B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 2, 2021
Autumn at Elephant Rock
DENNIS
DAUBLE
THE NATURAL WORLD
A unique basalt formation known as
Elephant Rock stands sentry over the
Umatilla River canyon 30 miles east of Pend-
leton. The geologic landmark is most easily
viewed when you travel upstream on River
Road.
A nearby road sign, trimmed in red and
showcasing half a dozen bullet holes, serves
as a boundary marker for those not familiar
with local lore: “Welcome to the Umatilla
Indian Reservation. Home of the Cayuse-
Walla Walla-Umatilla.”
The three-horse logo — paint, black and
appaloosa — remind of the once-great wealth
of the three area tribes whose homelands
covered over 6,200 square miles, stretching
from the confl uence of the Snake and Colum-
bia rivers east to the Grande Ronde Valley,
and as far west as The Dalles, where they
traded with the “salmon eaters.”
The story behind Elephant Rock connects
closely to members of the Cayuse tribe who,
known for their fi erce nature and expert
horsemanship, roamed the hills and valleys
of the Blue Mountains. Early fur traders
called them “Cailloux,” meaning “People of
the Stones or Rocks.”
The nearby remains of three true elephant
species, including the extinct Elephas
columbi (a formidable specimen that stood
11 feet tall at the shoulder), reinforce how
historical narrative often converges with the
archeological record.
As recounted by tribal elders, Elephant
Rock marks the location where a young
elephant was turned to stone after his curi-
osity got the best of him and he disobeyed
instructions given by the trickster Coyote to
“not look back.”
Recent rainfall brought welcome relief
to the nearby foothills and raised the voice
of running water where the spent carcasses
of chinook salmon decay in shallow riffl es.
Their ocean-derived nutrients are part of the
circle of life for aquatic creatures and terres-
trial wildlife that prowl the river corridor.
Schools:
Continued from Page B1
The Salem-area schools
are no longer in favor of
going to Bend.
The five-classification
plan would have the Bend
schools in a conference with
those from the Eugene area
and southern Oregon.
Pendleton is a 5A school,
playing most of its sports in
the Intermountain Confer-
ence with Hood River Valley,
The Dalles, Ridgeview,
Redmond and Crook County.
The football team plays in
Special District 1 with four
of the IMC teams, with Park-
rose, Putnam and La Salle
Prep thrown in.
If the OSAA condensed
to five classifications, the
Bucks would find them-
selves in a league with Crook
County, La Grande, Madras,
Redmond, Ridgeview and
The Dalles.
“We are very much
in favor of that,” Pendle-
ton Athletic Director Mike
Somnis said of the fi ve clas-
sifications. “That is very
much our preference. I think
we have a lot more schools
similar in student numbers.
We want to be in a big
league with a lot of schools.
The bigger the league, the
better for us. The smaller the
leagues, it’s too hard to get
nonleague games.”
The move would have
Pendleton dropping to a 4A
school, but Somnis said that
is not a concern.
“We would still be in the
second biggest classifica-
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Declining water temperatures make trout
hungry for oversized fl y patterns.
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Elephant Rock is on a steep slope above the Umatilla River at the southeast boundary of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Autumn also signals the arrival of moun-
tain whitefi sh in schools of a dozen or more.
They can be taken from deep pools on a No.
18 Beadhead Chironomid drifted deep or
with a live stonefl y nymph hooked through
the collar, although the latter method is
considered cheating in some social circles.
When maple trees drop their last leaf and
heirloom apples ripe for picking drop to the
ground, our cabin’s well pump is turned off .
Water must be hauled for washing up and to
fl ush the toilet. “Plan your activities and your
diet accordingly,” I remind visitors. But it’s
only 50 yards to the river, and I’ve yet to fi ll
more than a dozen plastic milk jugs over a
long weekend.
Reading through passages from old jour-
nals, I’m reminded that I am alone in carrying
on a fall fi shing tradition that’s four decades
long and counting. There’s no hurry to get on
the stream, though. Angling opportunity is
best during brief periods when sunlight pene-
trates the leafy stream canopy and dark-hued
tion,” Somnis said. “Part of
the scenery has Hood River
moving, but it is a good-look-
ing league and we are in
favor of it. Either scenario
works, but we are in favor of
the fi ve classifi cations. There
are a lot of decisions to be
made before December.”
The current 5A classifi ca-
tion that Pendleton plays in,
has schools ranging from 515
to 999 students. The Bucks
are on the bottom end of that
spectrum with 588 students.
In the new proposed 4A
classification, the student
numbers would range from
401 to 899, still leaving
Pendleton in the bottom half.
“We are still very compet-
itive across the board,”
Somnis said.
While Pendleton is in
favor of fi ve classifi cations,
La Grande Athletic Director
Darren Goodman would like
things to stay as they are.
“There are diff erent trains
of thought,” Goodman said.
“The overwhelming thought
is that the travel involved
in the league with Pendle-
ton is extensive. Our travel
budget would increase two
or three times and the kids
would miss so much school.
The closest game, other than
Pendleton, is The Dalles,
which is a 6-hour round trip.
If you are going to Madras
or Redmond, it’s 5-plus
hours each way. Kids would
miss the entire day of school
and they are already out too
much.”
Goodman does like the
thought of a bigger league
and better competition, but
those issues don’t outweigh
trout can be seen rising from the shadows.
