Pyramid Lake - The Giants are Back

Dave Hamel with a massive 34", 20lb-class Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, February 2013

Preface: I never do this but these two articles (scroll down) were too good to pass up and they won’t be easy to find on the internet for long.  They were in the RGJ and written by Jeff DeLong and Mary Peacock to whom I give full credit.  I just had to put them up again because not much is written about the plight of the mighty Lahontan Cutthroat Trout and I found the info in the articles worth sharing. So in other words, I'm doing this for posterity's sake.  Over the past 12 years I’ve spent a good amount of time fishing and researching Pyramid Lake combing through books, magazines, blogs and internet articles in an attempt to better understand this unique desert fishery.  I’ve visited Summit Lake, NV and Independence Lake, CA, the last two bastions for self-sustaining lacustrine populations of these apex predators, have spoke with several fisheries biologists and have visited the Lahontan National FishHatchery in Gardnerville to see and inquire about the Pilot Peak Strain first hand.  

Now then, I’ve been theorizing for the past few years that the seldom heard of Pilot Peak strain, which even fewer people knew was introduce into Pyramid Lake back in 2007 (~13,000 juveniles per the biologist I spoke to), was the culprit which explained the ever increasing size of fish showing up in the creel in recent years.  I’ve kept loose tabs on fish caught out of the lake since 2000, and whereas for the next 10 years that followed, 14-15lbs seems to be a glass ceiling for rod and reel anglers (per the Tribe’s “creel census”) and the Sutcliff Hatchery (per the brooder spawning records that the Tribe used to publish), starting about 3 or 4 years ago fish started showing up that mysteriously broke (and even shattered) that ceiling.  In particular, several 15+ pounders showed up in 2009 and 2010 timeframe, fish up to 17lbs or better were reported in 2011, in early 2012 they were pushing the low 20's and by the end of 2012 and into this year, there are reports that I'm aware of about three 23-24lb class fish (amongst others slightly smaller).  You can even go to the Crosby Lodge website, its as if 10 pounders don't even't turn heads anymore and 15-18 pounders are a weekly occurrence (for everyone but me, I can't break 10).   Are they going to have to start a 20lb club?  There is no denying that in recent years, the big boys seem to be coming back and the maximum size for mature fish had grown by an astonishing 8-10lbs (60-70%) . How could this happen if food sources, alkalinity, spawning habitat and fishing pressure remained relatively static during the same period?

The good news is that it was happening, and there is speculation by some that fish approaching 30lbs could be a reality in the not too distant future....i tend to agree.  Will they grow to their historic gargantuan proportions of 60lbs or more, who’s to say, but biologists believe the recent slough of 20 pound pilot peakers are only 1/3 through their natural lifecycle.  Even still, they'll have some challenges given whats been done to the Truckee River (and the water rights contained therein) over the past century.  The fish have many things going against them these days than was the case before 1905 from the lake level being 100 feet lower than it was 100 years ago, thereby increasing the alkalinity and decreasing the life expectancy of these fish, to the inability of brooders to navigate the Truckee/Pyramid delta and Derby Dam to spawn naturally, to antiquated fishing rules that allow the biggest fish to be culled rather than released to propagate their genes.  On top of this, the Pilot Peak fish has been living in a small desert creek for the past 60 plus years, and I've read that there is concern that some natural selection may have occurred over that time frame that may have deselected certain traits that allowed these fish to grow to be 60 pound apex predators in a tui chub-rich lacustrine environment in exchange for the traits of stealth, agility, wariness and perseverance needed to survive in the harsh environment of a small desert creek half way up Pilot Peak on the Nevada and Utah border.  Only time will tell.  Anyhow, now that it seems to be widely accepted that the Pilot Peak strain is the cause for all the hub-bub, it’s a good thing I’m not the type of person who says “I told you so”.  Now for the articles:

Giant cutthroats show efforts to restore native fish to Pyramid Lake working

By Jeff DeLong

It’s been three months, and Ed Smith still gets worked up talking about it.

After all, the 72-year-old Sparks resident has been fly fishing for Pyramid Lake’s cutthroat trout for more than 30 years. He’s caught plenty of fish. Plenty of big ones.

“You want to catch a 10-pound fish or over. That’s what we look for,” said Smith, who generally throws a line into the lake five days a week.

