The REAL Last Frontier - Navigating the "Big Mommas"

A lot of "Big Mommas"

Hold on, here comes a big momma! Bam! The truck’s nose pitches down, then quickly up, then there’s a considerable “creak” and the camper does the same. “That wasn’t so bad", we say to each other. Then suddenly, Bam, Bam Bam, Bam….” Now that was the biggest momma yet”, we exclaim in unison.

And so it goes on the Top of the World Highway. Permafrost heaves, pot holes that appear from nowhere, washboard dirt patches. It would not be so bad if this was just 5 or 10 miles. This goes on for 150 miles. A stretch of road we thought world take 4 hours turns into 8 hours. At times our top speed was 30 miles per hour for long sections of dirt road.

Steve and I have revealed every thought in our heads to each other over the last 5 weeks on the road. We can finish each other’s sentences and know the ending of life stories that are shared. But the Top of the World Highway introduced us to a new form of communication - Imminent Pothole Immersion (IPI) is a good name for it.

“This one is going to hurt”, Steve shouts! I grab the handles that run along the inside of the Toyota Tundra near the window. The truck pitches up, then down, then up, then down. I don’t know what the camper is doing… probably going airborne. “That was the worse Big Momma yet”, we utter as we brace for the next one. These massive Big Mommas are actually two or three frost heaves very close together. They are like little hills and are hard to see as you are approaching. Think of them as speed bumps, but you don’t know for sure when you will hit them or where they are. (They are caused by the road being built on frozen land. The asphalt causes the dirt to warm and the road sinks a little. This causes a nasty dip in the road; often, multiple heaves are one right after another.)

But really, I’m telling you this is wilderness like no other. The road is at times on the crest of mountains. For as far as the eye can see there are ridges and ridges of mountains. Far in the distance, there are massive mountains covered with snow an glaciers. I bet those suckers are over 100 miles away. Just vast wilderness… it is awe-inspiring.

At the Top of the World, there was no water, so there was no fishing. However, there was a US-Canada Border & Customs Crossing seemingly in the middle of nowhere. But tomorrow is going to be a new day… the fish await!

But I wouldn’t change a thing if we did it all over again. The Top of the World Highway was an incredible experience. Never before have I ever been so isolated from other humans in my entire life. Steve and I pondered outload “I bet we are the only human beings within a two-hundred mile radius of us”. Suddenly a 60-foot house on wheels appears from around the tight curve we are entering. It is being driven by a man that looks older than Moses. His wife is sitting next to him with a look of horror on her face. Somehow, Steve squeezes past the rolling condo. We are on the outside edge of a dirt road. There is a 1000-foot drop-off at the roads edge with a raging river below. At times, I just had to close my eyes and trust that we would traverse that territory with success. “I guess there are four people within a two-hundred mile radius of us”, Steve humorously says.

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It is the charge of the North Louisiana Fly Fishers to afford to the general public and our members in particular, a better understanding of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying. We wish to perpetuate the sport as a most pleasurable and exciting fishing method and provide education, instructions and the opportunities for relaxation to the membership.

The North Louisiana Fly Fishers (NLFF) serves the Ark-La-Tex area surrounding Shreveport. As the closest cold water fishery, we consider the Little Missouri (Little Mo') river near Murfreesboro, AR our home waters. We also fish the local rivers and lakes. We even have a growing group of kayak fishermen that, as well as the local rivers and lakes, will fish the gulf coast marshes for some saltwater action!