What started as a couple of conversations between Mountainshark and I in the Chat Lounge and through a few PM's grew into a goal to get back to the gym and prepare for the 2008 Cuttie-Thon on the Grey's River near Afton, Wyoming. This fly fishing marathon has been going on since 2005 and has been organized by Zac Sexton to raise money for the Children's Diabetes Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Yellowstone Park Foundation.

The Cuttie-Thon will start on August 9th at 05:00 a.m. and participants will fish up river for part or all of nearly 27 miles of the Grey's River. The Cuttie-Thon will take an estimated 30 hours to complete start to finish. It is our intention to complete the entire Cuttie-Thon and one of only a couple of teams taking on the whole course. Some teams will do the Cuttie-Thon as a relay or only fish in portions of the river.

Zac's website for the Cuttie-Thon

If anyone would like to make a Cuttie-Thon donation please PM Mountainshark or I your email address and we'll get the form emailed to you.

For the past couple of weeks we've been contacting a few potential gear sponsors and are pleased to announce that several companies have agreed to send us gear to use during this event.

So far we have the following gear sponsors:

Big Y Fly Company - FLIES!

Cliff Outdoors - Two Big Cliff Fly Boxes, Two Super Days Worth Fly Boxes, and Two Dry Fly Rehab Center

Cloudveil - Two Pairs 8X Pro Waders/8X Stealth Boots

Osprey Packs - Two Stratos 24 backpacks

Petzl - Two MYO XP Headlamps

Smith Optics - Two Pairs of Polarized Sunglasses

SPOT Messenger- One SPOT Satellite Tracker

The process for figuring out who we wanted to approach as gear sponsors involved discussions and research of brands that we trusted their products to perform. I certainly don't want to get half way through the Cuttie-Thon only to have a piece of essential gear break or fail to work. There will (hopefully) be more gear sponsors, photos, and reviews to follow in this thread in the near future.

If anyone has comments or questions please feel free to PM.

This sounds great guys- and grueling ... I'd suggest "Why wait- give 911 a call before you leave"

Look for my PM, KM

Mountainshark ... yes ... we do have to finish this event.

middlemac/cofisher ... you fellows could come out and drive our "Support Vehicle" but I'd hate to know the trouble the two of you'd get in. HA ...

Well ... we added another sponsor this morning with Osprey Packs joining the list and sending us two backpacks. I couldn't be happier since I already have two Osprey products and they are built for performance.

I used the Spot for a bit last weekend while at Henry's Lake and found that it is light enough to clip on a shirt or a vest and not even realize it is their.

Here are the photos of the Spot.





Here is what you get when you use the check-in feature of the Spot. I am working on the tracking page which will allow everyone to see progress. The link is to Google Earth and the location of the Spot when activated.

Latitude:44.6198

Longitude:-111.372

Nearest Location: Lake, United States

Distance: 5 km(s)

Time:06/29/2008 16:38:13 (GMT)

[u]http//maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.6198,-111.372&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1 [/u]

Well so far we have several who have made donations or plan to soon. Thank you very much. Now that I am back from Michigan I am going to be actively readying myself for this trip. If someone here would like to make a donation to the cause please feel free to PM me for more information.

The gear donations have started to arrive with the Smith Optics sunglasses as well as the headlamps from Petzl making to the doorstep. I'll put photos up soon of the gear items and more information on trip preparations.

I am looking forward to this trip not only for the Cuttie-Thon but the five days of fishing I'll be doing out there on various waters. I hope that runoff pushes out by then!

Well ... Mike contacted Big Y Fly Company out of Maupin, Oregon and they are now on the list of gear sponsors with a donation of flies to use during the event. This is so great ... and less that I'd have to tie or buy.

We have at least two other potential sponsors that we are waiting for an answer from. I am really excited how many companies have decided to work with us on this event. I've long been a gear hound ... so this is great fun!

I am pleased to announce that the Cuttie-thon 2008 now has it's own coffee. It is roasted by Salmon Fly Coffee Roasters, in Butte, Montana. Salmon Fly is a small fledgling coffee company owned by a husband and wife team who jumped at the chance to help with the Cuttie-thon. The coffee is a blend of fresh beans which are roasted, blended and packaged in Butte. I have sampled the coffee and for those of you who like a dark French Roast, I think it will be a big hit. As with many fundraising efforts, over 50 % of the proceeds will go to the cause. The cost of the coffee is $15.00 plus shipping. If anyone is interested in supporting a great cause by drinking a splended cup of coffee, please send me a PM and I will get you the order information.

Thank you for the support.
MS

I have a friend, Joel Thompson, that while working for Rock Creek Cattle Company, has formed his own outfitting business. He has several guides that are working for him and doing trips out of the Missoula/Deer Lodge area. Please PM me if you are visiting the area and are looking for a guide.

Joel Thompson made a donation to Mountainshark and I for the Cuttie-Thon event as well as sending a couple of ball caps along as well.





I've been wearing the blue/white trucker style cap now for the last week or so and it is a very cool hat. Thanks again Joel!

Good luck on the event fellows! That is a pretty interesting event, and sounds like a nice cause as well. I'll be watching from Colorado.

It would be fun to watch. I wonder how long the drive would be ...

Below is a map of this year's Cuttie-thon route. I can send people the markers for their own GoogleEarth maps if they are interested. The route starts near teh Man Creek confluence, and continues to the Corral Creek bridge. The entire route is about 26.6 miles!

Dont worry, the country is rougher than the map makes it look.

I wish I had known about this sooner, I might have gone, I'd love to have gone if I could, it sounds so great and a great cause too. One of my sons is a park ranger in Yellowstone right now and maybe I could have met him there, well maybe next year ... What is the address to donate?

Mike

Will do, thanks.