So imagine Smith’s surprise on Nov. 21 when he pulled a struggling 24-pounder out of the water, an experience he said came with a thrill that still sometimes wakes him at night.

“Excitement is an understatement,” Smith said. “It was a giant fish. It would barely fit in the net.”

Smith’s not the only one excited. That fish might have been the biggest, but cutthroats in the 20-pound range are now “coming in pretty regularly” as efforts to restore native fish to Pyramid Lake appear to be paying off big-time, said Lisa Heki, complex manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lahontan National Fish Hatchery.

It’s still early to say for sure, but the size of the so-called “Pilot Peak” cutthroat being caught in Pyramid Lake over the past year points to a healthy fish population that might, in a few years, be producing fish like the 41-pound world record fish landed in 1925 by Paiute Johnny Skimmerhorn.

“We’ve turned a corner,” Heki said. “Based on what we’re learning, there’s a strong indication they’re going to provide a great fishery, a fishery reminiscent of that 1930s fishing experience.”

A troubled fish

If that’s true, it would be a profound reversal.

Nevada’s state fish, Lahontan cutthroats (also known as Pilot Peak cutthroats) once thrived in all the major rivers and lakes on the eastern side of the Sierra, including Pyramid Lake, Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River. The fish were famous for their size and taste, with explorer John Fremont declaring in 1845 that “their flavor was excellent — superior, in fact, to that of any fish I have ever known.”

Lahontan cutthroats were fished extensively from Tahoe and Pyramid. Rail cars full of the fish were sent to mining camps and to San Francisco as people harvested a succulent resource that one newspaper reported in 1881 was “inexhaustible."  That was not the case.

Overfishing, destruction of spawning habitat and the introduction of non-native game fish — particularly the Mackinaw — combined to collapse the cutthroat population in Lake Tahoe, with the fish gone from the lake by 1939.

By 1944, cutthroats disappeared from Pyramid Lake as well, with the death knell for that lake’s population largely linked to the 1905 construction of Derby Dam about 30 miles upstream. The dam diverted much of the Truckee River’s previous flow into Pyramid Lake into the Carson River for irrigation use, destroyed spawning habitat and blocked fish passage.

Lahontan cutthroats were listed as an endangered species in 1970 and reclassified to threatened five years later, a status change designed to provide greater flexibility for restoration efforts.

In 1974, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe established a new cutthroat fishery. To this day, the tribe releases fish raised at its Sutcliffe hatchery into the lake, but these fish come from stocks originating outside the Truckee River Basin, a step taken because experts assumed Pyramid’s original cutthroats were gone for good.

Pilot Peak discovery

That assumption came into question in the late 1970s when a taxonomist named Bob Behnke collected trout from a small stream in the Pilot Mountains on the Nevada-Utah border. Based on their physical characteristics, Behnke came to the conclusion those fish were likely related to the original Pyramid Lake stock.

Decades later, that conclusion would be confirmed through DNA testing.

“This strain definitely represents the original Pyramid Lake legacy,” Heki said.

Based largely on Behnke’s early conclusions — in a move later supported by the DNA tests — the Fish and Wildlife Service began raising the Pilot Peak strain of cutthroats at its Lahontan hatchery in Gardnerville in 1995. The first of those fish were released into Pyramid Lake in 2006, joining those already planted there by the tribe.

It was late on a breezy afternoon on Jan. 21, 2012 when Matt Ceccarelli — having fished unsuccessfully throughout the day at two locations — threw his line into the water near the marina at Sutcliffe. After his third or fourth cast, Ceccarelli recalls, he hooked a fish that was a big surprise when he finally got it ashore. It was the first confirmed catch of an adult Pilot Peak cutthroat, and the fish weighed 19.8 pounds.

“When we pulled that fish in, it was amazing,” Ceccarelli said. “I had no idea fish were getting that big out there.”

In October 2012, Ernie Gulley landed a female Pilot Peak cutthroat that weighed 17 pounds. The following month, Ed Smith caught that whopping 24-pounder, an experience he describes as “just beyond belief.”

Ed Smith caught this 36", 24lb Pilot Peak strain Lahontan Cutthroat in November or 2012.  It was stocked in 2007

They keep on coming. At Crosby’s Lodge in Sutcliffe, there are 19 photos posted on the wall of big cutthroats caught during the lackluster fishing season of 2011-12. More than 80 photos of big cutthroats are posted for the current season, and many of them are of the Pilot Peak variety, said owner Fred Crosby.

