Torres del Paine, Chile and Tierra del Fuego 2012

The entrance to Torres del Paine National Park, the locals park rangers told me its too cold for any fish...

How could this be if in Alaska, Salmon and Steelhead run up glacial channels to spawn?

Las Torres del Paine, a 21km hike. Dad and I hiked up on an overcast day and had a window of time that we had set for viewing these mind blowing mountain fingers.  When we arrived, the clouds among us were at head level across the lake and on the mountain, so we could not see anything other than the opaque lake.  Dad and I decided to stay as long as possible in case that the clouds would burn off or blow away.  A few hours beyond our deadline, which meant that we would spend a chunk of the return leg in the dark with flashlights, the clouds began to clear at an incredibly slow rate.  But sure enough, they parted and God gave us that special moment.  I turned to Dad and suggested that it was a great place to spread some of Grandpa's ashes that Dad had brought up with him on the hike.   The hands represent the Orr 4 - Tucker, Julian, Ansel, and Mia.    

Los Cuernos del Paine on the right. 

Rio Serrano.  Imagine that in a couple of hours sunset brought an immaculate peach and purple sky that I was too busy fishing to capture.  When I get a hold of some of Dad's photos, I will add them here. I had done some research on the fishing in this mighty river and all of the information I had led to there being salmon.  We drove along the river for miles until I was in a place where I could wade, as the river mouth led to a lake.  I chose the spot above and when we pulled up we heard what sounded like someone had dropped a tire into a lake nearby.  The salmon bolting upriver were Kings!!  I had briefed my dad on how to fish for these bad boys since I had only brought an 8wt rod and reel set and was quite underprepared, but my Dad was in heaven taking pictures while I began to chase these Kings.  I cast to fish over and over and over until one finally took my fly right about 10 minutes before it was totally black out.  It was insane, because the prepping I was giving my Dad on how to fight and land a fish of this magnitude meant that he would have to chase the fish down river and palm the reel to create enough drag.  Little did I know I was just visualizing.  10 minutes later, gasping for air in chest waders, the king, with his mighty hook jaw, took one last leap about 80 yards down from me and broke off. 

We stayed at the buildings in red where we were the only people in the entire hotel/lodge.  Our waitress was THE most attentive of all time.  

Across the Straights of Magellan with the Darwin Mountains beyond us, the Land of Fire began to sink in.  The brave men before us and how remote of a region in the world we were tapping into.  This is what I live for.  

 

A land of wind, sheep, and gorgeous skies.  

After 3 full days of wade fishing in intense 30mph winds with gusts up to 50mph, I was blessed with this fat 10-12 lb female Sea Run Brown Trout.  Sea Run Browns are an incredibly rare species and tough to catch as they do not feed while they spawn.  Unlike salmon though, they do not die after spawning, they return to sea to feed, grow and return the following year.  

Our guide, Alejandro (Chilean native), was tough, relentless and fantastic.  He taught us how to cast a spey road, which was making 80-100ft casts possible in the wind.

MT 2011 & 2012

Pink Big Sky + Moby, our family's behemoth, white suburban.

                                 

Brother Julian seconds before spotting a wolf.                                             

Diamond Rock, Ennis Lake                                                          

                              Road up the Centennial Valley

I took one of my best friends, Ben S. to get a taste for Montana.  He had fly fished a few times, but after some coaching and invigorating an ancient athlete's muscle memory, the boy was hooked.  We fished for 7 days straight, nothing short of hardcore; from lakes, to rivers, to remote mountain ponds.  Proud to say, I got another friend who I can split time on the oars with. Great fall fishing with you bro!

But this beauty, caught in 6" of water, with a puppy yellow lab background stole the show.

           

   For all the subsistance minded nuts, this trout, as with all, was released.

                   

Buller, named after a river in New Zealand showing some self control with steaks on the table.

         

Fishing buddies across the river. 

                                                           

My Uncle Randy and I on the river.  He is heavily involved with Project Healing Waters, a fantastic organization that rehabilitates physically and emotionally disabled active military servicemen by leading them to fly fishing and other activities. 

Long Lost Blog

I have been lucky for the past few years to be able to focus both on my work and be able to pack in a few adventures here and there.  What I may have mentioned at the onsent of this blog was that I was on the verge of teaching English in Malaga Spain, after graduating from college, but once that fell through, I began to research gnarly trips that I knew I could not do (in terms of time away from work and real life responsibilities) once I began a career.  Hence Las Aventuras de Jahns Kabul was born and thus I embarked on an unforgettable road trip to Alaska!  

Since then, roughly two and half years ago, I began working for an oil service company.  I started out as a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Pilot and Technician, which allowed me to work offshore for 21 days at a time followed by 21 days off!!  The emphasis here, other than paying my dues offshore, is the time off.  But unlike the Aussies, Brazilians, and Norwegians who work similar jobs offshore, I did not get paid during my time off.  Nonetheless, I organized a savings plan to incorporate the following: 401k (8%), Roth IRA (3%), Liquid and Emergency (3%), Stock market account (5%), and BADASS Trips (5% +).  Again, the emphasis here is on the TRIPS! 

So, looking back on the three year gap between posts, I would like to update the public (I still have followers and page views to this day!) on some fun fly fishing trip photos since AK!