Memorial Day Memory
Memorial day in Idaho marks the opening of hunting and fishing season, and this year it also has marked my third experience fishing... and also my second experience not catching anything while fishing. While this all sounds very boring and uneventful, the day at the Snake River left me with a fair share of scrapes and bruises.
It was a scenic drive with my room-mate and his brother up to Ashton, on east of there a little further, and skyward into the mountains. I'd forgotten that Idaho had a tree'd side to her, and I was much pleased with the scenery. The stress of school became inversely proportional (a little engineering lingo) to the distance I was from Rexburg. All my cares melted away.
Once we arrived at our destination (some trail head), I quickly jogged to what appeared to be an old mine shaft in the side of the mountain. I had spotted it on the way up, and it seemed way more interesting than fish. It turned out to be a tunnel - not a mine shaft - and it was quite a bit bigger than I expected. It measured about twenty feet high all the way through. The other side emerged about a hundred yards (maybe) from the entrance. It was very cool though - especially because there were some collapsed beams and fallen debris. Right at the entrance, however, was a cage and a sign that said, "Road Closed". It was at that point that it made sense to me that they'd run a trail right to an old tunnel that looked rather dangerous from a distance. I only wish that I could have gone through.
I made my way back to the car, at which point I had a nice cramp in my side from the half Subway sandwich that I ate immediately prior to my little jog down the trail. We all made our way to the river, and when we got there, we realized that the immediate area of easy access offered no easy access to a good fishing spot. A little hike along the side of the very sloped shore brought us to some logs and rocks upon which we could plant ourselves for the afternoon.
I soon learned that the logs and rocks were infested with a decently sized population of large flying insects. They got in our hair, on our legs, and almost in my room-mate's food. But the real challenge proved to be unsnagging our hooks from rocks in the shallow water. My first cast caught me a rock, and so did many more of my casts after that. Jamison's brother also caught his hook on a rock. I found myself standing on the end of a log over the water, trying to help release his hook. I lost my footing in an attempt to gain better footing and fell backward into the river. It wasn't the warmest swim I've ever had...
After that, there was no reason for me not to wade out and unhook the line at the source. I laid my disassembled phone and wallet on a rock and proceeded to do just that. The rest of the trip was cold and fishless, but my fall made for a good laugh. We made our way to the car, cold and defeated, but happy, nonetheless. It was fun to get away from Rexburg for a day. And it was especially good to think about something other than Mechanical Engineering homework.
The unfortunate thing was that my phone stopped working for a bit. I let it dry without the battery, and placed it over a hot lamp for a while, just to make sure. After some time, I put it all together, but the SIM card wasn't being read, which usually means that all your pictures and phone numbers have been destroyed. But after much fiddling and taking apart things that shouldn't be disassembled, it suddenly worked again.
The lesson to this all is don't fall in a river with your cell phone in your pocket. Well, just don't fall into rivers unless you're looking to entertain your comrades. That was my Memorial Day. This probably wasn't a very entertaining read, but I don't have a problem posting this, anyway. And happy Memorial Day, especially to those who sacrifice so we can all have happy times here in America.
It was a scenic drive with my room-mate and his brother up to Ashton, on east of there a little further, and skyward into the mountains. I'd forgotten that Idaho had a tree'd side to her, and I was much pleased with the scenery. The stress of school became inversely proportional (a little engineering lingo) to the distance I was from Rexburg. All my cares melted away.
Once we arrived at our destination (some trail head), I quickly jogged to what appeared to be an old mine shaft in the side of the mountain. I had spotted it on the way up, and it seemed way more interesting than fish. It turned out to be a tunnel - not a mine shaft - and it was quite a bit bigger than I expected. It measured about twenty feet high all the way through. The other side emerged about a hundred yards (maybe) from the entrance. It was very cool though - especially because there were some collapsed beams and fallen debris. Right at the entrance, however, was a cage and a sign that said, "Road Closed". It was at that point that it made sense to me that they'd run a trail right to an old tunnel that looked rather dangerous from a distance. I only wish that I could have gone through.
I made my way back to the car, at which point I had a nice cramp in my side from the half Subway sandwich that I ate immediately prior to my little jog down the trail. We all made our way to the river, and when we got there, we realized that the immediate area of easy access offered no easy access to a good fishing spot. A little hike along the side of the very sloped shore brought us to some logs and rocks upon which we could plant ourselves for the afternoon.
I soon learned that the logs and rocks were infested with a decently sized population of large flying insects. They got in our hair, on our legs, and almost in my room-mate's food. But the real challenge proved to be unsnagging our hooks from rocks in the shallow water. My first cast caught me a rock, and so did many more of my casts after that. Jamison's brother also caught his hook on a rock. I found myself standing on the end of a log over the water, trying to help release his hook. I lost my footing in an attempt to gain better footing and fell backward into the river. It wasn't the warmest swim I've ever had...
After that, there was no reason for me not to wade out and unhook the line at the source. I laid my disassembled phone and wallet on a rock and proceeded to do just that. The rest of the trip was cold and fishless, but my fall made for a good laugh. We made our way to the car, cold and defeated, but happy, nonetheless. It was fun to get away from Rexburg for a day. And it was especially good to think about something other than Mechanical Engineering homework.
The unfortunate thing was that my phone stopped working for a bit. I let it dry without the battery, and placed it over a hot lamp for a while, just to make sure. After some time, I put it all together, but the SIM card wasn't being read, which usually means that all your pictures and phone numbers have been destroyed. But after much fiddling and taking apart things that shouldn't be disassembled, it suddenly worked again.
The lesson to this all is don't fall in a river with your cell phone in your pocket. Well, just don't fall into rivers unless you're looking to entertain your comrades. That was my Memorial Day. This probably wasn't a very entertaining read, but I don't have a problem posting this, anyway. And happy Memorial Day, especially to those who sacrifice so we can all have happy times here in America.
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