No chucking salmon flies at large rainbows in the Box Canyon over Memorial Day weekend. No wall-to-wall humans wallowing through the green drakes and spooking bank sippers in June. No night stalking the brown drakes in July. It’s winter on the Henry’s Fork. And it was pretty quiet and peaceful as our skis glided along the riverbank.
Harriman State Park, Idaho is 11,000 acres of preserved natural wonder. Dissected by the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, it is home to a wide variety of wildlife, most notable: the trumpeter swan. Two thirds of the trumpeters that winter in the U.S., winter at Harriman’s. Though these special birds are fairly prevalent in Alaska (13,000), only around 500 winter in the tri-state area of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.
On our ski trip today, we saw over 80 swans, as well as mallards, golden eyes and buffleheads…and followed a set of bobcat tracks until they disappeared.
It was a good day to be out walking and skiing the earth.
