Fishing with Tad and Joe
For many years Bill went on an annual fishing trip with Tad and Joe, friends from law school. Joe’s father (also Joe) was an avid flyfisher and lived in Waitsburg near the Touchet and Tucannon, beautiful little rivers full of rainbow trout. So they’d head over to Waitsburg and camp up the Tucannon with Joe senior. They fished both rivers and had at least one dinner with Joe’s family in Waitsburg.
I joined them a couple times, including one memorable trip when Bill and I neglected to bring poles for our tent. (How the heck do you forget tent poles?) We bought a cheap tent at the KOA campground down the road, used its poles for a saggy setup, and gave it away later.
Tad is a dutch oven expert. He served up many tasty meals and deserts during these trips. Joe senior was by far the best at fishing. The others would fish all day, catching and releasing little trout and, sometimes, bringing a larger one home to cook for breakfast the next day. Joe released everything he caught. He knew that he could wake up, walk to the river, and reliably catch his breakfast while the coffee brewed.
Joe and Tad fished consistently every year but Bill had more and more conflicts. This year we cleared our calendars and headed east.
Heading into the heat
The weather forecast was incredible. Predictions for Waitsburg were for 100+. That’s not unheard of for that area, but its still hot. The amazing thing was that Olympia was slated for heat too.
Friends and relatives worried that Brave Horatio might turn into an easy-bake oven. We weren’t worried. We sleep with the windows and roof vent open. It wasn’t going to be any hotter inside than out.
We headed toward Highway 12. The sky to the south was ominous. Piles of dirty brown gray clouds. I thought we might get thunderstorms, but no such luck.
We drove east into the clouds, dipped down to a clear view of Mayfield Lake, then back into the clouds–over the Cowlitz River, past miles and miles of Christmas trees, and up into the sun near Riffe Lake.
It was beautiful to drive out of the clouds. Little bits of mist necklace the hills. The sun was so bright and sky so blue. Daisies and foxglove everywhere.
We checked out Taidnapam Park for a potential future adventure. The campground at this Tacoma Power-run park is beautiful. We especially liked sites 19-27.
Brilliant mountaintop snowfields greeted us along the way, Mt. Adams near Randle and Mt. Rainier near Packwood. Beautiful.
We passed a bicyclist just before the summit. Wow!
Mt. Rainier shone in our rear-view mirrors as we headed down the east side of the pass. The mountains are on the move here. Rumpled pavement, bare scree, and entire Doug Fir trees uprooted and daggering toward the road. These mountains are working hard to become plains. Powerful.
We tasted wine and ate our sandwiches at Bonair Winery in Zillah. Their Petit Verdot and Gewürztraminer-based port were our favorites. We stopped for gas in Tri-Cities and continued on through the beautiful rolling hills to Waitsburg.
Lewis and Clark saw bears too
Lewis and Clark State Park is convenient to both rivers, but they didn’t have any cancellations. We could’ve made it work by moving camp from #18 to #8 after the first night but that sounded like a hassle and #8 is pretty exposed. We headed for the Umatilla National Forest and Tucannon Campground.
Patit Creek Road, Dayton
A small brown bear was just lolloping on the side of Patit Road. It scooted up the bank right quick as we approached and disappeared. So cool!
So many beautiful birds
Farther along, on Hartsock Grade Road a hawk and an osprey were harranging each other , swooping and diving. I wonder which was the transgressor?
We saw so many beautiful birds during this trip and so many of them were on Hartsock Grade Road. If you drive it, consider driving it s-l-o-w-l-y stopping often to scan the brush for movement. We saw Lazuli buntings, mountain bluebirds,
Campsite #6
We pulled into the Tucannon Campground and immediately felt at home. The air was cooler than in the valley, the lovely sight and smell of mock orange was everywhere.
Site 6 is toward a back corner. We tucked in nice and snug.
Tiny grill
We brought kabob makings to try out our silly little grill. Surprise! It worked great.
Tiny fish
Some people brag about their fishing prowess adding extra inches and considering a fish caught if it is hooked. I just like waving my rod around and trying to place my fly somewhere near the spot I’ve picked out. To each their own.
Before bed, we headed out to check the river. It’s a beautiful little river. We saw several likely access spots and tried out a couple. I landed my smallest fish ever. I was using a pretty tiny fly and this little trout was only about twice as big. It it stretched it might have reached two inches.
I quickly removed the barbless hook and he swam away right quick.
