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Chis's Pathfinder Crossing A Small Stream

Wanting to escape the crowds along the river in town, we decided to bush camp for a night and fish for salmon. We left town on a logging road and turned off onto a seldom-used track that led down to the river. The trail was grown in and there were a couple of difficult spots we had to traverse. The trucks made it through without a problem and we quickly made it to the river.

Pathfinder, 4Runner, and Spawning Salmon

The area was deserted and we found ourselves alone. We drove across the gravel bar to the river's edge. In a side channel we found some spawning salmon. The ripples in the water before the trucks are salmon spawning in the shallow, protected water. The sand around the channel was littered with bear tracks, so we decided to set up camp a short distance away to lessen the chances of meeting a bear.

Roland Collecting Firewood

The tents we soon erected and the tinder dry wood made and excellent fire.

Setting Up Camp

After we introduced Mark to everyone he announced that he had just bought a wake board at a garage sale. Anxious to try the board out, Mark asked us if anyone was willing to try it out. Roland jumped at the opportunity and hopped onto the board. After a few false starts, Roland was up and going, bouncing behind Mark's boat with its 115hp engine! Roland quickly improved and was soon outside the wake.

Relaxing Around The Fire

When camp was set up we took a few moments to relax before we set out to go fishing. The warmth of the fire kept our spirits high, despite the slow drizzle that had begun to fall. We decided to get out and fish before the rain began in earnest.

Aren's Chum Salmon

We fished for salmon in the small side channel where we could clearly see the fish spawning. The spawning salmon were obviously preoccupied and showed very little interest in our bait. Aren got lucky and hooked a good size Chum, but she had already spawned and was looking rather grizzly. She was too rotten to keep, so after a quick pose for a photo, we put her back into the water. It took a bit of coaxing, but she slowly swam away. Deciding to catch fish that hadn't already begun to decay, we focused our efforts in the main channel of the river. Our luck for the day had run out, and after another hour we returned to camp.

Heating Up AC's Dinner

AC had gotten hungry while we were off fishing, so it was time to heat up his dinner. Throwing a bottle of baby food onto the fire, we warmed up the nasty mash of carrots, squash, and chicken. Neither AC nor his parents were impressed with the store bought food.

Chris And Aren Collecting Firewood

The rain began to intensify, so as a precautionary measure we erected a tarp between the two trucks. There was just enough space for us to fit all of our chairs underneath. It was a cozy retreat from the rain, but it was rarely strong enough to drive us under the shelter. Still, the shelter was comforting to have and it was a great place to feed AC out of the elements.

Relaxing At Dusk