“It’s quite the buzz,” Crosby said of a situation that is gaining increasing attention by fishing magazines and blogs around the country. Crosby said he thinks a 30-pound Pilot Peak cutthroat will likely be landed within two or three years, and he agrees the long-term prospects for the Pyramid Lake fishery appear very promising.

“It would sure be nice to get those fish back,” Crosby said. “It’s a shame we lost them in the first place.”

Positive effects

Tribal officials, who agreed to allow U.S. Fish and Wildlife to begin stocking the fish into Pyramid Lake in 2006, concur.

“Now they’re getting big, so we’re pretty happy about it,” said Albert John, fisheries director for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The Pilot Peak strain, John said, is “the closest there is” to the lake’s original cutthroats.

“This is really what it’s all about,” agreed tribal planner Scott Carey. The seeming success of the Pilot Peak cutthroat introduction, Carey said, bodes well not only for conservation goals but for the tribe’s economy.

“From a tourism perspective, this has been absolutely huge,” Carey said.

What’s unique about this particular cutthroat? Plenty, said Heki, the hatchery manager.

The main thing, of course, is their size. Several factors combine to cause these fish to grow big and at an estimated rate of about a half-inch per month. Among them, the Pilot Peak cutthroat reach sexual maturity at six or seven years — relatively late. That allows them to put more energy early in life to growth, “which is a good thing,” Heki said.

They also switch from eating zooplankton to other fish when only a little more than a foot long, earlier than other cutthroats, which also helps promote quicker growth. Heki also believes they are long-lived, maybe 15 or 20 years, which could make for some whopper old-timers.

“These are the traits we are looking for,” Heki said, adding that decades of efforts to restore Pyramid’s cutthroats may well have reached a positive tipping point.

“It’s been a long time, and this is very exciting,” Heki said. “Now, it’s tangible.”

DNA confirms Pyramid Lake trout's origin

By Mary Peacock

Bringing them home required years of costly efforts combined with cutting-edge science to scrutinize clues of the past.

In the end, DNA analysis confirmed what experts had suspected for decades. Cutthroat trout pulled from a once-fishless stream in the rugged mountains on the Nevada-Utah line were the last remaining remnants of the native Lahontan cutthroat trout, also known as Pilot Peak cutthroats, that disappeared from Pyramid Lake nearly 70 years ago.

After Bob Behnke discovered the fish in that stream in the late 1970s, he and other experts agreed their characteristics indicated they were descendants of the original cutthroat strain. They had the right look, grew the right way.

The experts also knew that Nevada officials in the early 1900s had pulled cutthroat trout out of Pyramid Lake and, as one researcher put it, “dumped them into streams all over the place.”

That was the assumption about what had happened, and in this particular case, the population survived.

Science of the 1990s allowed researchers to examine DNA from the Pilot Peak cutthroats found on the state line. The problem was that DNA from the museum mounts of fish taken from Pyramid Lake, Lake Tahoe and the lower Truckee River before they vanished from the area could not be examined for comparison.

Because the specimens were preserved in formalin — which chemically bonds to DNA — the old genetic material could not be successfully extracted.

“They were really interested in finding out if these were the original fish,” said Mary Peacock, a professor of biology and genetics expert at University of Nevada, Reno. “But we had no way to get the DNA out.”

Fast forward to around 2005, when evolving science solved the problem. Peacock and colleagues then gained the ability to compare DNA taken from the Pilot Peak strain with museum mounts of cutthroats taken from the Truckee River system between 1872 and 1911. It was a match, or nearly so.

“I think it was a watershed event,” Peacock said. “These guys are genetically the closest. When you ask the question where these fish came from, the answer is very clearly from the Truckee River system — from Pyramid Lake.”

Truckee River - Blue Wings

Today was all about Blue Wings, I did see some Skwalas but there is a crazy BWO hatch from 1-4.  Water got cold again since the last front so mid day is when fish are most active.   Check this guy out, almost pure cutty.  Damn reed, messed up my hero shot.

Check out One-Eye Willie, but don't feel too bad, he had no problem gorging on BWOs and had a pot belly to boot.

