As the summer clock ticks away ever faster, we’re down to about a month of time left before the Madison Junction to Norris road through the Gibbon Canyon is closed.
Don’t sweat the additional driving time coming up – the greater Yellowstone area is greener at this time in the year that it’s been in probably decades, and gas prices are coming down. One of my favorite bumper stickers seen around Bozeman is ‘Did You Move Here to Be in a Hurry?’ – there is a tremendous amount of gorgeous country to appreciate, and you can’t change the road closure issue by whining about it anyway.
As noted last week a section of the Gibbon near the construction zone remains closed to fishing; no matter, the Canyon section of the Gibbon and below has been heating up to near 70 despite our relatively mild weather. This weekend water temps will likely soar.
The best Gibbon play is to explore the smaller sections of the river for the brightly colored and foolish residents of the river. There are no leviathans here and (thankfully) no trophy trout headhunters – just plenty of fish for the wary, stealthy, and stout of leg and lung. Caddis, PMDs, maybe a mahogany or two, and terrestrials.
Make some noise and carry that bear spray.
Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon
