For two days, rambling up and down both sides of the Metolius River trail was the heart of the October Camp Sherman basecamp day hikes – the third and fourth day in a 5 day sequence. Originally, I planned only 1 day on the river, but after such a great first day, a second day, without driving, was perfect! This was the third trip on the Metolius this season. I have found the Camp Sherman secret sauce that my sister’s family found.
The Route
I went up / down and on east side and on west side. Most of the mileage was between the fence near the head waters on the east side to about 3 miles down river from Lower Bridge on the west side. No track to share as it’s not helpful. I camped 2 nights at Gorge and 2 at Pine Rest. Pine Rest is the ‘tent cg’ and Gorge is the ‘pull thru cg’.
The River
I found that between those two river marks (fence and lower bridge), there are really two rivers. Above the ‘Camp Sherman’ store is a calmer, quieter river. Below Gorge Campground, the river is faster, louder and ‘fed’ from the fish hatchery.
Along the river there is no absence of campgrounds, fisher folks, and people trash. If one can push those aside, WOW!
As many fly fishing folks as I saw, I never saw anybody catch a fish. One guy told me there are low hundreds of fish / square mile in Metolius, compared to low thousands in same area in Deschutes; guess which river is harder to catch fish? He even said that they catch the same fish over and over … but looks like they have fun!
Small whining but look what I found
Along the river due to leases and agreements a century ago, there are private lands along the river. One just walks around them if necessary. These force hikers to leave riverside and obscure some marvelous sightings. Just before one of those properties on the opposite river bank is a huge spring – the volume of water amazed me.
Upper River – above store
Lower River – below store
