From Work To Play

So I took a new position at work.  It takes me from the parking lot of our used car department, to the service department.  I am going from outside, to in an office, from shorts in the summer, to khakis all the time.  The perks of this job are chances to move forward and learn the service lingo.  All that will lead to being a service adviser which is the middle man between the techs, and the customer.  For now I do a lot of cashier and phone work.


Hopefully by now you are wondering why this would make it on to my outdoors blog.  Outfitted for life is not just about fly fishing, but it is about all of my outdoor hobbies and sometimes the indoor ones make it online too.  As for why my job it is simple, the change in clothing.  I do not mind khaki dress plants but sometimes do not feel comfortable in them all day long.  So with that thought in mind I looked to the internet for a pair of pants that I could wear to work and look nice in, but could also put on to go to the mountains on the weekends.


Believe it or not there are a lot to choose from, and I wanted to try some on.  I went to REI because they carry a lot of the brands I wanted to look at and with it being labor day they were having some big sales.  The store was full, the fullest I have possibly ever seen it.  If it had not been REI I might have left, but I stuck it out and tried on a couple pairs of pants.  The ones I really wanted were still too expensive and they were out of my size.  I was looking for Mountain Khakis but they are pricey and like I said they did not have my size(maybe for Christmas hint hint).  So I tried on a pair of columbia pants, and a pair of kuhls.  There were reasons for not going with any of the ones I tried on first.  Some did not look good enough to wear to work and some felt like it would take till March to break in.

 I picked up a pair of mountain khakis that I liked but were a 54 waist, and held them next a pair of REI brand pants and the look was close.  In fairness to Mountain Khaki the REI brand was not as ruggedly built but it seemed to be only quality of material.  That being said I was happy with the REI brand because they were 30 dollars cheaper, so if they do not hold up as long I will be okay with it.  I am very happy with my new pants and can not wait to field test them this week at work and maybe I will go hit the AT this coming weekend.  As for the work side of thing I know they will be good because they feel comfortable the second you slip them on.  I am also excited to see how they handle a long hike so when I finish the field testing I will write again with a proper review.   

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

-Bruce

Testing New Waters

Tonight after a long day at work I pulled up a chair to the vise and planned to work out a new pattern.  The pattern is the damsel fly.  This fly is used in warm water situations and is a big carp and bass fly.  I have been trying to catch a carp for a couple weeks now and just want to pad my chances with a fly that is said to work.  After tying three flies that are all slightly different from each other and a bunch that were no good I packed up my tying stuff to call it a night. I will be field testing these new flies this weekend sometime and I hope they do the trick.  Here are a couple shots of them, I'm not confident in the pattern yet so they look a little rough.  Rough flies tends to happen when you tie a fly for the first time.

Like I said not the prettiest fly I have ever tied but look at that I am getting better at taking pictures of the finished product.  There will be more to come maybe another post before Sunday this time.  

-Bruce

Back to Back Adventures

So there are times on Saturday or Sunday when I want to do something but can not be spending money. I also know that the river will be full of people splashing, swimming, rafting and even throwing rocks in the good holes. This past Saturday I slept in and then got up and got the materials to make a sign for some good friends of ours who had a baby Friday night (congratulations Lloyd family). When I got home I was bored which happens if it is nice out side and I am in. Sarah and I were kicking around the idea of a Braves game or hiking up Stone Mountain. After a while we decided to go hike up the rock.

As we pulled up to the west gate the sky which had been dark the entire ride there finally opened up. It was a good ten minute rain storm with lots of wind and big drops. It did pass and so Sarah and I decided to go into the park. At the gate we where handed another decision should we pay ten bucks to park for the afternoon or would we get enough use out of a season pass to make up for the price($35). It was not a long chat about it and not just because we were sitting at the gate with a line forming behind us but because we only needed to come four times to have it paid for. Stone Mountain is fifteen to twenty minutes from our house with little to no traffic, and there is a lot to do there so we are now proud owners of a season pass. The adventure was not just getting there and buying the pass but a whole mess of things that were about to happen.

When we first got to the trail head there were people coming off the mountain soaked to the bone. Sarah snickered a little but I remember giving her a look that said it could be us. So we were hiking at a good clip and talking about a lot of things, it was still overcast and felt nice. We were talking and I remember looking up and seeing a pole that can not be missed because it is covered in old gum, then looking to the shy and noticed it looked darker then when we first set off. Well I was not a boy scout but I do like to come prepared and last minute threw a poncho in my pack because Sarah was bringing her good camera and that thing can NOT get wet.

As we got off a section that is the steepest we felt light rain. I stopped and put my phone and wallet in my waterproof sack, and started to get the poncho out. With the phone and wallet tucked away I put the poncho on Sarah just as the wind wipes up to its full force. It looked like we would be getting to the top of this thing little wet. There was on talking about what to do, we saw no lightning and it was not as bad as the one that we waited out at the gate. So with out saying anything we pressed on up the mountain. We crest the top of the mountain and just then the rain starts to lighten up a little. Sarah and I go from being slightly concerned because Stone Mountain is a big bald piece of granite just north of the city providing no cover on the top, to over joyed we had this grand idea. Once on the top we took shelter under a little pavilion, Sarah got the camera out snapped a couple shots, including one that shows the next leg of the adventure. The one above is what I think was the next small storm that hit us. See the light part on the right? Well the storm is the darker part on the left.

So this passing shower was much much lighter and so we set off down the hill in the rain this time. With the majority of the decent behind us and no major falls, Sarah stopped to snap a shot of steam coming off the lake that surround part of the mountain. The part that is not shown real well in the picture is how dark it was. She took the shot with a tripod and so could soak up a lot of light so much it looks like day time in the picture. Then took one of me with a flash which in this case shows how dark it was. You can also see in the shot that I did not bring anything to keep myself dry.

There is something liberating about climbing a mountain in a storm like that. It makes you feel alive and it makes you feel like you can do a lot of crazy things you probably can not really do. I was ready to tackle Everest, or swim the Atlantic. Those feeling are good to have as long as you do not take them too serious and actually try to do those things with no training or experience.

Now for the fun part. Today after a stressful day at church (yeah why is church stressful?) Sarah wanted to go for a run on the path around the mountain. I decided to tag along and see if maybe I could locate some carp in the ponds and lakes that are scattered around the park. I ended up catching a couple small sunnies and and hiking a short trail from a parking lot to a small pond. Sarah finished her run and took a couple shots of me, trying to get some small bass. Then I wanted her to get a shot of a roll cast and she did but we will work on the shot I really wanted next time we get out. All in all I am really happy we decided to buy the pass and know we will get a ton of use out of it as the fall come. Two days of fun and adventure and now some new waters to explore. I hope to get into some golden bones(carp) in the next couple weeks, and if that does not work out in that time frame to worries because it will be cooling down and trout will be the goal again.

-Bruce