After the Storms

I go back to Clear Creek after the storms. The recent spate of high water has changed things around. Exhibit A is a large blowdown now situated right where I usually cross the rapids.

I hike upstream and fish the far bank twice without a sign of fish. While the high water was moving things around it must have moved the fish, too.

I wade across upstream of the blowdown. The water is still a little high but it's clear enough that I can see where I'm putting my feet. That makes for an easier passage than last time.

The shore shows signs of the high water. Most of a summer's worth of tangled growth has been stripped off.

Down at the head of the run something doesn't look quite right.

There's the problem. Two tree trunks that used to lie parallel are now all catawampus. Wonder how many times they were spun around that tree.

On down there's a new feature.

More rocks have been stacked up against a boulder creating much more whitewater.

I fish the whole run twice, but don't move any fish. Looking at the evidence of how high the water flowed over the shore I wonder if I might be able to find some fish in the woods.

I get back to the crossing with enough daylight left to wade over at the root ball with no trouble.

I reflect that this stream has never been the same from one trip to the next. I think of all the changes this latest hydrological event may have made all along the stream bed. In a real sense this is a whole new stream now.

I'll give the fish a chance to get back from wherever they went, explore their new environment, and maybe stake out some new lies. Then I'll head back and do some exploring myself.