Last week, I was standing on a bridge crossing one of the tributaries of the Lewis River in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest watching the water flow under and the reflection of the yellow of the cottonwoods dancing on the surface and a truck with fish tanks arrived and two workmen got out and told me that they were going to make a mess. I recognized that the tanks were for fish but didn't know that the fish were dead ones. The workmen explained that these were Chinook Salmon and they were from the hatchery where the eggs had been harvested and now they were returning them to the river to enhance the biological nutrients of the stream. I watched as they pitched four dozen three-foot long fish into the stream. They said that they had made four deposits so far that day into different streams and had a few more before the day was over and said that they should have been paying instead of being paid for spending such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place. I made this image with the digital camera and later wondered how long it would be before the bears would find this cache of fine fish... I would have liked to be there to photograph the occasion but realized that it might be a long wait and may be after dark when I wouldn't be able to make a photograph. I had planned to photograph the middle falls on the Lewis River and had to leave to catch the light I was waiting for. (I wonder if it would have been a better story if I'd made up one about coming across a spawning ground and these fish were all rolling around doing their thing-I have seen such before in Tumwater Canyon on the Wenatchee River and was able to make some videos to show Irene, Ilene's Mom.) Tags: fish, phot expd
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edbook's journal
