When the float plane disappears into the ether and all you’re left with is the pile of gear you unceremoniously tossed from the hold, it takes a minute to realize that you’re actually “out here,” on the margins of survivability. You’re alone (not lonely—that’s different). You’ve got nothing but time to kill before that plane makes its return trip some pre-determined time in the future. You’re on your own.
But you’re in paradise.
Above, this great short film from the folks at Carpe Diem, captures that feeling quite well, as two anglers are dropped off in the wild Finnmark country of Norway, left to fish until the plane comes back to get them. It’s places like this that stir the fly-fishing soul in all of us. They inspire us and remind us that there is still wild country left to be explored and prospected with dry flies and streamers. We have to work harder these days to discover that good fishing and wild country often go hand in hand, but it’s work worth doing.
Here’s to your next adventure, whether you’re left behind by a plane, or if you just leave the truck at the end of the road and seek that solitude on your own. You can come back, but you won’t be the same. Thankfully.
— Chris Hunt