www.singingfalls.com/seine

What a busy week. A diverse and busy week, with many ups and downs it was.

A visit to my ancient father-in-law, who is presently in the VA hospital recuperating from a surgical procedure to repair a torn tendon in his knee, was very good. He is recovering very well given his many years.

My own visit to the VA hospital for some dental work was good also. Gotta keep those choppers working well when your old.

I returned some of the GPS equipment to the Soil and Water Conservation District and finished all of the manual database entries for the fish barrier survey. Done!

I took a tour of the restoration project with some dear acquaintances of ours who were very interested in seeing Singing Falls during the rainy season. (The falls were singing mightily this month as is its custom.)

Then among the many smaller details of life I spent some time cross fencing the electrical fencing system. That will be a big help.

Wednesday was spent on top of an eighty foot tower perched on the 3400 foot peak of Canyon Mountain adjusting the local ISP's wi fi radios. Howling gale force winds bit into my aged hide. It took me many hours to thaw out even though the ambient temperature was around 45℉. It was the chill factor that nailed me. Brrrrrr.

The real highlight of the week was the appearance of a massive coho salmon pod here in the Elk Creek Drainage. I have spent the better part of the last few days just watching fish. It is late in the season for the salmon pods. The Steehead runs have usually already begun. But this year is different. The rany season rains have come very late. The Salmon were in a holding pattern well past their normal run times and the streams were much below normal. But they were patient and held off the spawning until the time was right.

Then winter arrived with gusto. Much snow and rain have fallen. We surpassed the stream stage levels of last year and it has been quite cool. The stream was quite turbid and that made seeing the coho arrival difficult. But now the raging waters have subsided some. The January open sky has come. Stream depths have lowered and the coho pods are plainly visible throughout the watershed. Joe Hall Creek is sporting many cavorting spawning salmon. The thrill of seeing these returnees to Singing Falls is hard to describe. There is a surge of hope that wells up within my heart when I witness this noble effort on the part of this keystone species to return to the ancient spawning grounds of its ancestors. Many hours pass with my neighbors and I watching and talking...

...It is 2:30 AM and a bright January full moon pierces the dense fog of the night. The salmon are taking full advantage of the light and night. They are able to see without being seen. How grateful I am to God that there is a series of strong pods this year. It eclipses in a small way the troubles of the world and shows me the power and resilience that He has placed in His creation. May the swarms of the seas find their way back to the place that life began for them.