Northwest Magazines

EDITORS NOTES

I was at Wallowa Lake not too long ago, and I saw a game warden approach a guy walking away from the lake with a rainbow trout in his bucket. The warden said, "You can't fish here. It's off-season. I'm giving you a ticket for $150." The guy looked at him in surprise and said, "I'm not fishing; this is my pet fish. I just took him down to the lake for a swim. We do this everyday. When I’m ready to go, I just call him, he swims back to me, I put him in the bucket, and we go home."

The warden was suspicious, of course. I could tell by the look on his face. So I stuck around to see what happened. Together they went down to the shore, and I followed at a discrete distance. The guy dumped the fish in the water and the two of them stood there waiting. Finally the warden said, "When are you going to call him back?" "Call what back?" the fisherman said. "The FISH!" responded the warden. "Fish? What fish?" said the fisherman, as he walked to his truck, got in, and drove away.

Actually, to tell you the truth, Wallowa Lake was completely frozen when I was there. It was late February. The mountains were white and the picnic tables in the campground were barely peeking out from under several feet of snow. But the sun was shining, as it's prone to do in eastern Oregon, and everything sparkled under a blue sky. I can't wait to go back, and hope to go hiking there this summer. Once you read Harold Harbaugh's story on Wallowa County, and see David Jensen’s beautiful photos, you'll be planning a trip too. And Wallowa Lake, by the way, does offer outstanding fishing for kokanee, mackinaw, and rainbow trout. Not to mention camping, hiking, and just soaking up the beauty in this area often called the "Little Switzerland of America."

You'll also find two stories in this issue that will have you hankering for a trip to Montana. One is on Billings, a cowboy town with culture, history, and recreational opportunities all around it, and the other is on fly fishing on the edge of Glacier National Park, where, even if you aren't a fisherman, you'll be blown away by the area's beauty.

Wherever you decide to go this summer, if you're planning to go by car, check out the Travel Green department for ways to lessen your footprint. After all, the reason we live and/or travel in the Northwest is that it's the most beautiful place in the world. And it's up to all of us, collectively and individually, to make sure it stays that way.

—Rosemary Camozzi

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