Chasing tail in Eastern Oregon

Sunday, September 30, 2007

I met up with Doug in Boise on Thursday. I had busted out of Pendleton that morning, hauling a week's worth of gear not to mention our new raft. Doug had driven north from San Diego the day before, a full 1,000 miles behind the wheel and the trip was just beginning. We were giddy as we hooked the raft up to his rig and made our way east, out towards Silver Creek.



After a day spent on Silver Creek, we drove into the high country and spent an evening fishing Harriman's on the Henry's Fork. The weather was surprisingly warm and sunny, which would be a theme for most of the trip. While it made camping pleasant, it turned the fishing off as the browns were looking for cold and overcast skies.



Saturday morning was our first run in the raft - we floated the Box Canyon section of the Henry's Fork, and while the river had dropped that morning to almost 450 cfs we each still managed to pick up fish and have a great time floating in "Boxy"



We got off the river around 1 PM, just enough time to load up our gear and drop 80 miles back down to Idaho Falls to pick up Kevin from the airport. It was great to see him, and we headed back up and spent the evening fishing around Last Chance.



Sunday morning we drove out to St. Anthony and down to the Warm River launch. The weather was warm, but it rained cats and dogs most of the day. We all landed a few fish, but nothing of any real size.



We rolled north and camped on the Madison just south of Ennis Sunday night, and hit heavy snow and cool temps. We'd been waiting for the cooler weather, but the single shot of cool temps and rain wasn't enough to turn the browns on.



Tuesday and Wednesday we spent in Yellowstone; this, for me, is the highlight of the trip. The surreal landscape combined with phenomenal trout fishing is amazing, and I frequently find myself forgetting to cast and just watching everything around me.



Last year, Doug and I had hiked in and explored some water in the northeast corner of the park, and this year we were determined to hike even further. After a 5 mile hike in, we were rewarded with some amazing water and native yellowstone cutt's





We packed it up Thursday morning and dropped down towards Silver Creek...one last day before reality set in.



Friday found us back in Boise...Kevin on a late morning flight to Portland, Doug dropping south to San Diego, and me heading to Pendleton to meet up with the girls. Big changes are looming for us - while on our trip, I accepted a position in Pendleton, so October proves to be chaotic and I look forward to further exploring my favorite corner of Oregon.