Enjoying the Road

I make day trips to the Seattle area, every so often. Usually, these are for meetings with my client or auditing and inspecting my teams, deployed in the field. Rarely are the business purposes of the trip anything but productive and satisfying. The drive, on the other hand…

…is absolutely beautiful.

When I have time, as I did earlier this week, I take the opportunity to make “micro-scouting” stops. I have four possible routes I could take to cross the Cascades, all of which run parallel to rivers the vast majority of the drive. This week was a quick drive on I-90. Pulling off to stretch my legs and back every now and then is needed, the additional minute it takes to step to the side and take a couple of pictures is often well worth it, in terms of future fishing outings.

The first set is literally within 175 yards of the interstate, on the Tinkham Road exit (47°24’52.41″N   121°35’14.86″W)

A great little bend in the river, with small pools…

…and some slightly larger ones.

A look downstream tells me that this would also make a great spot to wade up to, as an exit point, if one found a reasonable path down to a good put-in.

On the way back out of Seattle, a stop at Exit 38 brings you off the interstate, down a slope, then you find yourself looking at a “T”, where left and right turns are your only option, unless you pull straight ahead into a gravel pull-off. Do that. Rarely are you the only car, and there are often signs of previously broken car windows (so NOTHING of value should be visible or even hinted at, if you leave your vehicle for any length of time), but you can find a path leading into the treeline that will bring you here…

(47°26’32.66″N   121°40’4.96″W)

A quick post for a couple of quick stops, but yielding some great spots for future outings and additional research, online!

Tight lines.