Driving Cross Countries, Summer 2017 (Part 4 of 4 - Fishing in the Northwest of US)

After visiting and fishing in Canadian National Parks, we left for US.  Our next destination was

North Cascades National Park, Washington. 

　　　　　　

                                                             
                                 Diablo Lake and Cascade Range in North Cascades National Park.

                                           Skagit River, North Cascades National Park.

             

We fished at a spot where a small stream merged into Skagit River.  We caught many rainbows with tenkara rods. They were about 12", and put up a good fight.  To live in Skagit River's powerful current, a fish has to be strong. 

A mule deer came out from the wood to watch us fishing.

When we were on the road, we always stopped by Cabela's, a chain of  hunting, fishing, outdoor sporting goods stores.  Most of the stores have displays of American and African wildlife, aquariums and trout ponds.  It is a good place to take a break after a long driving and enjoy the exhibits.

 Another river we fished in the Northwest was North Umpqua River in Oregon, which was the last river we fished in this cross countries driving trip.  North Umpqua River is famous of  steelhead fishing.  Its upstream is a good trout stream.  We took a campsite by the river and planned to fish for three days.

This lovely bear bench is by the bank of North Umpqua River on the campground access road.

             We fished steelhead with our salmon fishing tackles in the rapid.

We know fishing steelhead is difficult, especially for newbies like us.  We just hoped for a slight chance of hooking one.  We didn't even get a bite.  However, I did catch an 18" rainbow in the morning and an 8" in the evening with the same 4" muddler minnow fly.  Surely this fly pattern is very effective in North Umpqua.  Even a small 8" chased after this fly half of its size.

During the day when no shadows cast on the water, one can see hundreds of steelhead in

Big Bend Pool of Steamboat Creek, which is a tributary of North Umpqua River.

Fishing is prohibited, but the pool is opened for public viewing.  One will be amazed at seeing hundreds of steelhead gathering in this pool.  The day we were there, we saw only about 60.

Still it was a sight that filled us with awe.

Lee, living in this silver trailer by the Big Bend Pool, is the "fish keeper".

He watches over the steelhead and learns everything about them to share with visitors.

There are not many good tenkara fishing spots in North Umpqua River.

  We managed to catch a few small trouts.

Copeland Creek, a tributary of North Umpqua River, is the only water 

we could find for tenkara fishing.

We enjoyed tenkara fishing with dry fly in Copeland Creek, though all the trout were small.
                  

Our campsite in Umpqua National Forest was one of the best in our trip.  It was clean and quiet.  As it was by the river, we could fish until dark.  It was also surrounded by big tall trees providing shades and coolness.  A good place to fish and a good place to rest, what else could we ask for?



After leaving Oregon, we continued driving south.  We still had more than a month of our trip to go, but we didn't get any chance to fish again.

Some of  the Pictures That We Like.

A Squirrel on Top of Prickly Pear Cactus,
Desert Garden, Balboa Park,
San Diego, California

Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
                                                                                                 

Cholla Cactus Garden,
Joshua Tree National Park, California

Art Village, Balboa Park,
San Diego, California

Eating Fried Indian Bread in Front of
Mission San Xavier Del Bac,
Tucson, Arizona

Boquillas Canyon,
Big Bend National Park, Texas

                                                                         

Saguaro in Tucson Mountain Park.
Arizonia

Lava Tube,
Mojave National Preserve,
California

White Sands National Monument.
New Mexico

Evan Williams Bourbon Experience,
Louisville, Kentucky

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Cattle Drive, Dog Canyon Road, Texas

This is the end of the 4-part series.

Driving Cross Countries, Summer 2017 (Part 3 of 4 - Traveling and Fishing in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada)

Cassiar Highway in British Columbia is very scenic, not only because of the beautiful surrounding scenery, but also because of the abundance of wild flowers along the roadsides.  Though this highway is narrow and bumpy, especially in the northern half, I enjoyed the driving.  I felt as if I were driving on a flower garden path. From Cassiar Highway, we took side trips to:  Telegraph Creek (village) and Salmon Glacier, British Columbia.

On the way to Telegraph Creek (village) on Telegraph Creek Road, we had a remarkable view of 

Grand Canyon of the Stikine River.

    At the end of Telegraph Creek Road is Telegraph Creek (village).

It has buildings from gold rush days, more than a hundred years old.

 The next side trip taken was to view Salmon Glacier.  We left Cassiar Highway for

 the Stewart-Hyder Access Road, then Salmon Glacier Road.

                                              Salmon Glacier, British Columbia.


Salmon Glacier Road is a very rough dirt road winding up to Salmon Glacier Summit viewpoint, which offers spectacular views of the Salmon Glacier. We had seen many glaciers already at this point of our trip, when we were driving, taking a cruise or hiking, but Salmon Glacier was the most impressive as its vastness spreading right in front of our eyes.  

