A Road Trip to Remember

by Elmer Prather, guest blogger

As some may know I have to have a connection with a puzzle before I put the time and effort into putting it together. This is the 24th Cobble Hill Puzzle that I have had the pleasure of putting together. This puzzle reminds me of the camping site we used while on a fishing trip that my three fishing friends and I took to Ennis, Montana via the Pas, Manitoba. It is titled “Evening Glow” by Derk Hanson. This is the second Derk Hanson puzzle that I have put together, the first was titled “Rest Stop”. It was my 22nd Cobble Hill puzzle.

"Evening Glow" 1000 piece. Artist: Derk Hansen Photo Credit: Elmer Prather

In order for you to get the big picture I will start from the beginning. I was a much younger man when we took this trip. We started on this fishing odyssey in Atlanta, Georgia. We made this trip in a Volkswagen bus. While traveling in the bus, two of us could sleep, the third could drive and as we say in the south, the fourth rode “shot gun”.

Volkswagen Bus that made the road trip possible!

Our first planned fishing spot was 2000 miles away on Clearwater Lake which is just outside of the Pas, Manitoba. In order to make the best of our time, we only stopped for gas and to use the rest room. We prepared sandwiches for lunch and dinner and had pastries for breakfast. This drive took 40 hours and was approximately 2000 miles long. We fished for lake trout and northern pike for a few days on Clearwater Lake which is a natural glacier formed lake. It is a deep, clear, cold lake. It is one of the few true blue lakes in the world and the clearest in Canada and the second clearest lake in the world. We had a feast each night after cooking the lake trout we had caught along with hush puppies and fresh potatoes. One night we were blessed by being able to watch as the Northern Lights flowed across the Canadian sky. What a beautiful sight to see.

After a few days of fishing, we broke camp and headed west. We drove through Saskatchewan then Alberta. We crossed the U S Canadian border near Glacier National Park in Montana. Our next planned fishing destination was Ennis, Montana. Ennis is located about 50 miles South of Bozeman, Montana and about 25 miles West, as the crow flies, from Big Sky, Montana.

(Just a rough idea of what the trip from Georgia to Montana looked like, as told by Mr. Prather)

We camped and fished on the Madison river which runs through Ennis. This was years ago when we fished there. I have been back to Ennis since then and it has grown and prospered due to the trout fishing available there. Trout fishermen come from all over the world to try their luck fishing for rainbow and brown trout on the Madison river.

The Madison River, perhaps the most famous of all the rivers in Montana, begins in Yellowstone National Park at the confluence of the Firehole River and Gibbon River. From its origin, it flows for more than 140 miles through exceptionally beautiful scenery before it reaches the Missouri River near the town of Three Forks, Montana.

When we fished there, there was a faded sign posted by the river that showed a trout being caught and the caption, “Ennis, Montana 11,000,000 trout 660 people”.

Welcome to Ennis. Pop. 660 People, 11,000,000 Trout

This was a fun trip. We walked out into the river with our fly rods and our waders and the trout would bump into our legs there were so many of them.

We went back to the Pas two more times to fish. These two trips were from Atlanta to the Pas and back to Atlanta. I have many great memories of all these fishing trips.

CANTON, GA
USA

We hope you enjoyed Mr. Prather's memory. And if you're not able to get out on your own adventure, look for this puzzle box at your local retailer!

"Evening Glow" 1000 piece by Derk Hansen (includes reference poster)