Of Redsides and Salmonflies

Oregon's Deschutes River comes alive with the giant stoneflies of late spring

It appeared that not all of the customers in the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant were there to eat tacos. After rolling down I-5 through Seattle and making Portland by late afternoon, we'd pulled into a fast food joint to rendezvous with the final member to our party. While Brook Lyon, my son, was waiting for us to show, he'd been watching a string of young ladies cycling (not bicycling) in and out of a nearby hotel with guys from the cars parked all around us. We left the motor running while Brook tossed his bags into the trailer, eager to trade urban seamy for river seams, then we pointed our grill toward the arid eastern lands and a week of giants and gold and floating a river of liquid jade. Read more – offline – from the current issue; subscribe to FRR.