well mine is kind of a strange one, but memarable just the same.. in 1990 I had just returned to spokane from my 1st trip working on a crab boat in alaska it was june and fishing was really starting to heat up on the st joe river out of st maries idaho, I had been over at my best flyfishing buddys apartment drinking a few beers and we decided we had to get knee deep in some freezing water so we planned to meet at 4 am at a gas station so we would be at the river half hr or so before light and stake out some good real estate for the day, by the time I got home my friend called and said his grandfather had a stroke and he was leaving for orifino and wouldn't be able to make it, so I had a few more beers and decided to scrap the trip. it was 1;30 in the morning and I was pretty tanked when I went to bed and didn't set an alarm... strangely I woke at 3'45 am sober as could be and wide awake with a knawing feeling about me I couldn't sleep so I decided screw it, I,ll go by myself and loaded my truck and headed out. around 5;30 I was driving up the st joe looking for a spot that spoke to me, but I just kept driving past good run after good run. soon I was high up into the valley and for some reason decided I would go fish a spot on the smaller north fork that I had not been to in about 5 yrs. As I headed up the lonely canyon the hazy line of blue black dawn was appearing over the tops of the treees on the hills all of a sudden I noticed a black lab laying in a opening about 50 yards off the road. as I drove on It began to wear on me, someone really might be missing such a great gun dog so I turned around and drove the 2 miles back to the dog that was still there, thats when I noticed laying on the ground next to him was about a 6 yr old boy in a t- shirt and some under-roose... the dog stood and the hackles raised on his back but did not growl... and I new I was screwed.. I was gonna get bit, so I sat down and started humming softly and looked at the dog... we had about a 20 minute time of reflection together then all of a sudden he ran over and started licking me and wagging his tail uncontrollably, then ran back to the boy and back to me then the boy again.. I aproached VERY cautously and picked him up... he was freezing, so I took him to my truck threw the dog in the back and floored it for the ranger station down river. about 3 miles down the dog bailed out and ran into the woods, I backed up and way back down a spur trail I saw the nose of a ford pickup truck, so I pulled up and the dog was running in the open flaps of a large tent, moments later a man came out looking very concerned and I told him I had a boy, and he had hypothermia.. the man jumped in my truck and we headed for st maries... long and short of it, the kid was fine.. he had got up to go to the bathroom and his dad wouldnt wake up so he stepped out of the tent alone, got turned around and started walking and yelling dad, the dog followed and at the opening I found him in the dog laid down and would not go further so the little feller sat down and waited too, and fell asleep.
I didn't even wet a line that day, but I did find a very concrete piece of evedence that there is a god and he uses us, mabey just once in a life, but he does or will... someday. I always follow my gut know, and it has lead me to amazing places.
