CHUCK ROBBINS, 10/21/1944 to 6/12/2018: Chuck Robbins was one of the nation’s top outdoorsmen and about as active and vigorous as anyone could be. So it came as a complete surprise when his wife Gale called several days ago and informed us that Chuck had died while guiding clients on Montana’s Big Hole River.

Chuck was a big man, in excellent shape and with no hint of heart problems. He was 73 and had created a life in the woods, rivers and mountains. In his life he had conversed about fishing local rivers with President Jimmy Carter. At the time Chuck served as a guide at a prominent Pennsylvania lodge. Chuck said Carter was “one of the easiest people to converse with he’d ever met.” But Janie and I suspect that it was also because of Chuck’s gregarious nature. Hopefully, my images reveal more than my words do about his demeanor.

The Big Hole River was Chuck’s domain, where he guided for years.

As well, Chuck once guided Dick Cheney from the same PA lodge, and told me thatCheney was so passionate about the sport he insisted that Chuck continue the guided trip even though Washington had been trying to reach him with an urgent message. “‘Keep going,’” Chuck recalled Cheney having instructed. “‘We’re here to fish.’” Chuck did as instructed but recalled that a helicopter eventually ran them down. Obviously, Chuck was a much sought after guide.

Much more recently Chuck and Gale shared a story about encountering a cow moose and her calf. Both laughed at the near dangerous encounter and said it was their dog Annie that had diverted the moose allowing the couple to scoot back into their truck. Chuck and Gale adored their hunting dogs and were destressed when a rattlesnake bit Annie about two years ago. With love and enduring rehabilitation Annie recovered over the course of the year, and this past winter during Gale and Chuck’s annual Arizona quail hunt she was aggressively pointing again.

Chuck was an all around outdoorsman, working
as a photographer, hunter, fisherman.  As a guide, he was in great demand

Chuck was also a great writer and photographer, selling stories about his adventures — and his work as a guide — to various outdoor magazines. More recently he was the editor of a tabloid produced by the Northwest Outdoor Writer’s Association of America. And just a few weeks ago he was charging around the house maintaining what has got to be one of the most organized workshops in the country. About the same time he was presiding over an autograph party sponsored by a local bookstore intended to promote Chuck’s new Montana fly-fishing book. Gale had worked on it with him, taking most of the pictures and working as his first-line reader. “It’s just team work,” she said. “And that’s something the four us [Janie and me] all shared.

“Chuck,” she emphasized, “was my best buddy.”

Chuck has friends (Facebook Friends, too) across the country and they will certainly be offering support to Gale and family. Though Gale is a strong and resourceful person she has many challenges ahead, but we know she will emerge successfully from this worst of all tragedies. Hopefully the love and support of his and her worldwide friends will help provide some consolation.

God bless.

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Chuck Receives Top Outdoor Writer Award

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THIS TIME FOUR YEARS AGO: Shenandoah’s Deer and Bears

GILDART BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

But I accomplished goal number one and that was to climb back on my bike after a four month hiatus and though I was challenged, I did it — and today hopefully I will do better.

The warmth of the weather is an inducement to get out, and the coziness of our rental makes it a delightful place to recoup. From our rental we look out over Coyote Peak, and just three years ago I had the strength to make the day-long climb, up and down, with good friends Don and Nancy Dennis.

We’re going to try and do a little socializing while here, but mostly we’re here so that when we leave, I’ll be a “renewed” person.

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Adventures in Anza Borrego, before I had to be renewed:

Climbing Coyote Peak

Challenging Mountain Bike Trip in Borrego Springs