Some guys keep their outdoor activities to themselves in an exclusive all-male fraternity, but I think they’re making a mistake. With declining hunting and fishing license sales and diminishing national participation in the outdoors, we need all the support we can get. Besides, women and girls can bring their own special brand of joy to the evening campfire and the morning hiking trail.
At Camp F-Troop, we uphold a longstanding tradition of inviting wives, girlfriends, mothers, daughters, nieces, and significant others to many of our annual events in the mountains. And that’s the key: we ask them, we invite them, and often they’re surprised and delighted to come along. In fact, my new book about the history of F-Troop — due out in three months — devotes an entire chapter and lots of stories and anecdotes to the adventures of women at camp.
My fiancée Donna Rai’ enjoys campfires, canoeing, hikes, and photography up in the Warren County highlands, and she has held a Pennsylvania fishing license for the past two years. We have ventured out together after trout a dozen times, and on each occasion, she has caught more fish than I have, which is a good thing for both of us. Such was the case again last weekend.
We started out bridge-hopping with fly rods and live minnows Sunday morning to break the ice. First we drove the Jeep a mile down from camp to a small bridge over a tiny creek that only a few of us “locals” know holds wild brookies. D-Rai’ rolled a fish on the first cast, then tossed right back in and hooked a fine small brook trout with brilliant red shading illuminating its belly and fins. I took a photo as she held the fish up and smiled in the sun, and I knew right then we were in for a good day.
Then we drove another mile south to a larger stream, Perry Magee Run, which features hatchery trout in its lower reaches and wild fish and holdovers upstream. We parked by the bridge and peeked over the side. There — in the deep pool below — swam four stocked trout in obvious feeding mode among the big rocks in the clear-water stream. Problem was that since we could easily see these fish in the lucid pool, they could see us, too, so it was a challenge to get them to bite. Still, D-Rai’ persevered, and on her 10th cast she hooked and landed an 11-inch stocked brown trout.
Now we were ready to launch into a long wild trout hike deep into the game lands forest. We drove three miles north, parked on the gravel road, donned our fishing vests, pulled on our knee-high boots and began walking upstream along Antler Run. It was a brilliant day, with cool breezes drifting upstream and warm, dappled sunshine beaming down through the hemlock canopy. We took photos of sparkling waterfalls and colorful wildflowers and spotted lots of deer tracks in the soft earth along the banks of the stream.
We skipped some pools and fished some others and caught and released nine wild native brook trout, six for her and three for me. The most memorable fish was a dark-hued brookie that D-Rai’ caught in a shallow pool where the stream ran along a rock-wall cliff, and deep green shadows colored the waters there. She tossed upstream into the flow, and the fish darted out from the shadows and slammed the bait and fought up-current until she brought it to hand, posed briefly for a picture, and then released it into a quiet eddy.
About 1 p.m. we sat down on a big windfall oak log and gazed up at the steep wooded hillsides and listened to the overhead birdsong and the soothing melody of the flowing waters. Then we hiked out and drove back to camp for lunch on the front porch overlooking the river. Life just doesn’t get much better than that.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
Don Feigert is the outdoors writer for THE HERALD and the ALLIED NEWS. He can be contacted at 317-985-2870 or dfeigert@verizon.net. Visit his Website at www.donfeigert.com.
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To get women into the outdoors, just ask them
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Roundup: Hickory girls beat Franklin in battle of 5-AAA leaders
Knowing its male counterparts upset Franklin 48 hours earlier, the Hickory High girls basketball team was not to be outdone.
Forcing Franklin into a substandard shooting performance, the Lady Hornets harvested a 53-42 District 10 Region 5-AAA win Monday night. -
SPORTVIEW: Reynolds, Greenville are 2 of state's historic programs
CONGRATULATIONS TO the Reynolds High wrestling program which became the fastest Class AA team in the history of the state to reach 700 wins last weekend.
The program, which began in 1960-61 under coach Dick Sherwood, has set a torrid pace for winning since that 4-4 season.
Ironically, the school’s 700th victory came Saturday in the District 10 Dual Meet Championships against long-time rival Greenville, which went over the 700-win plateau in 2009. Greenville is believed to be the first AA team to reach 700 wins, while Reynolds did it in the shortest time. -
Hickory soccer standouts Free, Richards to Ashland University
Hickory High girls’ soccer coach B.J. Rudge believes the bar has been elevated, and his Lady Hornets have helped hoist it.
“In general, soccer has grown in this area ... and what our girls have accomplished is a reflection of the whole (Shenango) Valley,” Rudge recently observed. -
Ft. LeBoeuf beats Reynolds at D-10 AA Team Duals
EDINBORO — The Reynolds Raiders notched the school’s 700th victory in the semifinals of the District 10 Dual Meet Championships Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Raiders, No. 701 will have to come later.
The Raiders topped long-time rival Greenville, 51-16, in the semis to become the first Class AA school in Pennsylvania history to 700 wins. However, in the D-10 finals at Edinboro University’s McComb Field House, the Raiders fell to familiar foe Fort LeBoeuf, 31-28. -
Roundup: Popatak hits 1,000; Hickory, Farrell, Sharon boys win 6-AAA contests
ä Hickory 64, Franklin 52 — At “The Castle” in Franklin, the Knights (9-3, 15-3) led 28-21 at halftime, but coach Nick Cannone’s Hornets (11-2, 13-5) came storming back and outscored the hosts 24-9 in the 3rd quarter and 19-15 in the 4th to win a key Region 6-AAA clash.
Vinnie Mastrian rifled in a career-high 28 points to lead Hickory while Matt Votino scored 22. -
Roundup: WM, Sharpsville, Lakeview grab region wins
When in doubt, defer to Dogan.
West Middlesex High junior point guard Matt Dogan dominated the 2nd half of Friday night’s District 10 Region 1-A contest with visiting VisionQuest.
Dogan deposited 18 of his game-high 27 points after intermission, converting 12 of 16 free-throw attempts, leading the Big Reds to their 9th consecutive conquest, 56-41. -
Greenville's Zahniser headed to St. Francis
Nico Zahniser believes four years of scholastic football prepared him for the next level — and learning how to win and lose was only part of the process.
The Greenville High senior committed to St. Francis University of Loretto earlier this week, where he hopes to become part of a Red Flash resurgence under coach Chris Villarrrial. -
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Roundup: Hickory, Sharon, GC boys grab 6-AAA wins
The District 10 Class AA Team Dual-Meet Championships have been owned by Reynolds and Fort LeBoeuf since its inception, with the Raiders winning 10 titles under now retired coach Brian Hills and the Bison winning the other 3.
The two teams are heavily favored to meet again Saturday in the finals of the tourney at Edinboro University’s McComb Field House which expands to 8 teams this year for the first time. The top 2 teams advance to the state tourney the following weekend. - More Sports Headlines
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