Independence Lake - A Great Hike

Today was an exploratory mission to Independence Lake with my closest childhood friend. We didn't bring any fishing gear, just hiking boots and cameras. We were hoping to document some of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout spawning up Independence Creek, but according to the fish biologist, we're a few days early. Apparently fish are staging just outside of the creek inlet right now, and the hens are super fat. Below is a classic shot of Indy with Mt. Lola (9,144 ft) in the background.Even without a rod we had a great time just hiking around the lake. To the lake's north there is a good dirt road which borders the shoreline all the way to Independence Creek. From there, the ambitious hiker can bush whack through the meadow at the lakes southwestern shore until you hit another dirt road that borders the lake's southern shore which will take you past a scenic aspen grove and eventually get you back to the parking lot (but you'll have to find passage around the spillway).They recently drained the lake about 6ft or so to do some repairs on the dam which will change the topography along the shelf which separates the two natural lakes that existed before the damn brought the water level up 18ft. This shelf is like a shallow reef in an otherwise deep lake, and fish cruise along it patrolling for forage.There are some beautiful meadows and creeks in the area to explore, some have brook trout, fresh water clams and even salamanders.

Upper Independence Creek is where the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout spawn naturally, however, as this is now a threatened species, biologists have set up a weir to monitor, tag, weigh and identify each fish before it is allowed passage to the spawning beds.This is the inlet of upper Independence Creek, all the spawners have to pass this gauntlet which, as the fish begin to migrate up the river, will be guarded by osprey, bald eagles and occasionally black bears.The reward for fish that successfully run that gauntlet is freedom to spawn in the numerous gravel beds that extend from the lake to a large waterfall approx. one mile up river.On this trip I noticed the population of hikers and sight seers has recently exploded as the Lake has won some awards which have been published in magazines. Nonetheless, the Nature Conservancy does a great job at keeping it pristine and enforcing the rules. It appears that due to AIS (aquatic invasive species) concerns, float tube/pontoon boats which require the operator to wear waders/boots may get phased out of use in an effort to better protect the lake. However, I suspect its highly likely that an alternative form a fishing vessel may be supplied, so anglers, don't dispair just yet.

Pyramid Lake - Mid Season Update - April 22nd

Well, we're catching fish, just not trout! Can't say we've put in much time though. Most reports and observations last Sunday indicated fishing was slow for almost everyone, though we did hear of a 30 fish day way up north from a gal at the creel census station. We should be in the thick of the good season at this point, but this year is atypical. Got a late start, hit Sandhole but it already had about 20 guys on it, none of whom had caught a fish in the prior 3 hours. As everyone has been saying, its been hit and miss this season, Sunday was definitely a miss for us. On Sunday, the water was an astonishing 60 degree by noon! Only two weeks earlier, it was 44 degrees, what a shift, never seen it do that in such a short span and never seen it this warm this early (though this was just the surface temp). In desperation, we tried Howard Bay. We've got some nice fish out of there in years past and thought what the heck, wind wasn't bad that day, so it meant we might be able to cast (since the beach faces north). We caught em, its just that "em" were cui-ui. After a handful of these fresh water bone fish and no Lahontans, we bugged out and took some photos.

Check out this Skwala, first ever seen at Pyramid. This was near Popcorn, so I guess it could have came from the river, but I don't know...

There are thousands of Western Tent Caterpillars hatching from their cocoons.
The long, lonely road to Howard Bay.

Pyramid Lake - Early Season Update - April 5th 2012

It's still cold and slow at Pyramid, water temperature is the same as last week at 44 degrees, it needs to warm to near 50 before things start really getting underway. A half dozen grabs, a stollen fly and two fish in the net from sunrise to 9, then it died down. Everything took a white foam beetle. Everyone seemed to be averaging a fish an hour. From a far, it looked like guys were able to wade most if not all the way to the shelf at both north and south nets. Till next time..

Independence Lake - Serenity

Let's do it!

Had the best time, by myself, just me and the LCT. 52 degree water, light winds, partly cloudy and I'm the only sole on the lake, don't get much better. Oh, and I snapped a couple of 20 something LCT, one skinny, one thick, both were post spawners (These LCT are alternate year spawners). No crazy observations, just peace, relaxation, and oh yeah, a well deserved day off work. There is so much more I wish I could tell you about this place, but I've taken a vow of secrecy, if you want to know about it, get up there yourself!

