I’m back from a three night camping trip in the Pigeon River State Forest, a place that features spacious camp sites, towering pines, hiking trails, pristine lakes, and of course, the Pigeon River. A friend and I were lucky enough to score what I consider the premiere site right on the river. We got to listen to the swift water pour over some rocks just feet from our tent and we spent a fair amount of time just sitting in chairs watching it move along.
Of course we weren’t always sitting mesmerized by the river. We ate a lot too. But I don’t think it was typical camping fare. No, we didn’t have the burgers and dogs, didn’t roast marshmallows over the fire. Instead my friend brought along gourmet stuff like this kale and brussel sprout salad and bread baked the day before at a restaurant from her hometown. And that was just Friday’s lunch!
Friday evening this guy wandered by, moving slowly up the river. I heard him splashing up the river before I could see him and I swear I thought he was a bear. So I had my camera ready.
I’m sort of glad he wasn’t a bear. Though that would have been very cool.
In the morning my friend went fly fishing too. That’s what you do on a swift and shallow river like the Pigeon. First there was assembling of the rod and the attaching of the perfect fly.
Then there were a few practice casts in the road.
And then she was off into the water!
I think she had a great time, though I don’t pretend to understand it all. No fish were caught, but she got to get into the river and I got to take pictures. So we were both happy.
We saw a few other people in the water, notably a couple of brothers floating by on tubes.
I was jealous and the entire three days I was there I considered putting on my swimsuit and my water shoes and going upstream a bit and floating back to camp. I didn’t need a tube, I care my flotation devise on my person at all times. (Smile.) For some reason I just didn’t do it. That would probably be my only regret from this trip.
So this post is all about the river
But there are acres and acres of woods to explore, elk herds to find, stars to watch. What about those?
Guess you’ll have to stay tuned.
July 31, 2018 at 8:59 am
Ah, camping! What a lovely spot and restful time. Thanks for sharing!
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July 31, 2018 at 9:28 am
It was so much fun. And such a beautiful place.
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July 31, 2018 at 9:30 am
Fly fishing is an art! We just fresh- and salt-water fish. I do love fly fishing lures, though–they are gorgeous.
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July 31, 2018 at 3:32 pm
Yes, she showed me some of her lures, they WERE beautiful! I don’t fish at all. Well, I did when I was a kid because we lived on a lake. We caught sunfish mostly and used mom’s potholders to take them off the hook and toss them back in. We used fishing line, a hook and canned corn. It worked great. Once my brother accidentally caught a bass and he went to the neighbor lady to get it off the hook. She had it for supper.
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July 31, 2018 at 9:44 am
Looks like a great, relaxing time. My friend fly fishes, I also don’t get it but he loves it and finds it relaxing
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July 31, 2018 at 3:33 pm
I can see how it could be relaxing. My friend said she really needed a wider river to avoid snags but she was glad to get out there and try it again.
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July 31, 2018 at 11:35 am
I’m not sure you could have found a more peaceful spot to camp, with the soothinng sounds of the river outside your front door. A little more of heaven.
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July 31, 2018 at 3:34 pm
It was pretty amazing, though sometimes I wished the noise from the river could be dialed back a bit. Like the time I thought I heard coyotes screaming and couldn’t tell where they were.
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August 1, 2018 at 12:22 pm
When we used to stay in Depoe Bay the shoreline was very rocky, and the ocean sounded angry to me – took me awhile to adjust to that.
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August 1, 2018 at 1:40 pm
I’m sure it did. When I stay at a friend’s house up in the northern tip of Michigan’s little finger Lake Michigan sometimes is stormy and those waves take some getting used to too.
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July 31, 2018 at 3:29 pm
This looks and sounds so restful! But it’s another one that we dare not mention to the Princess, right??
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July 31, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Right. She didn’t get to go, though I think she would have enjoyed the coolness up north. We walked too much to have her come along. These days she’s more into short walks, not hikes around a lake. But I did think of her and how she’d have liked it there.
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August 1, 2018 at 10:32 am
Dallas is slowing down with age, too. I wonder if they miss the long jaunts of earlier years? Sometimes when he’s deep into sleep and his legs are twitching, I imagine he’s reliving his youth!
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August 1, 2018 at 1:42 pm
Took Katie to a park this morning. It was a moist 73 degrees but we were in the deep woods where it felt cooler to me. Still, she turned around at about 1/4 of what we used to do. And she drank a whole little bottle of water, never refusing when it was offered. And she fell into a deep sleep on the 20 minute ride home. Now days I try to let her decide how far she’s going, but she likes to go out, and then sits down for the walk back. That’s problematic.
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August 1, 2018 at 5:06 am
Love State Forest campgrounds. My husband fly fishes and I dabbled for a bit. I even took a fly tying class when we lived in Traverse City. I was pretty miffed when a fish took off with my fly the first time I tried one out.
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August 1, 2018 at 9:02 am
I bet you were!
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August 1, 2018 at 9:54 pm
He did seem bear-lesque!
Glad you’re on the mend and what a beautiful place to mend in!
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August 2, 2018 at 2:12 pm
I should have read the blog posts in proper order. How nice that you have a friend with you. And very cool about the fishing. Hope your health scare is a past memory and things are doing OK, Dawn.
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