Memorial Weekend 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

After missing our annual fishing trip to Lake Owyhee with Mark and Debbie, Karla and Randy, we managed to reunite at Hell's Canyon Dam this year. It was a remarkable trip, from watching "Trapper John" spend an hour and a half bringing in an 8' sturgeon with a girth of 38", to Chet deciding to adopt 6 newborn chipmunks...

John was fishing for channel cat when he hooked the sturgeon. It sure made for an interesting evening as we all waited with cameras in hand to see the prehistoric creature. I had never seen one before. As it was, you are not allowed to take them out of the water, so they just brought it along side the dock, measured it and set it free.

The fishing wasn't all that fantastic. A lot of folks were keeping every little crappy they caught, but little crappy just don't produce the kind of fillets we are after. We did catch some and have a couple of crappy dinners in the freezer. Chet was interested in catching bass and some channel cat. Unfortunately, until the last day, they were pretty elusive for him. But, he did catch enough for dinner when we got home and were they wonderful.

Saturday we took a ride up Klein(something?) grade on the 4 wheelers. It was a beautiful day. We had in mind to go up to the fire lookout, but we were stopped about 2 miles from the top because the snow was still pretty deep at that altitude. So, we rode back through Cuprum and down the road to Council. We rode in to Bear. Coming over the ridge to drop down into that valley was a spectacular view. What a beautiful area that is! On the way back, Randy spotted a black bear. Unfortunately, Randy was bringing up the rear, so Karla was the only one he could catch to show the bear. Well, that's what I get for keeping my eyes on the road!

Some folks from New Meadows arrived with some extra passengers in their camp trailer. 7 little baby chipmunks had made their home in a cushion. Not knowing what else to do with them, the babies were deposited by a tree. Most folks in the camp kept going up to see if they were still surviving, but no one really knew what to do with them. The night before we left, Chet couldn't stand it anymore and rescued them. You can see him and Karla feeding the babies through first a hollow q-tip stick and then a visine bottle Debbie found. We brought the little rodents home and are trying to keep them growing.

It was wonderful to have our annual trip with such warm wonderful friends. Can't wait till next year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! I put a few photos up here...

k