Fly Fishing And Skiing in One's Back Yard: Finding You're Identity And Knowing Where You Live.

There are some wonderful places in my back yard. Well, not exactly in my back yard but, close enough. I have a special affinity to things being  near by. It feels like home.

I doubt anyone would believe my claim of catching a 14 inch brook trout around 17 years ago, in Fountain Creek just west of Ridge Road.  Who would have thought that there are   14 inch brook trout in our little Creek meandering through Manitou Springs (Of course the recent fires and floods have changed this creek).   

Pikes Peak, looming behind our city, has its reservoirs that hold populations of good trout. The numerous little creeks draining off the Peak are filled with Cutthroats and brookies. There have been some other surprises. It was just recently discovered that the last remaining pure strain of Greenback Cutthroats is surviving in one of those creeks. Who could have guessed those fish, the last remaining several hundred,  would be in our back yard?

I guess I ask myself: Do I even know what I have in my back yard? I have heard some fishermen speak of remote valleys with tiny creeks and beaver dams that hold nice fish. But I have rarely made the adventure to find those places.

In contrast, I also know fishermen who always, always hire a guide because they have not learned what is in their back yard or the backyards of others.  They can catch fish all over the world but don’t really know how to catch fish, on their own,  in their own home local waters.

Its not just hidden fishing places. We have some great ski places right here on the edge of town and in the forests surrounding Pikes Peaks. Now, when I say ski places I don’t mean the big ski resorts with lifts. But I do mean beautiful forest meadows and runs of mountain snow virtually untouched. I have skied on the flanks of Pikes Peak in June, in shorts and with out gloves and not see another soul. There once was a ski area on Pikes Peak. Anyone ever still ski it without the lift?  Even just a few weeks ago in my “back yard” I found snow in upper Crystal Park that was simply beautiful (see picture). True powder conditions and I was all alone. I could make the “first tracks”.

It is not just knowing where these local places exist but also having an intimate understanding of the seasons, cycles and climate of a particular place. This is true of both fishing and skiing. I have gone up to lower High Drive on the western edge of Colorado Springs when it is 60 degrees and not a drop of snow on the ground. But head up a canyon that lies in the shade and one can find ski-able snow. Fishing can be the same way. Timing hatches and seasons and the  time of day can make huge differences. It is all about knowing intimately what is going on locally.

Bill McKibben in his book, “Age of Missing Information” makes this point precisely. He says in this age of information we fail to know two things: Who are we and where we live?  He says that it takes only a matter of seconds to get the weather from around the world (or a fishing and snow/ski report for that matter), and yet, we fail to understand the particular conditions of where we live. Activities such as fishing and skiing in one’s local home place can help us better understand where we live and who we are.

Who are we? Wendell Berry, says that we need to appreciate our own local landscapes in order to know our true identity.  He says that knowing our local environment will help us know who we are. He says that familiar landscapes (ie. Perhaps for us, Pikes Peak) can help us understand our identity. He argues that our true identity is somehow connected to the local landscape.  Yet, many of us live divorced from our local land and waters.

Over the years, I have learned a few things about myself. I am beginning to know who I am. And, part of that knowing comes from knowing when I can fish a certain hatch on a certain local piece of water, or know when I can climb the flanks of Pikes Peak and find snow. This is me. Or, at least this is a part of me.  And this is me trying to know where I live.