OUTDOORS & REC
B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2022
DAUBLE
CLAYCOMB
Continued from Page B1
Continued from Page B1
when the main river ran
high and roily from snow-
melt. There are few fi ner
things in life than wading
up the middle of a small
stream with a 3-weight
fl y rod in hand to dab a
wet hackle over log jams,
make bow-and-arrow casts
between alder branches,
and slip-wwslide between
giant boulders. Small water
where 6-inch trout are a
prize and 9-inchers live
as lunkers never ceases to
thrill.
“Where is Shimmie-
horn?” I replied. “I’ve
never heard of it.”
“It runs into the South
Fork of the Umatilla about
a mile above the road that
crosses the river and fol-
lows Thomas Creek,” he
said. “My brother Don
walked from a nearby ridge
down into the creek and
fi shed his way down to the
South Fork.”
“I’ve hiked up the South
Fork maybe a half mile,”
I responded. “Crossed the
stream three times, but quit
where the channel became
choked by deadfall and
trout got tiny.”
“Don said the walls of
the canyon get very tight at
the bottom, and then fl are
out into big holes chuck full
of trout,” Leonard said. “He
told me if it wasn’t for the
logs in the top of the holes,
you couldn’t move down the
creek without getting very
wet. Every hole had hungry
fi sh in it, so you could
almost catch a limit of ten in
each hole if you wanted to.”
Three diff erent times I
dropped down 1,000 feet
in elevation from Luger
Springs to Lookingglass
Creek for dark-speckled
rainbows and voracious
bull trout. The diff erence
being my legs were 20
years younger.
On yet another Blue
Mountain outing, I took a
naive friend down the shot-
rock strewn Rough Fork
trail to the headwaters of
forget, it is backpacking
season. I haven’t got to
go yet. I just got me and
Kolby some new Alps
Mountaineering day packs
and HybridLight fl ash-
lights I want us to test out.
Oh, then Kolby and I also
have some Danner and La
Crosse boots that we’re
dying to go backpacking
in. Backpacking is a big
daddy/daughter event
every summer.
What’s more fun than
to hit a wilderness with a
backpack on your shoul-
ders? You can momen-
tarily forget about the
skyrocketing infl ation,
installing new fl ooring
in your house, $5/gallon
gas and whatever else is
bothering you. Set up a
camp and take off on day
hikes and view awesome
country. Build a fi re at
dusk and cook dinner over
it and then watch the stars.
Tom Claycomb/
Contributed Photo
Be sure to take rolls and rolls
of fi lm. You’ll be making
memories on every back-
country trip.
And fi nally crawl off to
your tent dead tired.
Gee, I’ve got to get in
gear. This is quite a list
of activities that I have to
get accomplished before
summer is over. Luckily
we have global warming
so summer should last
until December this year
so I’ll be able to fi t it all
in.
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
A downhill trek into a stream canyon is always shorter than the trek back up.
the Walla Walla River and
back up on a hot August
day. The trail marker read 2
miles, but it felt like 6 miles
up. As I recall, my friend
said, “Don’t ever ask me to
try that again.”
“I’m sure the trout are
still there,” Leonard con-
tinued. “One approach
would be to hike down into
the canyon, fi sh half mile
or so, and hike back out
the top. It would be a lot of
hiking for a little fi shing on
a hot day, though.”
I unrolled a U.S. Geo-
logical Survey, Bingham
Springs quadrangle, 7.5-
minute topographic map of
the area. The fl ow path of
Shimmiehorn Creek spans
a distance of approximately
4 miles between a fea-
ture called The Shimmie-
horn (elevation about 4,600
feet) and nearby Goodman
Ridge (elevation about
4,800 feet). The creek is 3
miles as the crow fl ies due
west of Ruckel Junction. A
series of meandering four-
wheel drive, unimproved
spur roads off Summit
Road gets you close.
Looking at the map’s
steep contour lines, a pre-
ferred strategy would be to
hike down the creek canyon
and to the South Fork
confl uence with Thomas
Creek. Unfortunately, the
South Fork Road washed
out with the great fl ood of
February 2019, negating the
option of a waiting vehicle.
The secret of those
big trout in Shimmiehorn
Creek appears safe for
now. It’s unlikely for me
to sucker someone on such
a wild goose chase unless
further embellishment of
the tale occurs during yet
another pass of the whiskey
fl ask.
█
Dennis Dauble is a retired fishery
scientist, outdoor writer, presenter
and educator who lives in Richland,
Washington. For more stories about
fish and fishing in area waters, see
DennisDaubleBooks.com.
Tom Claycomb/Contributed Photo
Huckleberries aren’t the only berry out there. Thimbleberries are
also good.
ROADS
Continued from Page B1
More information is available by calling
541-523-6391.
Jordan Creek, Road 4305
Workers will replace a culvert at Jordan Creek
starting Aug. 15, but the road will remain open during
construction to high-clearance vehicles.
More information is available by calling
541-962-8500.
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