Smith River, MT

May, 2007

When I found out that PHW was going to send me to Helena, Montana on a 5 day fishing trip on the Smith River I was very excited and looked forward to this once in a life time opportunity. I talked to previous participants in this trip and was told about the excellent fishing, hospitality of the trip guides, and the beautiful Montana scenery. I had high expectations for this trip and upon arriving in Montana I soon found out that those expectations were met and exceeded.

My first night in Helena, Montana was spent at a bed and breakfast called "The Sanders" which was an old house originally built in the 1800's during the gold rush. It was an absolutely beautiful and well kept house. My fellow PHW participant J.R. Salzman stayed there also. The rooms we stayed in were very comfortable and made our stay enjoyable.

Lewis and Clark Expeditions owned by Mike Geary was the outfitter for the trip and provided the guides on the Smith River. The fact that they were volunteering their time for this trip to thank us wounded Vet's was very much appreciated. Our first day on the river took was fun but wet due to the weather. The fishing the first day was not too good and we set up camp at a great site with a wonderful view at the end of the day. The food that was cooked for us every night was always excellent.

The next couple days had much better weather and with that the fishing improved for us all. I caught my first brown and rainbow trout the second day. My best day of fishing occurred on the 4th day when I caught 6 fish with a dry fly, and the biggest being a rainbow trout that was about 16".

The last few days of the trip showed just how crazy mountain weather could be with temperatures dropping significantly and rain showers persisting throughout most of the day. Despite the adversity we all fished on and continued to enjoy our trip to the fullest to the last day.

The highlights of this trip for we was not only the fishing and the scenery of the Smith River but getting the opportunity to talk with other wounded vets on the trip and share our stories with each other and our guides. We also had a film crew that went along with us and filmed our trip as a documentary that Ed Nachtrieb, the director, hoped to get it on HBO or other cable programming eventually.

I will always remember this trip and will always be thankful for the opportunity I was given to be a part of it.

1LT David Folkerts