That night we stayed at a campground in Hyder, Alaska.  While I was preparing dinner on the picnic table, some campers tried to get my attention and shouted, "a bear".  I looked around and saw a black bear behind me about 50 feet away.  It didn't mind me and continued walking to the bushes.  The next morning I learned from the campground host that this bear was the camp's neighbor.  It wouldn't bother any campers if they didn't bother it.  Anyway it was too close for comfort.  I was lucky for it wasn't hungry the night before.
  

We finally left the wildness and wild animals behind, and back to civilization when we arrived at Vancouver, British Columbia.

Vancouver, British Columbia.

We stayed in Vancouver for a week and enjoyed a variety of cuisine.  The best of all was the simplest - Raw.  We bought two big sea urchins from Fisherman's Wharf, and opened them up immediately. With a little bit of soy we tasted them.  We thought we were in heaven.

                Two biggest sea urchins we have ever seen.

After Vancouver, we visited Canadian National Parks in British Columbia and Alberta.

Before entering Jasper National Park, we encountered the amazing Mt. Robson, British Columbia.  

Pyramid Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta.

In the early morning, we flyfished in Pyramid Lake.  Large mayflies were hatching and fish was rising.  I hooked some small ones but the big ones were too far away for my cast range.  I got great photos, but no fish.

                    Photos of me being skunk in Jasper and Banff National Parks.
     
                            As a consolation, maybe I can use these picture-perfect photos
                                       to print a tenkara fishing carender of 2018.

Driving from Jasper to Banff on the Icefields Parkway, we had one of the most memorable sights:

Athabasca Glacier.

     The unbelievable thing about Athabasca Glacier was that it was easily accessible and

 we could walk on it as far as we felt safe.  

Our luck of catching fish returned after we had left Banff National Park.

                             
                                 Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia

                                                            A Small Brookie.

                                                 Kicking Horse River, Yoho National Park

 From the photo above, one can see this section of Kicking Horse River had two colors.  Beyond the shore, the water was murky because it was from melting snow and contained a lot of silt. It is not the kind of water a fish wants to live in. So when I chose my fishing spot, I would pick the one where clear clean water was flowing down from a stream (right side of the photo).

                                                                    A Bull Trout (?)

                      Illecillewaet River,  Revelstoke National Park, British Columbia.

For tenkara trout fishing, we had most fun in Illecillewaet River.  We picked the same kind of spot where a clear clean stream merged into the main river.  We caught fish after fish.  Most were rainbows. but some might be bull trouts. We had much fun fishing, but we had to stop in about an hour to be on our way.


Part 4 will be the last of these series.  We were back to US to fish in North Cascades National Park, Washington and North Umpqua River in Oregon.

Driving Cross Countries, Summer 2017 ( Part 2 of 4 - Heading South from Alaska - Roadside Fishing)

After sockeye salmon fishing in Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, we headed back to Canada..  We still had almost two months to go.

                    Lions Head (Center) is one of the famous views along Glenn Highway, Alaska.

      Whenever we saw a good fishing spot while driving, we stopped and pulled out our tenkara rods.

                        Tenkara fishing trout in a small pond on the road side of Glenn Highway.


.

             June 21 was Summer Solstice, the day with the longest daylight.  

                    This picture was taken at 11:28 pm at Tok, Alaska.

The sun had just set.

                                       
                                                              I checked my watch, 11:28 pm.

           

             The camp site in Haines Junction on Alaska Highway, Yukon,
had a breathtaking view of Kluane Ranges.

White Pass of South Klondike Highway is the border between US and Canada.

One of the best scenic routes of our trip was driving on South Klondike Highway to Skagway, Alaska. There were unbelievable color blue and green lakes, snow mountains, hanging glaciers, roaring waterfalls, high mountain passes, deep canyons and even sand dunes.  All these impressive sceneries were displayed along the route without break.

A long section of the South Klondike Highway was under construction. Whenever a construction truck passed by, it disturbed the dust so much that we had almost zero visibility.  

Skagway is a favorite tourist destination. When we were there, two cruise ships docked in the port. This small town was flooded with people and came alive.

                After Skagway, we were back on Alaska Highway in Yukon.  Then we took the remote Cassiar Highway, British Columbia, heading south.

While driving on Cassiar Highway, we noticed a narrow dirt road going to the woods with a stream flowing along it. We followed this dirt road to the end and found the confluence of a beautiful river. We immediately pulled out a tenkara rod and took turn casting with it. Almost every cast hooked a fish. We caught some good size graylings in no time.

We saw more bears on the roadside of Cassiar Highway than any place in our trip.


In Part 3,  I'll talk about fishing in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.