I got a couple of hours of fishing in, this past Sunday. It was warm, but not too warm, sunny, only slightly breezy, and a good day to step away from a hectic couple of weeks of work and recharge. As I pulled out of the driveway, I was struck by how often one focuses on the destination, and the process of getting there, to the near exclusion of what lies “off the path” on the way. I make a mental note to look at some places along the way (Rattlesnake Creek comes to mind, which I have previously mentioned, but still have yet to fish), but there is the natural tendency to let the rest melt into a passing blur, when you’ve been over a route scores of times.
Not this time.
I made a point to grab a shot of each area of interest, traffic and angle of view permitting, as I went. I was not going to let all that beauty go “unrecognized” on this trip.
I cross this bridge, and by default that body of water below it, any time I am going up into the mountains, yet I have never stopped to fish in this area. I look, mostly to gauge the volume and speed of the flow, but just keep going.
Also funny to note how the digital shutter captures from top to bottom, creating the forward slant of the near objects. Makes it seem like I was much more urgently heading out than was true…
After a quick westerly turn, and a small town later, one starts to head up into the eastern side of the Cascades, in earnest.
That bend marks one of the last areas where you will have wide open ground around you. After it, you get smaller patches, but nothing like back in the valleys. Some great pools and riffles upstream of this, too. I usually hold onto those until later in the year. Even now, crossing would likely take me downstream in a none-to-gentle manner, and deposit me in a questionable state on the rocks at that bend.
This becomes more and more common as I drive up. The river winds it’s way closer then farther, sometimes out of sight but never out of earshot, were one to pull over and listen.
Spaces like this just yearn to be waded. Some have a pull-off near them, others are straight railings for a long run, then right into private land with no shoulder. There are a few here and there, where the stretch has parking near both top and bottom, but where you are committing to a solid 4+ hours between them.
That section always makes me wonder…
It is obviously not the most stable of rock formations, and someday will likely send it’s minions rolling over the road, but…really…what are the chances it will happen in the 37 seconds where I happen to be passing through? Right?
Sometimes I glimpse flat patches at the side of the river and wonder about how it would be to live there. Some of them, although not this one, have the appearance that they have not been washed over, previously (ok…more likely it has simply been long enough that it has fully recovered). It brings up daydreams of “that life” and being able to wander out and fish from the back (front?) yard on a whim.
But, then, you run across this…
I don’t recall how long it has been in this state of completion, but I know it has had a “For Sale” sign on it at least once in the past year. Sad to see what was likely someone else’s dream house remain unfulfilled.
As the drive up continues, the trees get closer in, the amount of shade on the road goes from zero to sometimes constant for a stretch, but the water…just keeps reappearing and reminding you of why your making the drive in the first place.
This is very close to the turnoff from the state highway onto the FS Road that takes me to my current favorite spots. By the time I got here, it was 83-degrees outside. Still sunny. Still very slightly breezy. Still a perfect day to be in the water. I made my way to one of the usual parking areas, and felt yet more relaxed than normal, having consciously soaked up the scenery on the drive.
For the record, I essentially had the camera anchored to the window, and made a point to NOT try to catch certain views. I simply clicked away, blindly, as I passed things of interest. What I have included are the better images from this haphazard photo shoot, where almost 30 shots were taken. It also provided me with a great time reference, as the first one was taken at 1:57pm and the last at 2:34. Not a bad half hour, to be sure.
A great reminder that, although the destination is firmly in mind on such a trip, one should also be open to everything along the way, or a lot gets missed.
Tight lines.