Remember, get there just before or at sun up, the row your ass off to the inlet. If you make it there before the wind picks up, you'll have a good day, otherwise, it will be short, the winds are vicious!

If you get to Indy on a calm morn, and on the water by 8, you can get in on some dry action. Midges are the usual fare, but today, Calibetis and an unusual entry...termites, not ants, termites were all over the water, and fish ate them readily, likely some white fish and brookies, but some of the fins coming out of the water were fish over 18".

Recon - Knott Creek Reservoir and the old Applegate Trail

This is one of the most amazing adventures, a trip back in history with excellent fishing at the end of the trail. A spur of the moment decision had me headed out from Reno for 3 days, by myself, on dirt roads on a 6 hour journey in search of big healthy rainbows and the "Tigers of Nevada"(tiger trout). I've been there many a time, and I know that getting there by means of the old Applegate Trail is half the fun, but for anyone not intimately familiar with these roads, remember to keep your map handy...and your GPS handier (but be sure you have a Garmin loaded with the off road maps & topography, otherwise you won't have a clue where you are.)As you leave the Pyramid Lake Reservation bearing north on 445 it quickly turns to dirt and you'll then be on Surprise Valley road. You'll go past sand pass and see some old rail station ruins built by Western Pacific Railroad around 1907, part of the trans-continental railroad system. Next you'll see an old dilapidated house and a small pond with what seems to be a stream. Check it out, it's the old Bonham Ranch, and the creek is an artesian well-fed hot spring loaded with a small fish that can tolerate the warm sulfur-rich waters, its a trip. Next you'll pass smoke creek and tie into 447 @ Deep Hole Ranch. This is the only paved section of the route and you'll take 447 south about 9 miles south to Gerlach. Now pay attention, the next 120 miles has no services, no gas, no water, no electricity, no pavement, no homes, no people and no help if you need it...nothing but the wild west as its been for the last few thousand years. Gas up at the one filling station. If you have a flat or nail, throw em $20 and have it fixed. There isn't really a store otherwise I'd tell you to get plenty of water.If you need alcohol, Bruno's is your place, grab one of his signature picons and be on your way.Next it's county road 34, otherwise known as the road to no-man's land. Take it north east/east a short while and you'll skirt the Black Rock Dessert, home of Burning Man. As you turn away from the salt flats of the Black Rock, you'll hang a right on Soldier Meadows Road and won't see pavement again. Not much to see on this stretch other than the Calico Mountains to your left(great place to hunt big horns or chukar), some hot springs and of course, the Soldier Meadows Ranch itself. Soldier Meadows Ranch is a trip, talking about being in the middle of nowhere but it has its own primitive airstrip and Hollywood socialites frequent it???I guess it's so remote even the paparazzi can't find it. Upon researching it, this historic sign in front of Soldier Meadows Ranch for Camp McGarry is apparently misplaced, it should be at Summit Lake Indian Reservation 12-miles NE.This time of year, be cognizant that ticks are in the sage... 12 miles past Soldier Meadows is the Summit Lake Indian Reservation, home to 1 of only 2 self-sustaining, indigenous, lacustrine strains of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in the world. Check out the ironic welcome sign, if you don't think this reservation is remote, read the last line, 300 miles to the nearest air service hospital in central Oregon. Its 2+ hours just to hit a paved road, that's awesome! Just so you know, the fish you catch at Pyramid Lake...they came from here kids. After Derby Dam eradicated the original strain, these fish were reared at the old Verdi fish hatchery and transplanted. Can you believe fish live out here. I'll tell you, by hook or by crook, one day I'm fishing this lake, no matter what I have to pay! Wow, just when you think you're in the pristine wilderness...the Ruby Pipeline comes out of nowhere. Can you say 42" diameter, 680 miles, from Wyoming to California, 1.5Bn cubic feet of natural gas delivered per day at a cost of $3.5Bn to construct! Wow, its a site, according to a foreman I flagged down, this is the last spot they have yet to pressure test and bury, then its done. Crazy to see.Here is Summit Lake in all it's glory, too bad you can't fish it.This buck antelope along with another dozen stay close to the reservation where they can't be hunted.As you leave the res, you'll cut through a corner of the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, well worth exploring if you have time. Keep winding through a canyon, as you come out of it, you starting heading down into a huge valley, eventually you can start to see Knott Creek Ranch at the base of the Pine Forest Range. The road will hook to the right and eventually head almost due south, when it does, be on the lookout for a road to your left that will head due north, its easy to miss and nothing is labeled out there. This is Knott Creek Ranch Road. In a couple of miles you'll see Knott Creek Ranch on your left, a 6,800 acre alfalfa and cattle ranch. The ranch includes Knott Creek Reservoir but NDOW struck a deal to keep a minimum pool and allow public access.
This is a cool stone building at the ranch, it has to be better than 100 years old.Just past the ranch, hang a right and head 9 miles straight up to the top of the Pine Forest Range. Its 2,000 vertical feet and half way through you'll need 4wd, if its wet you may need a winch or lockers unless you can go around the wet spots and ruts.There's lots of water in this range and lush meadows like this one are abound.Finally, you'll be there and as you can see, it's well worth it. Rugged granite outcroppings covered in Mountain Mahogany.The lake is full, within 6" inches of the top of the dam so all the prime camp sites (and the road around the lake) were submerged. You had to get pretty creative with were you camped, luckily, it was just me so space wasn't a big concern.Once camp was set up, I had time to make a few casts. I broke off something healthy then landed this feisty bow.The next day fish were rising to Callibaetis along the shore which was strewn with submerged sage brush. My soft hackle did the trick.This outcropping is a focal point of the lake.The rainbows and cutbows in this lake are extreme fighters, long runs, high jumps and a never say die attitude. Even fish this size peel line out of your 6wt, enough to make you tighten your drag. Fish in the lake can push 10lbs despite the "official" NDOW water record, though i didn't see any. I had 2 fish break me and 2 straighten my hook.This cutbow gave an exceptional fight.Here is the spillway near the damn...the lake is at capacity!

