Fish Creek Camping Weekend

Steve and I were able to get away and go camping on Friday and Saturday. Amber and the girls were away in New Mexico visiting her Mom and Joe. So, I took off work a few hours early and Steve was already at my house, packing the car and almost ready to go. We had food, wood, dogs, and our poles. No kids, no wives, a full weekend and our tent. Ahhhh, time to ease into life. We were camping near Harriman State Park.

We packed the car as full as possible, through the dogs (Pinot and Buddy) in the back seat and took off towards the Island Park area. We stopped at a few "campgrounds" right on the Snake River and near Island Park Reservoir but didn't like the crowds... and the rules. They wanted the dogs tied up, hell no.

Heres a video of the bend on Fish Creek, feet from our campsite



We went towards Big Springs and found a great spot in the woods, about 20 feet from Fish Creek. What a great spot. It was a covered area of trees and forest. There was plenty of room for 20 other campsites within this area, but we had it all to ourselves.



We set up camp, fed the dogs and couldn't help but to wet a line. I won't bother to count the number of the fish we caught, I'm guessing 20 fish each, Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Cutthroat. Not sure if either of us caught a German Brown or not.



Anyways, we started out just to test the waters and didn't really take much with us... so a couple of hours and miles later, we remembered we didn't bring food nor water. So we headed back... fished the entire way back of course. Had a great time. There was a nice 5 foot watering hole on the corner of a cut bank, right where we were camping... and oh was it refreshing. It was hot as hell out there, probably 85 or so.

Another short video of the camping area...






Set up camp, cooked up some great tin foil dinners. Tons of veggies and then we dumped a can of stew in the foil. It was goooood. Dogs had a blast all day and ran their asses off. We did about 4 or 5 miles total that day, they did probably 10 miles.




We were able to hit Moose Creek where it merged into Fish Creek. Very nice looking water and we were able to walk the middle of the creek most of the day. Tons of fish, beautiful country and nothing but the breeze and fresh air. Saw tons of wildlife... mostly eagles and ospreys. Saw a few deer, dog tracks, and of course deer and elk.

The next day we headed out and fished a bit here and there. We cruised up to Big Springs to see where the Snake River comes out of the mountain into a nice spring. You can walk over the bridge at Big Springs and see otters, tons of 2lb+ trout, ducks, and other wild life. We hiked and fished more when we got back... found some good garlic wild onions.

This is a video of the creek just a few feet away

Again, at sun down, we were back at camp. Fire going, dogs passed out, and we ate and had some rum and coke... eased into the rest of the night. Both nights were great sleeping. Not chilly, not too hot. The damn dogs slept in the tent with us though, and they snore and are pretty clumsy. We didn't want them outside in case of wolves or coyotes.

On the way back to Idaho Falls on Sunday we stopped everywhere. We went to the Buffalo River and the Madison River... stopped at a few campgrounds and found some killer spots to fish. We cruised over the Island park reservoir, saw the falls, and a few other rivers.



We took the Mesa Falls area loop where we were able to pull off and blast off a few clips of Steve's 22 magnum handgun. Pinot ran like the coward she is... hid behind the tree's until we were done. We went to Bear Gulch turnoff, just pass Mesa Falls, and hiked back about 2 miles through the abandoned train tunnel.



Found some AWESOME looking holes down below. It was on the Fall River, just an incredibly beautiful spot. Popular place for bikers in the Summer. We had to descend about 80 feet or so down some pretty large narly rocks... but made and enjoyed the beauty of the spot. Canyon setting, aqua blue holes with falls everywhere. Surrounded by the pine tree covered mountains. Very nice spot.



Fun time. It was exactly what the doctor ordered... peace and quiet, good friends, and a great time in the outdoors. Can't wait for the trip next summer.

Kayaking from Lorenzo to Menan

What a great July day for a float. We started out early and were at the launch, the pullout spot, by 0800. We met up there and left Dave's truck and headed for the launch in Lorenzo. We took off to float from the Lorenzo bridge, near Rigby Idaho (about 15 minutes from Idaho Falls). We floated about 8 miles, straight through the merge of the Henry's Fork of the Snake and the South Fork of the Snake River.



Conditions were perfect. Getting in the water by 0830 and a good flow of 5.5 mph pushing us along. No fishing this day, we were there to just sit back and let the water take us. For the most part, it was easy, relaxing floating. The river was a little swollen still so there were plenty of off-shoots to the south, little creek-like waterways heading in all directions, branching off into the woods. We took a few and found a few nice, fast corners.

We saw 2 gigantic Bald Eagle couples... unreal how big they were. We also saw 2 gigantic Osprey couples... these birds were bigger than Mia! We floated directly under a few eagles who were resting on a branch that overhung the river. Impressive birds they are... We later found out that 4 miles, up to the merge, is a national eagle sanctuary. You're not allowed to step foot on the bank.



A nice day it was. We stopped about midway to pull out and take a break, leak, and stretch... The float took a couple hours at the most. I left home at 0745 and was home by 1130. Not bad for a 9 or so mile float. Perfect weather, nothing but the water pushing us along. We of course started the day with an Alberto's Burrito... had a couple beers out there, of course not while we were floating, that would be illegal wouldn't it?

Here's a few video's of Frank and Dave floating down the Snake River