Kalama River WA –– 9-22 September 2011

 

 

Fishin’ was the mission!  Shortly after getting the trailer set up at Camp Kalama we strolled over to the fishing hole in the campground.  King salmon were jumping, folks were fighting fish, and there were fresh caught salmon on the banks…jackpot!

   

    The fishing hole in the campground at sunrise.                     The I-5 bridges over the Kalama River.

The Kalama River is about 40 miles north of Portland.  It’s smaller than most big west coast rivers and has great runs of salmon and steelhead.  I figured that we could catch the tail end of the king salmon run and the beginning of the sliver salmon run.  It worked out as planned.  Unfortunately, these Washington salmon don’t act like the Alaska salmon I’m used to. 

Most days I fished hard the first few hours after sunrise and would fish for another few hours later in the day.  I fished the big hole in the campground and multiple holes up river.  I really enjoyed one hole that required a tough steep hike to get to.  It had two plunge pools below small waterfalls.  The falling water was loud, but made it easy to slip into a peaceful trance while focusing on the fishing.  One morning I saw a big beaver slip into the water above the waterfall and shortly after a family of three river otters put on a show as they played along the opposite river bank.  Occasionally salmon would roll in the turbulent water, but they did a good job of ignoring my offering.  I only hooked 4 or 5 and landed 2 from those pretty fishing holes.

Downstream I managed to hook 4 or 5 other fish and landed just 2 of those.  After 12 days of hard fishing, that’s pretty sad!  The successful “local” fishermen caught them one of two ways.  They either did the “drag and snag” or they floated salmon roe under bobbers or along the bottom.  I prefer to swing flies or spinners.  I fished the way I enjoyed, but it wasn’t effective.  Oh well…after working hard to catch fish that aren’t feeding (they’re in the river to make babies, not eat!), I am ready for some aggressive fish!

So how about the  campground and the area?  The campground was alright.  Busy Interstate 5 was just a hundred yards away so it was noisy around the clock.  We had full hook ups for a decent price and there was a good café right by our trailer.  The town of Kalama was just a mile or two south and had a good Mexican restaurant, small grocery store, and other interesting looking shops (4 or 5 antique stores).  The towns of Kelso and Longview were about 7 miles north and they had anything that we would need.  I liked the location, but other than fishing, there was little else to do.  Arleen was ready to leave after a few days, but she stuck it out because she knew I enjoyed the fishing.

Next we plan to spend 9 nights at Cape Disappointment State Park on the mouth of the Columbia River on the Washington side.  From there we go to Fort Stevens State Park just across the Columbia River on the Oregon side.  We hope to fish the beach for surf perch, hike and bike the numerous trails, spend time walking the beaches, follow in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps, and hunt down the NW coast’s best clam chowder.  Stay tuned…

WA -- “Home”, 24 July–9 Sep 2011

 

For much of the summer we have stayed near “home” in Washington state waiting for the ok from the bank on the short sale.  Calling it “home” is a hard habit to break.  We’ve lived here over four years and have enjoyed the heck out of it.  We put a lot of work into our yard and it has brought us much happiness.  We love our neighbors and have worked with some great people.  The deal isn’t final on the house, so we run the risk of having to come back if it falls apart, but we’ll take that risk.  It is time to go! 

The trailer is now our home.  We have only what we need and are “snug as a bug” in 300 square feet of living space.  Thankfully Arleen and I enjoy each other’s company!

In addition to emptying the house, going to appointments, and tackling other pesky responsibilities, we did manage to have a few fun adventures.  Here are some highlights…

- Mount Rainier National Park, 4 August 2011

   

- Mount Rainier National Park, 2 September 2011

Arleen wanted to make her third attempt at reaching Camp Muir on Mount Rainier                   ( http://www.visitrainier.com/pg/hike/1/Camp%20Muir%20Trail ).  It’s a very tough hike gaining nearly 5,000 feet in just over 4 miles.  The last 2 miles are on snow fields with a consistent pitch.  Add less oxygen at 10,000 feet for us coastal lowlanders, and it’s brutal!  Did she make it? 

   

   

           We’re headed up there to Camp Muir! 

Nope…She stopped about 1,500 feet and a mile short of her goal due to her much abused knees.  It’s the furthest she’s gone and quite an accomplishment for someone about celebrate one of those milestone birthdays!

“Ah, that’s the way to mountain climb.” Mount Rainier NP 2 Sep 2011

- Mount Rainier National Park, 5 September 2011

We suckered, I mean asked, our good friends Will and Emily to go hiking in Mount Rainier NP.  The planned route started at the Sunrise Visitor Center and went up to the Fremont Fire Tower ( http://www.visitrainier.com/pg/hike/21/Mount%20Fremont%20Lookout ) and then over to the 1st and 2nd Burroughs Peaks ( http://www.visitrainier.com/pg/hike/40/Burroughs%20Mountains ).  The hike up to Fremont went as planned but we were turned back on the Burroughs Peaks by slippery snow fields.  While at the Fremont Fire Tower we met a guy that had manned the tower back in 1962.  Getting firsthand info from him was really cool.  Emily learned why you aren’t supposed to feed any wild life when a crazy chipmunk attacked her!  Actually she was posing for a picture and pretending to have food when the little critter bit her finger.  We put the alcohol wipes from our first aide kit to use and monitored her closely for signs of rabies.  She lived!  (In case there was any doubt, she got a tetanus shot the next day.)  We stopped at a Mexican food restaurant in Enumclaw on the way back down the mountain.  It was a great day spent with great friends!

   

Yep, it was too much for us to handle.

Glissade race at Mount Rainier NP. 5 Sep 2011

Now adventures await across the U.S. and Canada.  Our initial route will be along the Oregon coast, then Crater Lake National Park, Red Woods National Park, and Yosemite National Park.  From there we’ll “play it by ear”.  We will likely do some skiing and snowboarding in the Tahoe region and call the Reno area our “home” for a month or so.  Then we’ll make our way east towards the Grand Canyon and hopefully catch some baseball spring training (Seattle Mariners) in the Phoenix area.  By summer, we plan to be in Colorado where we’ll stay for awhile.  We like being spontaneous and want to avoid schedules and strict itineraries.  “The plan” is always flexible.  We don’t know where we’ll be in a month, or six months, or whenever…anything can happen…just the way we like it!

We have purchased our first ever “Interagency Parks Pass”.  This pass allows us to get into national parks and many federal recreation areas.  It cost $80 and is good for twelve months.  Based on the $15 entrance fee to Mount Rainier NP, our new pass will be paid for on our sixth visit.  What a deal!  The “Passport” book has maps of regions across the U.S. and provides a little info on the national parks, monuments, and other federal areas.  It will guide us to areas to explore and enable us to collect passport stamps for each place we visit.  After a few years, the “Passport” will be full of memories.  Update:  As of 2 September, the annual Parks Pass has already paid for itself and we still have over 11 months to use it!

We are excited and nervous to pull out of the drive way for good.  The safe harbor that we’ve known the last few years gives way to the unknown.  The way of life we’ve known for the last 20 years is over.  Our paychecks have dropped considerably.  Things like health care, getting mail, doing laundry, filling propane tanks, and truck and trailer maintenance will be a puzzle at each stop.  We’ll make it work!  There will be challenges, but we know if we can keep each other laughing that all is good.

Hopefully we’ll see many of you along the way.  Perhaps we could use your washer and dryer and take a long hot shower?  See you soon!