A small stream in the American Southwest that is waiting for a fisherperson. Courtesy photo
A small stream in the American Southwest that is waiting for a fisherperson. Courtesy photo
BY WILLIAM PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos Mountaineers
The October 27 Mountaineers meeting will feature a talk by Michael Altherr entitled “How an
Old Mountaineer Finds New Challenges Chasing Western Native Trout.”
Altherr writes: “Humans are unique among Earth’s species in challenging ourselves in ways that push well beyond our basic needs for food and shelter. Many of these challenges are esoteric and mean little outside of the small tribes with which we associate. Climbing the Nose of El Cap in a day (NIAD), summiting all the Colorado 14ers or the 50 State high-points, or completing the Appalachian, Continental Divide, Pacific Crest or similar trails are, in my mind, grand personal accomplishments. Personally, I enjoyed trucking all the backpacking accoutrement and 40-50 pounds of climbing kit into remote locations to climb in beautiful, relatively remote locations. There was even a time when putting down a couple of hundred miles on foot appealed to my sense of adventure.”
“Unfortunately, as I’ve grown older my affinity, and probably more importantly, my diminished physical prowess makes those endeavors much less enjoyable to me at this point in my life, even if as Conrad Anker advised to ‘make pain your friend and you’ll never be alone,’ I am rarely alone. However, I still enjoy finding my way into the high country and I have found new ways to continue to challenge myself.”
“Similar to the climbing community, the fishing community has created a collection of challenges that I have personally found worthy of pursuing; and the kit required for fishing weighs considerably less than that required for a climbing trip. The Western Native Trout Challenge is broken down into three levels of accomplishment that ultimately requires the
individual to catch 18 native trout species in 12 Western States. Each level requiring the participate to catch six distinct natives in four different States. Pursuing native trout frequently
requires trekking to the headwaters of streams that comprise the historical range of the fish being pursued. You might say to yourself, fishing, how hard can that be as a challenge? Well, you are more likely to meet someone who has climbed all the 8,000 meter peaks than has completed the Western Native Trout Challenge.”
Altherr admits that he is probably more of an adventure tourist than a true mountaineer. He has been a member of Los Alamos Mountaineers for over a quarter century, and has held several board positions, including two terms as president. He has pursued a variety of climbing challenges and has climbed all over the U.S., with one memorable trip to Peru. After experiencing an avalanche a couple of decades ago, he became interested in snow science and traveling safely in avalanche terrain. Consequently, he pursued certification as an Avalanche Professional and Instructor. For most of the last decade, he has led an avalanche refresher for the Mountaineers at the start of each ski season. While in graduate school, his father-in-law introduced him to fly fishing.
When he moved to Los Alamos, he put his fishing kit away and focused on climbing. When he retired, he dusted off the fly fishing kit and found a passion for pursuing native trout. He has completed two levels of the Western Native Trout Challenge, catching 12 distinct species in eight states, and hopes to complete the Challenge next year.
We welcome all to this Mountaineers’ meeting on the regular fourth Tuesday of the month. The social hour, with cookies, begins at 6:45 PM and the program at 7:00 PM. The presentation will be in-person at Los Alamos Nature Center; the slides will be live-streamed on Zoom.
Registration is required to Zoom and recommended for in-person – we would love to see your smiling face. Registration details are available at https://peecla.app.neoncrm.com/event- detail?event=76474&.
Figure caption:
A small stream in the American Southwest that is waiting for a fisherperson.