Around midnight, I heard a bear rolling around in the pond, splashing up a storm and making what sounded like satisfied bear grunts.

It was too dark to see him (much less take a picture), though I had what I’d call an instructive moment; about a minute after the bear bath started, I noticed my wife had left her car dome light on. Though it was parked around the corner of the house from the bear’s current location, I suddenly realized I was fine with the idea of the dome light remaining on all night, especially if the alternative was for me to wander into the bear-equipped dark to turn it off.

Then early this morning Wally chased a fox off the property, though because he’s old and a little gimpy, he didn’t actually seem to mean it — an elaborate bit of animal-based performance art instead of a meaningful attempt to kill anything.

Clearly, certain rhythms must be obeyed.

Still, it must have tired him; this afternoon he slept through an hourlong visit by three small deer.

Lawn mowers...

It’s almost as if we’re channeling Marlin Perkins over here, and spring is just getting underway.

The Busy Stuff

I spent yesterday touring Hat Creek and the Rising River for CalTrout (some Hat Creek restoration posts coming soon to CalTrout, but I’ll point you in the right direction).

This weekend I’m heading somewhere small, dark and fishy, and all that remains is to decide where.

Still, work is demanding enough that I had to pass on a chance to fish the McCloud with CalTrout Executive Director Jeff Thompson, who is a hell of a stick.

Sure, he nymphs, and I’ve pointed out that he’s probably going to hell for that, but it’s nice to have a real fisherman running what amounts to a fisherman’s conservation organization.

See you on the river (maybe even tonight), Tom Chandler.

The Outdoorbloggers.org site picked the Trout Underground as one of his “10 Seasoned Outdoor Bloggers Who Have Been Blogging Since The Beginning,” the kind of headline that makes me wonder if I shouldn’t be writing this from a desktop cluttered with empty Ensure cartoons while wearing highly absorptive adult undergarments.

Fortunately, the Underground was founded in November of 2005, which means several fly fishing bloggers have done this longer than I have, foremost among them Alistair at the Urban Fly Fisher blog.

I suggest we make Alistair or Moldy (circa March 2005) wear the adult diapers.

Still, before I grow too old to blog, here are a few stories to consider — the kind of stories us seasoned bloggers write.

Winnemem Tribe Declares War on US Forest Service?

A couple weeks ago the Winnemem Wintu tribe asked the US Forest Service for a mandatory closure of 300 yards of the McCloud River (at Shasta Lake) for a coming of age ceremony for their daughters.

In 2006 and 2010, drunken boaters (who’d have guessed that boaters drink) motored right through the “Voluntary Closure” signs and — we might be editorializing just a wee bit — acted like complete assholes to the ceremony participants.

The Forest Service hasn’t responded, so the Winnemem decided to hold a War Dance, which feels a little bit like they’re declaring war on the Forest Service.

We’ll let you know if hostilities break out.

Elwha Dam Removal Blog

Because dam removal is something to be savored, I’ve tapped into the Elwha River Dam Removal Blog, which offers regular updates and other goodness, including photographs of the process.

The dam's almost gone, making this my new happy place.

Biologists planted coho salmon above the dams prior to removal (there’d be a brood ready to head downstream when the dams were gone), and they found this:

Fish biologists were excited earlier this month to find offspring of the adult coho salmon released above the Elwha dam site. Biologists observed coho fry in Little River (via screw trap) and 600 fry in Indian Creek via snorkeling in 0.4 miles. These young fish will have direct access to the Strait of Juan de Fuca in spring 2013.

In a year sure to be dominated by election “news” (and won’t that be pleasant), you might consider it one of your online Happy Places.

It’s National Wetlands Month!

How is it possible we didn’t know this was National Wetlands Month?

You can’t help but get a little moist when you hear news like that (did you see what I did there? High five!), and because National Geographic is all about the online experience, they’ve produced a little pop-up, interactive learning slideshow thingee that’s actually pretty cool.

Well, OK. The pictures are cool (the text is actually kinda boring), but I like the format. I may steal that for some upcoming project.

Until then, see you in diapers, Tom Chandler.