Oregon

Oregon has a lot to recommend it. I lived there for many years and it looks like I am going back there. This photo is the Upper Willamette River southeast of Eugene. The water flows from Dexter Reservoir and looks fishy.  In Eugene, the McKenzie flows into the Willamette. The river flows north and ultimately joins the Columbia at the city of Portland. The river is healthy with trout, salmon and steelhead.

Oregon also has the Cascade Mountains. They are not as high as the Rockies, but they are geologically new mountains and have hiking, biking and skiing in abundance. Oregon also has the ocean. The water is cold, the scenery breathtaking and the saltwater fishing is coming back. Like many places in the world, overharvesting decimated almost all the species, but the habitat is still good.