June 16, 2008 by Joel.

As I mentioned yesterday, we took a short trip to Asheville, NC for my son to go to freshman orientation at UNC Asheville. This was his day, so as to not be “helicopter parents” Jan and I dropped him off at the University, checking to see that we truly weren’t needed until mid-afternoon, and then we drove a short ways south of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit of hiking, reading (by Jan) and fishing (by me).

The morning was cool and pretty, and as we drove up the mountains toward Mt. Pisgah, the temperature dropped a bit more. We arrived a our destination, a large overgrown meadow with a stream running through it. At 5000 feet, it stayed in the 60’s, through our hike. Perfect shirtsleeve weather. Jan took this picture of me trying to coax trout from the clear, shallow water, using a rod Dave Lewis made for me from a Sage TXL 00 blank (great for this fishing!). The brook trout in this stream are small, but can be very pretty, as you’ll see in a bit. They weren’t feeding actively, so while I could see them and get some good drifts, it was more “fishing” than catching. Then, I connected with this nice fish.

Spent lots of time trying to avoid the vegetation around the stream. This is a fairly open section, but getting the fly under the brush on the left was tougher than it may look. I caught a handful and LDR’d a few others in a couple of hours.

Met up with Jan again when the stream headed up hill to the falls (and got too small to be fished), and we finished our hike. Walked about 4 miles on a nice day, caught some fish, and made it back to Asheville in time for some registration paperwork.

Long drive home, but fun!

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June 15, 2008 by Joel.

A quick visit to Asheville NC. Youngest son, Jeff, will be starting UNC Asheville in the fall, and he has freshman orientation tomorrow. Jan and will not be helicopter parents, as this is #2 son going to college, and we’re now “old hands.” We’ll drop him off, and after a few minutes, head up to hike and catch a trout in the Shining Rock Wilderness.

Downtown Asheville is a great place. Fine pizza, al fresco, at the Mellow Mushroom, along with a few pints of microbrews. Afterwards, sat in rocking chairs on the porch of the Thomas Wolfe house and enjoyed the breeze (and called my dad for Father’s Day).

Hope to have some pictures to post tomorrow of hiking and fishing…

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