After our ill-fated trip the weekend before last where we drove 3.5 hrs. just to have one of the float tubes spring a leak. We really needed a good trip to make up for it. With the winter we have had up here, all the rivers are pretty full and fast.
This past week at work was a long one, not because I was particularly busy or anything. In fact I actually had only worked two days due to taking a bit of a vacation for Father’s Day but it was a long two days. During those two days we had to figure out where exactly we were going to fish. After quite a few suggestions, I happened to half jokingly text “I wonder if stuff in the high country is fishable?” None of us was sure so I made the call to the ranger
station nearest to the area that we wanted to access. I was informed that all roads except one were closed in the area. I was also told to believer her when she said the others are impassable due to snow, rock slides and downed trees. I thanked her for the information, hung up and texted my friends the good news. As luck would have it the one and only open road was our preferred route for accessing the area. We made plans to meet up at 0400 on Saturday and head on up.
With three of us BS’n the long drive went by fairly quickly. Although the elk that decided to cross the highway out of nowhere causing us to have to brake hard to not hit it sure woke everyone up. I was really excited to go as I missed the trip to the area last year. It was also a really good day to go because the weather forecast for the Boise area was in the 90s. I did however forget my jacket at home which was unfortunate as the temps when we arrived were in the mid-30s. Good thing one of my friends had an extra as it would have been very uncomfortable for a while without it.
Before we even geared up we headed down to the river to see how high it was. Like all the other rivers out here it was a lot higher than usual and a lot faster than normal for this time of year.
Even with the high flows, it did not take long for us to find the fish.
With the water so quick and much higher than usual, it made for some sketchy wading at times. Actually crossing the river in one of our usual places turned out to not be such a great idea. Nobody went in but let’s just say that on the way back up an alternate route was taken.
Being up there you get to see some really interesting things. Besides the ospreys, bald eagles and the usual things of that area. There were these interesting caterpillars that would wave back and forth when you would get close.
Although it is kind of hard to tell from this pic, there were a ton of wildflowers as well.
As the early afternoon came we each had caught plenty of fish despite the high water. We headed back to the first area again as it had quite a bit of fishable water. I ended up being very glad that we did as I hooked and landed a very good looking fish.
As the day wound down everyone was tired but glad that we made the journey. This place is a place that is early anticipated every year and is missed when it is over. Even on the drive home the next trip up was being planned.