My nephew Afton and I had been planning an adventure for several months so when he flew in with my mother last Wednesday I was very excited. After an evening of delicious pizza and packing we faded off to sleep with visions of trout dancing in our heads. Jamie the jeep rode an inch lower loaded with car camping gear and we enjoyed our usual fill-ups and outs at the last 7/11 in Culpeper then headed through heavy fog toward the mountains on West Hoover Rd. We didn't see any mammoth steer up close as we started our climb up Rapidan Fire Road. As we neared the crest of the first ridge we crested the clouds and the sun dappled through. We stopped to take a look and I asked Afton if he wanted to drive. If you haven't picked your way along on this road its hard to explain, but in some places its more rutted mountain stream bed then maintained road. Afton beemed and gamely climbed on my lap, after a quick driving lesson and with a dubious smile from Grammy Afton navigated us by Junction Pool, TU Bridge, 2nd bridge, the Rapidan Cabins and all the way to our camping spot just shy of the top gate. This is where Henry and I camped previously and I knew it would fit the bill. After making camp Afton and I geared-up: waders, boots and light rods and took a quick casting lesson. We caught a small brookie with a 'this is how we're going to do it cast' in the the camp-side pool and readied to head upstream.
We agreed to meet mom at 1530 at the Hoover cabin a mile upstream and set out. It had rained earlier in the week and the water was fishably high and not ideal for a young, light wader so we decided to navigate the stream together and pick pools to co-cast to and rocks to dangle flies from. We were rewarded with surface action on size 14 parachute adams and Mr. Rapidan fry flies. Many of you know that high gradient, tight-cover brookie fishing is a challenge and Afton was game. He quickly learned to survey his backcast, tend his line/drift and was laying down workable presentations. He was rewarded after about an hour with a trout by himself, a speckled little beauty that brought a big smile to his face. Many strikes later (its hard to set the hook with current-gifted slack in the line) later we had streamside PB&Js and surveyed the nature festival around us; butterflies, trout, bugs, waterfalls, etc. We fished for another hour together and lost (ok I lost) a large brookie who'd launched out of the water for my dry. Sensing we'd reached our limit we bushwhacked back to the fire road "Uncle Matt, Where's the road"😊 and after a damp trudge found Grammy napping contently on President Hoover's porch. I played with some brookies in Laurel Prong while Afton and Grammy toured the camp and we headed down the mtn to out camp. Camp = Good. In no rush we had a great time exploring, setting up our hammocks and surveying our gear...both Afton and his uncle Matt love us some gear!
Afton got his fire-starters' badge and soon we had a roaring fire and were ready for a feast of hot dogs and baked beans. Were the baked beans wise given a night enclosed in sleeping bags? 👃 You be the judge. Never is dinner so tasty as it is at camp at the end of a long day and we ended the meal by tossing our paper plates into the inferno...good tymes. We had a nice shelf log where the beans re-warmed, their wafting their aroma was more then I could take so I leapt-up, camp spoon in hand and scooped up log-roasting beans much to Afton's delight/disgust. I didn't want to eat all the fun myself so Before they could come to their senses I reached back and spooned a smokey spoonful to Afton and Mom. They were....well smokey :-)
Like Outback it was, a 'No rules, just right' kind of night and we enjoyed watching Afton tending the fire and dunking torches in the campside river. Just after I proclaimed the distant thunder would pass us by, Afton announced, "Uncle Matt, I feel Rain!" Dang. Afton and Mom folded themselves into their hammocks and I brought out tarps to keep us dry. With a bit more moisture then I would have liked 10 minutes later we were cocooned/ensnared in our hammocks, happy to be dry but with visions of black bears in our dreams (ask Afton for more detail). It was an eventful sleep (ask Mom for the story) and we were up with the sun and enjoyed watching it creep down the steep slope of Fork Mtn across the river. After coffee, bacon and eggs we packed up and Afton drove us out thoroughly enjoying splashing through every muddy rut and puddle along the way. Great times.
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