Fishing good ol' Lake Josephine

We have not spent a single day in Waterton yet since summer began!  

Our summer must be awesomely jam packed with other fun things, if we can't even squeeze in a family trip to Waterton.    I'm sure we will make it there eventually;)  

We have made a couple of trips to Glacier national Park, though and we are discovering that, in many ways, it is equal to our favorite Canadian National Park.   

 A few of the things we love about Glacier National Park:

*An annual pass is a fraction of the cost that we spent to get into Waterton.

* A fishing license is not required if you have a pass (That sold John, right there!)

* GNP is HUGE!!  

* Lots of kid friendly hikes

* Wildflowers grow like CRAZY in this park!

and last but not least ...

* GNP is home to - the "elephant Tree."

This is our kids' favorite tree stump.  It can be found while walking around Swift Current Lake. We have been stopping here to take pictures for several years now.  (And every year it looks more and more like an actual elephant to me.)

This past weekend we decided to take the beautiful walk up to one of our favorite Glacier fishing spots.  Josephine Lake.    It's a very easy stroll up to the lake (probably half an hour at best) but this time, as we approached the lake - John suggested we keep going further around the lake.  Actually, he insisted we keep going.  And I insisted right back that we not.  Oh, I knew exactly what he was doing.   He was going to dangle a carrot in front of us, the promise of a better fishing whole "just up ahead a little ways," and then we'd end up walking around the entire stinkin' lake.   

(John would tell you that the best fishing is always at the head of a lake.) 

 He's tricksy, this guy, but I wasn't going to have it.   We all followed him, but I assure you, I complained the entire way.   So, here we were.   I'm was frustrated with being dragged all over "heck's half acre" in search of THE perfect fishing whole and John is frustrated that he couldn't get to where he was certain that all of the fish were.  I thought I'd take the democratic route and ask the kids to decide what we should do.   Keep wandering and hiking? Or go back to where we always fish?  

They all gave a very diplomatic "it doesn't matter to us what we do."  

Wimps;)

So- we walked on (which on any other day would have actually been delightful exploration, but on this day, I was hellbent on proving a point) until finally John relented we decided to go back to the start of the lake and fish from there.  

Wasn't that an interesting story?

Here is another one:
Fishing with four kids is always an adventure. 

Within the first three minutes - Sam fell in the lake.   Then, Abby lost half her rod in an overzealous cast.   Jess and Sam continued to argue debate whether she had got her hook caught on a rock or if she'd actually gotten a bite and Nate took his own sweet time finding the perfect rock to fish from. 

Finally he found it and all was well!

We fished for a good fifteen minutes or so, until the wind picked up and we all felt too cold to continue.   (I'm pretty sure John was ready to throw his rod, or maybe even himself, right into the lake;)   He definitely seemed a bit defeated as we walked back down to the van.

Luckily, lunch seemed to bolster us all a wee bit (hot dogs and pringles chips seems to have that affect on my kids;) and by the time we were finished eating, we were ready to give this whole fishing thing another go.   

Well, technically, John and two of our kids were ready to give it another go.  The rest of us opted to stay in the van and enjoy an afternoon nap.  (Wandering aimlessly around an unfamiliar lake also seems to have that affect on me my kids.)

To make this long story just a little bit shorter - John and his team ended up catching a handle of little fish like this one.   Me and my team woke up from our nap happy and refreshed.   

We all agreed that it had been a very good day after all.  

By the time we left Glacier that evening, we were still as in love with it as ever.

(Sorry Waterton;)