wildflowers

Forks of the John Day, 2021, Part 3, Main John Day

Our last stop on our 2021 tour of the John Day started the morning after our last stop ended, with an early morning launch at Service Creek. Near as we could tell we were the first boat on the river, shoving of right at 8 a.m. just beating the crowd that was showing up as we were finishing up the last bit of loading. It was a beautiful sunny and calm morning. Weather perfect, the only question remaining was were the bass biting? The short answer – yes. Perfect weather was in the forecast, fish were biting, and the crowds were cut by the permit system, which was not in effect last time we were on the river. You can try it both ways, but I’m here to tell you, the river was immeasurably more enjoyable this time around. Could we ask for anything more? Maybe, but let’s not get greedy.

The scene as you slip away from it all down the John Day
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Forks of the John Day, 2021, Part 2, North Fork

After a short break following our trip to the South Fork our next stop on our John Day adventure was a float down the North Fork. This week was originally set aside to float the Owyhee, but with less than 200 CFS in the river and needing more than 1000 it was clear an alternative was needed, and the North Fork flows were looking good. Not great for this time of year, but plenty good for a few days floating through some of the prettiest country Oregon has to offer.

Getting excited to get on the water
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Columbia River Gorge, 2021

In our continued spring tour of Oregon our next stop after Sunset Bay was the Columbia River Gorge. The wildflowers are usually out early and reliably in the Gorge and this year did not disappoint. For this trip we stayed on the eastern end of the Gorge and camped out of Memaloose State Park. It served as a good base when higher elevation camps further out were still mostly under snow. From there, we were up Saturday morning and off to find a trail to hike. Our first planned stop had an already overflowing parking lot at 9 a.m. Further up the road we found space at the Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail and started up the hill. I still don’t know where the cherry orchard was, but we were successful in our search for flowers.

Western Waterleaf
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