Yakima River Fly Fishing - 10/15/06

Sherry and Bill joined me for a day float on the Yakima yesterday. We meet at 10am ran shuttle then jumped on the river between rain showers. The begin of the float we didn’t have many bugs around and fishing was slow. By noon the river temp was around 52 Degrees and mayflies were coming off in increasing numbers by the minute. At one point we were having trouble differentiating our offering from the vast number of naturals. Of course trout were liberally feeding threw ought the water column but we found our best luck fishing Mahogany Duns in the 12-14 size range. Thanks a great day in the rain, Sherry and Bill.

Yakima River Fly Fishing

Wilderness First Responder & CPR Course - 10/3-12/06

We (John and Adrienne) took part in a 10-day WFR & CPR course at the Environmental Learning Center near Deception Pass. The course was taught by Wilderness Medical Institute and focused on how to deal with medical situations in the backcountry. We were quite fortunate to have two great instructors, Dan & Daniel who made taking their course a second time interesting, informative, practical and well worth the effort.

Our 10-day WFR & CPR course covered a broad range of topics including medical legal issues, patient assessment & basic life support and CPR then traumatic injuries such as head, chest, spinal, and musculoskeletal injuries along with shock and environmental injuries like frostbite, heat exhaustion, altitude illness, lightning, and diving emergencies.

We then moved on to covered medical emergencies such as cardiac, respiratory, and neurological emergencies, diabetes, allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, poisoning, abdominal illness, male and female gender illnesses and injuries, and then finished up communicable diseases, first aid kits, and drug kits.

Throughout the course practical scenarios with other participants occurred nearly 5 times a day allowing for hands on practice with all of our medical skills and decision-making.

All in all this is one of the best courses any one who regularly spends time in the outdoors could take. Makes you think, does your partner have medical training?

Deception Pass Full Moon Kayaking - 10/7/06

John and Diane joined Adrienne and I for a evening of kayaking under a full moon at Deception Pass. Well the moon cooperated but the clouds didn't. We unfortunately didn't get to see the moon rise but we were treated to some amazing views of moon and clouds as the night went on. We also happened upon a really large purple jellyfish with tentacles at least three feet in length along with a countless number of Great Blue Heron. Not another boat on the water. Where were you?

Visit Anew Outdoors - Deception Pass Kayaking for more kayaking info.

Merritt Lake Hiking & Fishing - 9/28/06

Adrienne and I took some time off today to explore Merritt lake and Nason Ridge. We took it slow in the morning but made it to the trail head by about 10am. The trail quickly climbed out of the parking lot threw old growth pine and vine maple. We paused for a few photo's of the turning leaves then continued on to the lake. We arrived at Merritt lake around lunch, quickly eat a little then strung up the fly rods. My first cast brought a fish to the surface which I hooked but was unable to land. Not more than a few cast later I landed my first golden trout. A real snakie thing probably because the obvious over population of fish. If your looking for catch and keep fishing experience this would be high on my list.