There’s an old saying; “It’s the journey, not the destination.”  Basically, it’s shorthand for suggesting people enjoy the stuff they encounter while working towards a goal because it may turn out to be more valuable or interesting than the goal itself.  I think it is extremely relevant to fishing.  The goal may be to catch a specific species or a certain size fish or maybe just catch anything at all.  But it’s not going to happen every time.  Sometimes you are going to return without so much as a bite.  It’s part of fishing (and part of life.)  Sometimes you get skunked. Sometimes you break stuff.  Sometimes you get chewed up by bugs.

bug shirt

But you know where you never catch fish?  Sitting in front of a screen.
When you get out there, you might see a little corner of the world you never have.  You may encounter wildlife doing something you haven’t seen before.  Even if you’re going to the same ol’ fishin’ hole, you’re seeing it at a different moment from the last time you were there.  You can witness the subtle changes that happen across the seasons and over the years.  You’re in the great outdoors, surrounded by the natural systems your very existence is dependant on.  Fishing in particular makes you acutely aware of how connected the air and the water and the land are to each other.

I am currently in the state capital of Juneau.  We had a piece of equipment break down and are currently waiting on a replacement part, so I’ve got time for fishing, exploration and being a tourist.  On Wednesday, the morning’s rain was breaking up midday and I was intrigued by something I read in the fishing regulations.  There is a stream in the area that is only open to fishing on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the month of June.  It’s a tributary to a river that flows out of a glacier and it’s about a three mile trek to get there.  If nothing else, I figured it would be a cool hike.

That part was sure right.

Cool.

That glacier is another three miles up valley.

All told, I put about seven miles on my boots and by the end, I was feeling sore and tired.  I got rained on a little, my feet were starting to get wet, I was pestered by mosquitoes and didn’t really get all that much fishing in.  The streams were too high and it was difficult negotiating the brush alongside them.  I ran into other anglers, some of whom were stinking up the area with thier stupid cigarettes.  I didn’t get out of the woods until after 8pm.  All this work and effort and what did I have to show for it?  Just this 15 inch cutthroat trout I released.

15″ cutthroat from Windfall Creek

Beautiful as it is, was it really worth all that effort?  Maybe not if we only judge this expedition based on the goal of catching fish.  But when we take into consideration the journey I took trying to reach that goal, we come away with a much different answer.  A vigorous hike into a place I have never before been; some cool wildlife and geology sights along the way.  The unquantifiable satisfaction that comes from enjoying something that most people want nothing to do with.

Catching fish is only part of the experience.  Near the end of my return trip, I gave my legs a rest and took a drink of water.  It was dead calm beneath the thick canopy and the woods were echoing with the calls of 3 or 4 types of bird.  The calls punctuated the background drone of the nearby river rushing over fallen timber and gravel bars and the foreground drone of a small trickle of water dumping over some roots.  Every so often, a woodpecker rattled the trunk of tree nearby.  I had to sit a moment longer to absorb the sounds and smells of the forest.  Marvelous.

visual for that sound scape

I’m going to have to get a closer look at one of these glaciers.  That’ll be my next hike.