Can anything beat this? (Taken in June 2014.)

I visited Oregon’s Newberry National Volcanic Monument last week. This was one of my favorite finds in a long time. The area includes one of many volcanic peaks in central Oregon, Newberry Caldera.  But on this one, there are two pristine clear, blue lakes (Paulina and East lakes), scenes of volcanic explosions, cool temperatures, and some of the prettiest camping spaces I can recall. Trout and one species of salmon are stocked in the lake, and some fish swim off into some pools that tumble off Paulina Lake into a creek that crashes down Paulina Falls. That’s where I captured this, no doubt, blissful fly fisherman, who bore a striking similarity to noted fly fisherman and current Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber. Made me think of the Norman Maclean quote: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.” (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)