A few more scenic shots...
On day two, I felt adventurous, the fishing was only fair so I figured a 10 mile side trip up to Onion Valley Reservoir and Blue Lakes was in order. Its a steep, primative road that takes you up to almost 8,000ft. Blue Lakes is the most beautiful of the lakes in the Pine Forest Range, and the only one that is naturally occurring. There is a sizeable creek to cross before you head up the road.Onion is very pretty, shrouded in aspen groves and lush, wet meadows. Fish are smaller than at Knott, but there are lots of them.I headed out of Onion Valley with my hopes high, its was getting late but if I hurried, I could park and hike the 1/4 mile down to Blue Lakes and get an hour of shore fishing in. Unfortunately, the area had just iced out and the road was soup. The runoff had made normal ruts into ravines. Getting stuck is part of any trip to Knott, but getting stuck by yourself at 6pm with nobody around on a Sunday is stressful. I was high-centered resting on my rear axle and front skid plate. Luckily, the last truck in the area was coming back down the road and gave me a tug. It was dumb of me to get stuck alone like that but at least I had a tow strap, he didn't and I could have been there a lot longer.After that, I was just relieved not to be stranded away from camp and it was back to Knott for supper.Last day and I was able to get a couple of hours of fishin in. Finally, my first tiger trout. Yeah, I know they're the "mule" of the fish world but they're also friggin beautiful.As I headed back home on Monday, I came accross some poor chap stuck in a bog near the lake. He, like me, was alone and I'm sure he felt like I did the day before. Another truck was already on the seen when I arrived desperately digging a pulling to no avail. Then I hooked up to the second truck and we both pulled at the same time. This guys 2500 Chevy wasn't going anywhere. Next we used two come-alongs with about 6,000 of pulling power....Nothing! Poor bastard was stuck, and moreover, two trucks need him to get out before they could leave the lake. Long story short, since I was headed out, I offerred to run up to Denio (on the Oregon border) and fetch a tow truck. Unfortunately, when I arrive I learned the nearest tow truck is 107 miles away in Winnemucca. Anyhow, the gentlemen I was conversing with was a local and knew the owners of Knott Creek Ranch. He put in a call and asked they send a tractor up to rescue the poor guy.As I headed back to civilization, I came across some final remnants of the Wild West...wild asses. You don't see these too often.Well, next week I'm off to central Oregon to hopefully blog about big fish, so stay tuned!