it more because I wasn't worrying about Stupid Cat. I wanted Team G to meet and be charmed by Ike and it would have been nice to see him running around on the cliffs behind me, sniffing and pawing at the sulphur boils and maybe getting a mouse or two. But it was also nice being able to open all the doors of the van and not worry about him bolting.

Around 12:30, Team G left to go back to West Yellowstone to do some shopping and pack for a very early-departure tomorrow morning. I was going to leave also but decided to stay just to see if I could accomplish anything on my own.

I didn't, but it was pleasant. Surfing is a thinking-man's sport, but so is fly-fishing. You are completely focused on what you are doing, yet your mind is free to go wherever.

Well my mind got bored after a while so I trudged out of there, packed up and split. Again, it was nice not having to wait for Ike to show up, but I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

I had to drive out the long way and stopped at Fishing Bridge to buy some stickers and make phone calls. I tried to find Jeff Galbraith to lure him out here for a session on the Big Hole, where I guess I will go next. Maybe he'll ride with me all the way back through Idaho, Montana and Washington.

Now I am in Yellowstone at the Internet CafÚ and I have to split to catch up with those guys for dinner. I have trouble focusing on fishing because my head is spinning from dinner.

By the way, last night the van got shook pretty hard by something in the middle of the night. Usually that would be Ike jumping up on the roof, but this time it probably was a bear checking me out. I was so groggy I waited for something to happen and when it didn't I went back to sleep.

Tomorrow they are opening the Firehole River after a month-long closure because of warm water. There could be some bored trout in there and I'll try to give it a lash before driving to Ennis. I may even come back here after Ennis. This place is tough to leave.

After all I've seen in the last few years, Yellowstone still wins the prize.

It started raining today, by the way and I hope it goes away soon.

Oh. That "shady lawyer" I mentioned in the previous dispatch objected with a combination of legalese and "hey bro" and asked for (demanded!) a retraction.

He misunderstood. The "shady" thing didn't refer to his ethics or cases or practice, but to the fact that he lives in a nice, quiet corner of Santa Cruz that is shaded by eucalyptus.

I apologize for the misunderstanding.

22:40 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2002 OUTSIDE OF BULLWINKEL'S, WEST YELLOWSTONE

That high-ethiced lawyer better be nice to me now, because tonight we laid the keel for what could be an epic surf/fish trip to the Far East in the fall of 2003.

Team G are in their room and sleeping now because they have a very early wake-up call tomorrow and then a very early flight out. Back to the world.

I'm listening to the end of a game that the Giants are losing and I just transferred all the photos I had on disc to this computer.

They should be online now. You can see them all at:

www.cinemasanfrancisco.com/jellystonephotos.html

You will see the colt and Ike on the operating table and a glimpse of some elk and the Sulfur Hole and other wonders. Maybe by the time I post all this I might even have some fish photos on there.

I just spent too much money on 7X tippet and a variety of Pale Morning Duns and Hoppers and other flies and tomorrow as soon as I wake up and realize where I am and realize that Ike is elsewhere, I'm going to drive into the park and go fish the Iron Bridge on the Firehole. I want to crack it, because there could be a bunch of fish in there that haven't been molested for a month, and they might be ready for some action.

Hope so.

Regardless, I have to be out of West Yellowstone and one the road by 9:00 to get to Ennis at 11:00. Apparently Gidget lives well outside of town, which is easy to do in Montana.

I'm tired. After getting into West Yellowstone and spending $5 at the Internet cafÚ writing the above, I made it to Bullwinkels. For some reason I didn't seem Team G sitting at the bar. Eventually I woke up and we had drinks and dinner and conversation.

G-Man was pretty impressed to meet Ben Marcus the famous writer, and I had to show him my drivers license to prove I was that same Ben Marcus. G-Man grew up in Hawaii and was and is a surfer above and beyond all else. He was very impressed that I started the SURFER Magazine Surf Video Awards, and he would get all giddy when I would drop a Brock Little name or a Laird Hamilton or a Peter Mel.

Well he dropped a few names that got me a little giddy too, and that formed a sort of mutual admiration society which lead to the launching of what could be a pretty interesting Kamchatka two falls hence.

I had a buffalo burger againand they both had quail that looked good. G-man hit the sack but George and I walked to the Dairy Queen,with a detour to another fly shop.

They're addicting, fly shop, boy howdy.

I bought some flies in anticipation of the Firehole and the Madison and some 7X and a Yellowstone map and now I'm ready to rock. I sat here and listened to the Giants game and organized my fly vest and put the photos on computer.

The game is over. The Giants lost. Bugger.

Time for sleep. It's early to rise tomorrow. I'm going to park in the same place and see what rocks me this time.