Maupin

October 19, 2025October 19, 2025

The Orchard Loop

Floating maple leaves sail by on the breeze

This week mornings got markedly colder. First frost signals a trip to the orchards.

A series of fruit orchards line the foothills under the northern slopes of Mt. Hood. In all, there are some 14,500 acres of fruit trees on the hills above the city of Hood River.

Just a couple of pears left on this tree

The first trees were planted in 1855 and now you’ll find 30 plus farm stands on a 35 mile loop road . . . the Fruit Loop.

The Farm we visit regularly is Kiyokawa Orchards. By mid-October they have around a 100 varieties of apples and pears set out in boxes, many featuring free samples. There’s also jugs of freshly pressed cider.

We make the drive to this orchard at least twice a year. We were here early in the season to get peaches, plums, and early apples.

Deschutes River at Warm Springs, a frequent stopover to stretch our legs

We return in mid-October to pick over the abundant variety of apples and pears. Most of these you’ll not find in you local mega mart, nor even in that nearby organic co-op.

The cloud cover lifts as we approach Mt Hood

It’s a bit of a drive, but we pack a lunch and make a day of it.

The morning starts with a trip out of the high desert on Hwy 26, and then down the east side of Mt Hood on Hwy 35 . . . turning west before we get to Hood River.

Looking south from Hwy 197 you see the Cascade Range and it’s foothills

After filling a few bags with a selection of fresh fruit, it’s back up Hwy 35, turning left on USFS 44 to Dufur, the Tygh Valley and Maupin.

Freight trains regularly run North/South along the Deschutes River

There is a mandatory stop on the Lower Deschutes where a couple of hours are spent attempting to catch a fish.

Enjoying a relaxing drive along the river

Then we take state route 197 to The Dalles-California Hwy (97) and back home. The whole loop passes through a myriad of different environments, which makes the drive not seem so long.

Plus, we have a box full of apples and a couple of gallons of fresh pressed cider. A good time was had by all.

May 19, 2024May 19, 2024

From River to Market . . .

The Lower Deschutes is open to fishing year-round. However, as winter turns to spring, fishing improves. Run-off hasn’t started, but water temps rising triggers the metamorphosis in aquatic insects.

By the middle of the month insect activity has come full swing. Most anglers await the big stoneflies to crawl on to riverside bushes. This week we’re content to chase Blue Wing Olives and the Baetis hatch.

Salmon flies, a giant variety of stonefly, attracts more fishers than fish. It also marks a point when the rafters start to flood the stream and camp sites.

We try to get at least one trip to the Lower Deschutes during the big stonefly emergence, before heading to less crowded water.

At a favorite parking spot on the Lower Deschutes

This week was that trip. We had a blast. There could still be a trip to fish over salmon flies, but river spots are already getting a bit too crowded for us.

The real highlight of this week’s travels was a trip to a grocery store. Just half an hour north of Maupin, in the town of Dufur is a unique market.

Years back, while researching whole grain suppliers, JQ came across Azure Standard. At the time they offered local delivery of a limited variety of bulk grains. We ended up getting our wheat berries from Bob’s Red Mill, as it was easier and closer.

Jump ahead a dozen years, our lives have changed, but not a need for organic, clean products.

In that time Azure’s offerings have expanded and are being trucked nationally. Turns out one of a growing number of ‘local drop sites’ is a five minute drive from our house. We’ve become Azure Standard regulars.

A wide variety of grains and beans fill shelves in the market

This last week, JQ discovered the company operates a brick and mortar store in Dufur, Oregon . . . The Dufur Market. The Azure Standard catalogue is quite extensive, with some items we’d love to try, but on a smaller scale than the delivery order.

Mt. Hood as backdrop to a winter wheat field

Thus the trip to Dufur.

In case you’re ever in that part of Oregon, it’s worth a stop. And the sprouted corn tortillas were as good as the reviews said.

April 21, 2024April 20, 2024

Full on Spring

This week was not as full as the last one. We did make it out on a river, but most of the week was focused getting the house clean. The internet is full of before and after images, but not here . . . we just don’t see any reason to take pictures of the mundane.

The days leading into spring, right up to full run off, are great times to be on the rivers. The flows haven’t started to fill stream beds and the warming weather brings more bug activity.

After a winter of dragging wet flies, we are starting to see surface feeding . . . dry fly fishing gets a brief burst.

The mountain snows have already started to fill up rivers, and now we wait for the summer season.

But in the meantime, we had a few great days on the river . . . and the house is clean.

June 4, 2023June 3, 2023

On the River

Though rarely, there ARE times when we don’t want to be on a river.

After the middle of June, the Lower Deschutes Canyon is off our calendar. What we avoid is a summer influx of tourists and high desert heat . . . an aversion acquired while living in Western Montana and constantly cultivated.

River levels have returned to seasonal normal.

A highly anticipated Stonefly hatch usually precedes rafter season in Maupin.

After the runoff has calmed and waters have cleared AND before summer’s heat, we try to get one last day on the Deschutes.

This typically involves multiple trips as it turns out the Lower Deschutes is nice in the spring . . . and the fall as well.

It’s still spring in the canyon. The barrage of summer’s heat hasn’t penetrated this far.

Wild flowers are still blooming, families of waterfowl hang in the reeds and the days are short enough to offer cool mornings.

The Subaru serves as a base of operation but loses its appeal when parked under a summer sun. A couple weeks ago, camp chairs at the road’s edge worked, but this week that approach required we find some afternoon shade.

Adult Golden Stonefly; Salmon Flies are similar, but have a red and brown mottled body color.

Stoneflies rest in foliage during the day, flying over the water in the evening to deposit eggs.

The seaonal Golden Stone and Salmon Fly hatch is dictated by nature and water temperature. The term ‘hatch’, gets used to describe an individual event, but could also mean a series of similar events.

We’ve found it best to start with the latter. With an understanding of aquatic invertebrate life cycles, you can be on the river at the proper time . . . be patient.

Since late winter, we’ve been making the trek to Maupin to check progress on the stonefly’s crawl to river’s edge. A scientific study that has been well documented.

Seemed likely this trip would end the season, so I tied up an old standard, two actually; Box Canyon Stonefly and Langtrey Special. Both caught fish.

We spent the evening under a grove of Oregon Ash at BLM’s Blue Hole Campground.

We finished our picnic, enjoyed a cold drink and listened to the bird song and wind in the branches.

May 21, 2023May 20, 2023

Return to Maupin

Spring shifts to summer quickly in Central Oregon. The days are already getting near eighty . . . not complaining, but rivers will get crowded soon enough.

In the spring the canyon is all shades of green

In a typical year the Deschutes has a salmon fly hatch at the end of spring. This is not a typical year and with the high run-off we’ll not see salmon flies for a few more weeks.

The other infamous Deschutes River event is the ‘rubber hatch’ which fills the river with rafts overloaded with happy boaters. This year it’s looking like that event will overtake the salmon fly hatch, at least downstream from Maupin.

Musical trills of redwinged blackbirds echo through the canyon

This week we made one more trip to Maupin, hoping to enjoy a relatively uncrowded river and a canyon just coming into summer foliage.

The day was sunny and warm, though we didn’t hit any hatch, the fishing was good.

Caught in mid-flight protecting his territory

As is usually the case, wildlife was active along this stretch of water. JQ managed to get some great images of Red-winged blackbird and a Heron who seems like a permanent resident of this stretch of river.

Male Merganser, the perfect shape to hunt fish

We’ll try to fish salmon flies a little further upstream in the next few weeks. In the mean time, we just set up the camp chairs and enjoy a rare quiet day on the Lower Deschutes.