posted 7//14/21
The last two nights, 7/12 & 7/13, I have been on the edge of civilization near Sway Valley, ID, overland camping on the Snake River. The Snake River is Trout heaven. Walk, wade fishing is very limited. The river is wide, fast with steep banks.
Typical if not better access for bank fishing on the Snake, this happens to be where I camped Tuesday night. Here I was able to carefully step into the river up to mid calf in an eddy, but it quickly dropped off to 4 -5 feet deep.
When I did find perfect meadows along the river they were posted “NO TRESPASSING”, on the other hand each morning I saw at least 20 drift boats on the river. I called to see if I might grab somebody’s canceled float trip, but no joy there. The trout on the other hand grow big and fat as they feast on a buffet of trout insects, caddis, Mayflies, stone flies, and these incredible 3 inch salmon flies. I did manage to hook a big guy on a large foam dry fly. It hammered it. Even though I had taken the advice of the local fly shop and attached it with 4 X tippet, the trout managed to run down stream duck behind a root wad and break me off. Due to the deep water and steep bush covered banks, its impossible to maneuver the fish, unless you want to swim like Brad Pitt, in fast deep current. No thanks, I'll leave that to Hollywood.
The river is now on my bucket list for a float trip, I think I’d try to arrange at least a full day if not an two day with an overnight. The place is awesome. Although, fishing was tough, I had a great time exploring and just hanging out. I managed to grab a different, free, campsite each night and it always cooled down to the low 50s.
Tuesday night's campsite
I saw a Bald Eagle, deer, a pair of Turkeys, a pair of Whooping Cranes, a Golden Eagle, at windshield height about ten feet in front of the truck and only a few humans. Still no bear, WTH, maybe I should pour some bacon grease on my picnic table. Just kidding!
Today, 7/14/21, I am officially “car Camping” and actually paying $8 for my campsite at Calamity Campground on Palisades Reservior, the headwaters for the section of the Snake I was previously camped on. I wanted a spot I could swim, get cleaned up, dump my trash, refill my water and get ready to “RV camp” at Escapade. So far, I’ve been on this trip for 14 days and have paid a total of $23 in camping fees. I could have camped free tonight at a lower elevation, but really wanted to swim, have some cooler temps and get “clean”.
Calamity Campgrd Day Use area
It's less smokey here than up north, but visibility is still limited. My eyes burn sometimes, but mostly I am unaffected by the smoke and very grateful for that. In fact in camp, I hardly notice the smoke, its only when you look at some vast expanse that you see it.
Tomorrow, I officially go on the clock and begin to travel to Rock Springs, vacation is over for a while. I plan to do laundry, give the truck another bath and check in at Escapade early Saturday so that I can setup the booth before the Saturday 2pm deadline and of course get really cleaned up before the vendor dinner.
Tight Lines and Safe Travels
Hey Larry! Enjoyed joining you virtually on your overland adventure - thanks for sharing! River looks amazing - lunkers are waiting! Rock Springs - think that's near the "Little America" truck/rest stop. Gotta get the 50 cent ice cream cones there!!! Have fun at Escapades!
ReplyDeleteThis travelogue is fun to see new places and experiences. Thank you
ReplyDeleteI corrected my profile. I had the wrong name listed. Whoops.
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