Dew hangs heavy on bracken fern when I
hike up the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness
trail. Refusing to be seduced by the sight of
the fi rst pool I encounter, I wade shock-cold
water in old tennis shoes and jeans, favoring
a fl annel shirt to ward off the chill. New-spun
spider webs and overhanging alder restricts
casting yet I remain hopeful for a chance at
one last trout before the season closes.
The author-naturalist Roderick Haig-
Brown wrote, “Fall fishing is a revival
after the quieter times of summer.” This
change in season leads to aggressive feed-
ing in response to declining water tempera-
ture. As if sensing the need to load up on
high-calorie morsels, rainbow trout are
attracted to oversize f ly patterns that
resemble the f lopping action of October
caddisflies. Showcasing vivid parr marks
on silvery f lanks that f lash iridescent
purple, native trout are too beautiful to
remove from the water. I carefully release
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton’s Sauren Garton dives after a ball Sept. 21, 2021,
during a win over The Dalles Riverhawks at Pendleton High
School. Pendleton High Athletic Director Mike Somnis sup-
ports a plan to reclassify schools and put the Bucks in a league
that would include La Grande and Madras.
the others. Currently, the
Tigers are in the Greater
Oregon League with Baker,
McLoughlin and Ontario.
“Who doesn’t like good
competition?” he said.
“We can schedule games
with those teams for better
competition, but we aren’t
forced to do it every week.
“It’s hard to play against
schools twice your size, and
that’s what going to fi ve clas-
sifi cations does.”
La Grande has 432
students, which would make
them the second-smallest
school in the 4A classifi ca-
tion after Madras (418).
If La Grande were to be
moved, its GOL counterparts
would move to 3A and be
put in a league with Burns,
Nyssa, Riverside, Umatilla
and Vale. Ontario would
be the largest school of the
group with 364 students.
“La Grande is not a prior-
ity for the committee,” said
Goodman, who also noted
the winter months can be
hard with extensive travel.
“At the end of the day, we
will go where we have to
go, but the class time the
student-athletes will miss
will be dramatic.”
Baker Athletic Director
Buell Gonzales Jr. is on the
fence about the changes.
On one hand, he said he
would hate to lose La Grande
them so that others might also thrill to their
aggressive strike.
Light is fading after a brief sojourn up the
North Fork Wilderness trail. I motor down
River Road, park my truck on a narrow
shoulder, and clamber up the steep slope to
where Elephant Rock stands tall on a narrow
grassy bench. Its presence provides perma-
nence in a world where seasons change in
response to an evolving space-time contin-
uum. The purple fruit of elderberry hangs
like clusters of stunted Concord grapes from
tangles of brush crowding the roadside ditch.
An upriver breeze tugs at tired leaves that
cling tenaciously to streamside alder; their
stored-up chlorophyll has long since faded
to unmask pigments of yellow and orange.
Further upslope, sumac glows blood red in
low light.
Leaning into the hillside to maintain my
balance, I work up a slanted deer trail lined
with lichen-scarred rocks. Elephant Rock
appears much larger when viewed up close,
stretching nearly 10 paces long and tower-
ing twice as high as this 6-footer (in cowboy
boots, anyway) can reach. Closing my eyes
as if in silent prayer, I run my hand across the
craggy surface of its rounded rump and take
delight in the hush of a river trapped in the
narrow canyon below.
———
This column is an excerpt from Dennis
Dauble’s newest book, “Chasing Ghost
Trout,” to be available in November from
Amazon.com, KeokeeBooks.com, and the
website DennisDaubleBooks.com.
out of their league. On the
other hand, a larger league
makes it easier to sched-
ule for football, volleyball,
basketball, baseball and soft-
ball.
“The smaller the league,
it makes it more diffi cult to
fi nd games later on,” Gonza-
les said. “I would prefer to
stay where we are and have
the ability to create our
own league for that specifi c
purpose. What makes sense
for me is that your league is
not tied to your classifi ca-
tion. It’s silly that La Grande
would not be in our league. If
we are going to go fi ve clas-
sifi cations, still put them in
our league.”
Right now, Baker’s
longest trip is Mac-Hi, which
is roughly 2 hours. Umatilla
and Riverside add a little
more time on the bus, but it’s
not unreasonable.
“For a lot of schools, the
ultimate thing comes down
to travel and money,” Gonza-
les said.
The core of the 2A
Blue Mountain Confer-
ence — Heppner, Stanfi eld,
Weston-McEwen and Grant
Union — would stay the
same in either proposal.
In the both proposals,
Irrigon and Enterprise would
round out the conference.
Pilot Rock, which already
plays 8-man football, would
drop from 2A to 1A in either
classifi cation proposal.
McCarty:
Continued from Page B1
FAMILY FUN
McCarty comes from an
athletic family.
Her dad, Dan, played
high school football, basket-
ball and ran track at Echo.
He went on to run track at
Blue Mountain Community
College, where he once held
the school’s hurdle records.
He still might, but the BMCC
track team hasn’t existed for
more than 20 years.
Her mom, Brandy, who
went to Hermiston High
School, was a standout jave-
lin thrower and went on to
throw at Western Oregon
University.
“We are such a competi-
tive family,” McCarty said.
“My Dad is no mercy. He
would beat us by 20 points
(in basketball). We would get
so angry at each other and
we would get grounded. My
dad never loses.”
McCarty puts that fire
into her play on the court and
the softball fi eld.
“I love all my sports that
I play,” she said. “Volleyball
is the one I have the most
fun in. Basketball is where
I am more competitive. I
hope to play in college. I
wish I could do all three,
but I really love basketball.
If I can go and play in one,
that would be great.”