Cabin Fever Chronicles – Getting Outdoors with Rod

Right on cue, fly fishermen emerged as we set up our camp chairs.

Of Oregon’s many natural wonders, the Metolius River Valley stands out in my heart. With its red-bark Ponderosa Pines, dry air, fly fishermen and perfectly burbling river waters, the Metolius River valley is absolutely cinematic. I return there year after year, and have never been disappointed. I celebrated my birthday there this year with Bill, Tatsuro, plus my neighbors Teresa, Dave and son Anthony.

Tatsuro’s riverside real estate! It warmed up so much we were down to T-shirts and shorts.

My favorite place to camp is the Allan Springs Campground. It sits on a peninsula in the river. Bill, Tatsuro and I left Portland early to score a campsite and we were rewarded with a big site on a bend in the river. We could see up the river, plus it meandered and bent just at our campsite. Once we set our chairs on the water’s edge, Tatsuro pronounced, “THIS is IT!” And he was right.

Anthony found the hammock pretty quickly!

Maybe an hour after we set up, Dave, Teresa and Anthony joined us. There was a possible shower in the forecast so I set up my pop-up shelter over the picnic table. After happy hour by the river and chopping some wood for a fire, it was time to cook up some good grub!

Happy was the hour that day by the river

Teresa does stir fry like a boss!

My favorite group camp meal by far is stir fry. Intimidating to the uninitiated, stir fry wins over everybody because what comes off the flame is fresh, hot, healthy and in no way can be screwed up. It’s so simple. Chop up the ingredients and leave them on the table in small tubs. Leave the sauces out. And let each camper have at it. The only drawback is it’s one wok meal at a time. Campers have to wait their turn, but it’s worth it. If someone offers to make something in advance, it only makes things worse as it sits getting cold. The one thing to make for everyone is rice. So, I bring a rice cooker and make it on a separate stove. No Jetboils here. They won’t work for a stir fry meal!

Supper finished and cleaned up. Time for relaxing by the fire. Well, that’s hard for Anthony, because there is wood to be chopped! I think he needed to burn some calories, which he surely did.

Morning brings more guess what? FOOD. OMG. Talk about gluttony. Bacon, link and patty sausage. Eggs. Hash browns. Had enough? Oh no. Blueberry pancakes! Stuffed? There was more.

Got to cook up all of it no matter what!

Breakfast was birthday time! Pound cake with CoolWhip….OMG.

A picture is worth 1,000 words!

OK. We did more than eat and drink. We hiked up to Three Fingered Jack, and also hiked to the summit of Black Butte – just two of the many things to do in the area. But those will be up coming blog posts! Stay tuned.