Wallowa Redux

Part 2

Up the Lostine

Mrs. M and I pulled out of the VR's elk camp on Thursday morning and headed to the Lostine River.  The Lostine River is a tributary of the Wallowa River southwest of Enterprize OR. 

In Joseph, we stopped at the Joseph Fly Shoppe and queried about the fishing on the Lostine.  We were told that the State of OR doesn't do much to protect the wild fish and doesn't stock the river, resulting in poor fishing. Even with the lousy report, we journey up river.

A serious pool and drop stream, the Lostine is granite bottomed and crystal clear.  It is designated a National Wild and Scenic River, hosting wild cutthroat trout, Bull trout, steelhead and salmon.

The river cuts a steep canyon through the Hurricane Mountains from its source near the 8000 ft. elevation down to 3700 elevation when it meets the Wallowa River. 

Irondyke Campground

We set up camp at Irondyke C.G. in the late afternoon and got busy exploring the immediate surroundings, gathering wood for a fire and generally making ourselves at home.  The campground is one of many small semi-primative C.G.'s maintained by the USFS.  Each C.G. has 4 - 5 fire pits and one W.C.  Because it was labor Day weekend week, we had expected to see more people but were pleasantly surprised to find only one other couple inhabiting the campground.

This type of campground is my favorite.  It's got the fire pit if you need to have a fire and the outhouse.  Modern conveniences in the bush.  Besides, most of the larger campgrounds down river before the road turned to rough gravel and washboards were starting to look like inner city tenements. 

Wading Wet

The term "wading wet" is often used by flyfishers to describe wading rivers without waders and braving the cool fresh water found in high mountain streams and creeks.  Usually, the "wading wet" fashion consists of shorts or cut-offs and wading boots, however the lovely Mrs. M takes the haute couture approach.

Note the sheer tights, colorful socks and, of course, the camo mini-skirt.  The perfect fashion for a wild and scenic river.

In spite of the fashion show and the warnings from the fly shop, we did catch some fish.  None of any size but with 3 wt. rods, even a smolt is a fair pull.

The best part of wading wet is the warming needed after spending several hours working slight drifts and pools of a cold river.

Off to Another Adventure

From the smell of a warming camp fire to the shadows of Chinook spawning in the pools; the quirky chirps of flickers and furry creatures to the howls of the night and the scream of a redtail in the afternoon breeze are only a preview of what the Lostine brings to the senses. 

And just as we've began to settle in, another adventure takes shape.

And there you have it.  Stay tuned.