Down goes Matt
Forks, Washington
Woke up and made our Saturday pancakes; went back to bed and forgot to set an alarm, so we didn’t get up until noon!
We iced my legs the night before and the redness faded overnight, but was replaced by purple bruising
Went into Forks to stop at Yella Dog fly shop; we walked in, the door chimed and we spotted the owner sitting behind his desk - we said hello with no response and realized we caught him sleeping at his post; he finally woke up and greeted us, followed by Duchess, an old yellow lab who was also napping in the back room when she heard us come in… she barked at us, but in an unthreatening way; she walked with a pigeon toed step, her nails desperately needed a trim and she had several small masses on her white furry body
The store was… how should we describe it… a mess - it looked like it was once a fine shop and the premier outfitter in town, but suffered from years of neglect as the owner grew into old age and settled into his retirement years; there were broken down cardboard boxes in the middle of the floor, none of the shelves were organized, his pop cooler served as his own personal refrigerator, he had a collection of knick knacks, framed photos and taxidermy scattered throughout the store, and it was in dire need of a good dusting; we picked through the flies and chatted with him - he didn’t give us any useful advice for fishing, but he had stories and opinions so we felt obligated to buy something
We drove over to the fish hatchery, bought our recreation pass and fishing licenses online and hiked into the Calawah River where it fed into the Bogachiel… the rocks were slick and it was hard to stay upright when crossing the river; we made it to the other side and fished a beautiful seam at the confluence - we we targeting summer run steelhead with our float gear, but instead caught several small rainbow and coastal (sea-run) cutthroat trout; we made our way down the Bogachiel another quarter mile and continued to catch rainbows and cutthroats for a few hours
We fished our way back to the trail; Matt lost his footing on the slick rocks and ended up flat on his back in the shallow section where water filled his waders
Went back to camp and made dinner
