This was our second year to take Jeanette's son Sean on a camping and fishing trip for his birthday. (See last years Trip Journal.) The challenge for me was to come up with a campground next to a lake or stream that we could count on catching fish in on the 26th of July. Not an easy task, but one that I put the full resources of Cascade Ramblings to use. Looking through the Trout Stocking Schedule of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, I looked for a lake that would be suitable to take the canoe to use for fly fishing. And of course it must have a nice campground. I came up with Walton Lake, stocked the week before with 1,600 rainbow trout.

The day before we left I called the Ochoco National Forest Headquarters in Prineville to find out our chances on a campsite. They assured me we would have no problem, so you can understand my confusion when we arrived on Thursday afternoon to find that the campground had been full for two days! Through the cooperation of the camp host and a camper in the group camping area we were able to use a piece of bare ground for the night. The next morning when campers began to leave, Jeanette was able to snag site #13, beautifully shaded with a great view over the lake. It worked out perfect for the weekend, Sean and I could sit in our campsite and wait for the trout to start rising, then jump in the canoe and catch a couple before they became too suspicious.

We all three had a great time at the lake. Bird watching kept us all occupied watching the Steller's Jays and Western Tanagers. Jeanette and I enjoyed a couple of walks around the lake and a morning hike half way up the Round Mountain Trail. And Sean was able to take a mess of fish home to feed Grandpa and Grandma Dye.