Epic Swing Day 6 - The Miracle Mile 02May19

I’ll tell you what’s a miracle, the fact that I survived the day. I thought some WYO roads were pretty bad, and the backcountry one to the Miracle Mile was very bad, until the sign “Pavement Ends,” then it got worse. With recent wet snows the “dirt” road was completely rutted out with 15 miles of 8” deep ruts and it was still really muddy - which I know is really slippery, heavy bentonite clay in these parts (I dealt with it before on a man bike ride in ND). I got there ok but slid out on two occasions. Then, on arriving, I note the river is a raging maelstrom. I was not able to really wade - the smart play would’ve been a guide and a boat - or chose another season or another river. I cast for couple hours but never got a hit. A number of boats did come buy and they even created a jam right near where I was fishing. So there must be fish right at the Kortes Road bridge, but I and the guides’ clients did not catch anything in my view. The Miracle Mile of the N Platte is like the Dream Stream… it’s a tailwater between two reservoirs so big fish swim up to spawn and conditions are prime for fish and I saw great bug sign with midges and then BWOs. It was not a miracle for me I must say, and the trip out & back made it even more dubious. But it is very remote and pretty IMO. After getting back to Alcova to grab the camper and the last sunset over the Grey Reef, I headed out for the Wind & Big Horn Rivers. I cleaned some of the clay off the Crusher on the way and secured a nice spot on the Boysen Rez near the dam - the WYO St Pk CG is a little pricey for a senior @ $25/day but I couldn't find local federal property.