We were invited to spend some time up on the Stillaguamish today, so off we went. It was cold and clear, still some snow on the ground.
One of the highlights was one of the children in the party finding a steelhead redd, filled with fry but buried under mud and too high above the waterline to find their way. We gently dug out 30 or so of them, moving them to the North Fork of the Stilly or depositing them in a still eddy in the French Creek nearby.
Still wrestling with my new camera to get better images: this one of White Horse Mountain should be a lot better.
And now I’m too tired to offer anything else.
We arrived about 11:15 and the children disappeared upon arrival. I, meanwhile, took up an axe and took over some woodchopping to ensure the stove stayed fed. Very therapeutic, that: especially with bone dry wood that practically explodes when split.
Then a walk to the river and the discovery of the steelhead. The Stillaguamish is a good steelhead run but they are a protected fish, catch and release only. I hope we did no harm in helping them along.
More pictures next time, I hope. It would be worthwhile to be up and doing at sunrise to catch better light: maybe that can be arranged.