Where do you go when you want to get out and want to stay away from people? What do you do when all your favorite rivers are closed to floating? The Fremont National Forest sounded like the solution. Far from population centers and lacking any big time tourist draws, the streams of the Fremont offered two weekend quiet late spring getaways for fishing and even a float.
First up was a float down the Sycan. Not a lot of fish, but the scenery and lack of people made up for it.
With lots of options for various length of floats for small crafts this was a real treat. I put it on the ‘do it again’ list.
Next up was a weekend trip to another part of the forest. We spent a night and a day on the Chewacan. The trout were hungry and rising to dries. It was my best day fly fishing in a long time. They seemed to be waiting under every rock. Another one for the ‘do it again’ list for sure.
The plan was for another night, but once we finished fishing and returned to our dispersed site we found a crowd had shoehorned into another slot right beside us and all the sudden one camp became two. Come on people. If you want to camp next to other people with your kids and your dogs go to a campground. Or at least find your own campsite. We came out here to get away from you, not to share our quiet spot on the river with you. We packed up and we were on our way in 20 minutes.
We found a quiet spot in the woods well positioned to hit our next destination the following morning, the North Fork Sprague.
A river filled with fish in a high mountain meadow with nobody else around? Count me in. We pulled little browns out of the bends and eddies in between wildflower identification.
We were running out of time and we ran out of meadow. The log jams made fishing a bit more challenging so we enjoyed lunch and returned the way we came.
We had just enough time to find our next camp close to our next fishing destination.
The next morning we found ourselves on another section of the North Fork Sprague. It didn’t even seem like the same river. Continuous rapids with pocket water in an almost impenetrable canyon. We hooked a few, enjoyed a streamside lunch and turned the camper for home. I’m not certain we saw more fish than people over the weekend, but darn near.
Been on fires down in the Fremont country, but never really there for a visit. On the list now. Plus some other country on the Winema.