THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 169 
can drop off any place you may select to call home for a few days, 
and if you are a good sport you surely can find many things to study 
and enjoy in the rugged canyon of the Deschutes and on this beautiful 
stream. The tree growth is small and only along the banks of the 
river. Here and there you will find small clumps, which will make 
you a shady camp site, and the water is cool and good. 
The O. W. railroad follows up the river to South Junction, 99 miles 
from The Dalles, and the Oregon Trunk railroad to Mecca, which is 
about ten miles further up. A new thrill is being added to fishing 
in the Deschutes by sportsmen who ship their canoes up by rail and 
use them to reach the big redsides lying in the center of the river. 
The Deschutes is a pretty rough old stream in spots, and I would 
advise all to use great care in navigating it. 
Odell, Crescent and Davis Lakes are the headwaters of Deschutes 
River and are well up toward the summit of the Cascade range. Odell 
Lake is one of the finest mountain bodies of water in Oregon and 
ought to be visited more frequently by Oregonians and tourists who 
are on the outlook for the fine scenic features. These lakes can be 
reached by auto and are 69 miles south of Bend. 
There are row boats on Odell Lake; the lake is five miles long 
and 5,000 feet above the sea. The great bluffs and snow fields on 
the south leading up to Diamond Peak are very beautiful. The best 
fishing on Odell Lake is on the north side. The State Fish and Game 
Commission several years ago started the work of stocking these and 
many other lakes in the Cascades with Eastern brook and rainbow 
trout, and the results have been very good and it is hoped that this 
good work can be increased all over the state. 
EASTERN SPORTSMEN ARE INVITED 
TO OREGON 
Canyon City, Oregon, June 30, 1917. 
Editor Sportsman: 
I have just returned from Strawberry Lake, where I stationed a 
guard, and was somewhat terrorized when I discovered that I had not 
complied with your request for a contribution to the columns of The 
Sportsman, same to be in not later than the first week in July. I 
herewith submit the ‘‘dope’’ in the form of a supposed letter to a 
friend in Chicago, and hope that you may be able to use it. 
Baker, Oregon, June 30, 1917. 
Mr. John R. Wilson, 
Chicago, Illinois. 
Dear John: 
In answer to your letter of the 21st inst., wherein you ask, where 
would be the best place to spend your vacation in Oregon, I am at 
a loss to answer, as there are so very many beautiful places that it 
would take page ‘after page of ‘‘fools cap’’ to describe them all, and 
then justice could not be done, unless, perhaps, such description should 
flow from a greater pen than "mine—Mrs, Rinehart, for instance. 
It is a lamentable fact that you have so little time to stay. Three 
weeks is only an aggravation for a fact. You could spend a year, 
