A Wild Adventure

This past week I attend A Wild Adventure - Men's Fly fishing Retreat at Smiling Moose Lodge in Cameron Montana. This was one of my post-sabbatical experiences. This experiences is designed by Jan Janura and Ken Tada (husband of Joni Erickson Tada) as an experience for men to really discover themselves. Its an amazing experiencing combining a place of tremendous beauty - The Madison Valley; a group of 12 guys who are willing to open up to each other; use of John Eldridge's book: Wild at Heart - Discovering the secret of a man's soul; 

Every morning I had devotions on my porch watching the moon go down

Smiling Moose Lodge 

View of the Continental Divide from the deck of the Lodge

 We spent our first two days fishing in the morning on the Madison River with guides in a drift boat or drift raft. Everyone caught fish - some bigger than others - and had a great time. Many in our group had never fly fished before and did very well

 We enjoyed amazingly delicious meals from our chef Jason who explained every salad, main course and desert. Noone went hungry here.

 Around the campfire at night we talked together and each day 3 men shared their life stories. Part of this retreat is for men to be able to be real with each other, not pretending or hiding. We had some good discussions on different aspects of the book, spent time practicing listening to God, and did some reflection on our own true selves.

 The second morning we again fished the Madison switching sections from the day before.

On a rise above the Madison River

Dennis and our guide Mike in the drift boat. 

They can't all be big !

The second two days we fished lakes that are on Smiling Moose Ranch and Rainbow Lake Ranch. These fish were larger and you had to wade out on a mucky lake bottom to get them. But we did.

Rainbow Lake Rainbow Trout

 The last day we had a context for the largest trout. Just as we were pulling off of Moose Lake to return to the Lodge Rick hooked up with this beauty. It was 25" long but the winner was a 26" trout although this one was definitely heavier.

Rich and our guide Dan with 25" Rainbow

 Sometimes we told our stories inside, sometimes on the front deck and sometimes around the fire. Trust built as we got to know each other and were willing to open up.

Our cabin

Armando and I shared a cabin

Our whole group