For many outdoor enthusiast the holiday season is a great time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Children will soon be on holiday break, friends and relatives may be visiting from outside the area, whether it be spending time on the water fishing somewhere, taking a rip to the snow, or a cold morning in a duck blind, its a special time to get together and share our favorite passion.
This year our local area has been hit with catastrophic weather, extreme amounts of rain, flooding, windstorms, and in one area even a tornado. All of this has a devastating effect on our landscape. In some places that I frequent there is almost a post war feeling when you drive through it, homes are demolished, roads washed away, and entire hillsides are gone, it leaves you awestruck when you see what mother nature can do in less than a 24 hour time frame.
I know that for myself and many of you as well, this type of weather gives us "Cabin Fever", and we are itching to get out and make a few casts, clean up that favorite duck blind, or maybe just go for a drive, but let me remind you your favorite river is not the same familiar stream it was just a week ago. High water washes down a lot of debris, its not uncommon to see adult fir trees floating in the chocolaty mess, these trees can get hung up anywhere. Commonly called "sweepers". These trees can make navigating around them dangerous and in some cases nearly impossible, anytime I float a river after a high water, I ALWAYS treat it as if its my first time down it, I set out prepared for the worst, extra rope, an ax, anything to help in case you may need to port your boat around an obstacle, and of course as always, LIFE VESTS!
We who live here in the PNW, have never let the weather slow us down, while it rains here in the lower elevations the snow is piling up in the mountains making for some fantastic skiing conditions, the extra flooding lands opens up more water fowl opportunities, in Copalis we are finally getting a razor clam dig for the 3 days over Christmas. If "Yule be outside" over this holiday season, please be safe, and if you plan on being in Copalis, save me a clam or two!
