Today would mark the beginning of my third month on the road, and what better way than to ease in to it than to spend the morning relaxing with a fresh cup of coffee and recapping another week, and maybe inspiring a bit of adventure coming up. Having packed up and locked up the house, which would turn out to be a dumb idea, I sat down on the front porch and got to work. Finishing up a little around 1 with a few minor interruptions, I still had some time to kill before heading south to meet up with Ryan Branham, a fraternity brother from NC State. Taking advantage of this time, I put in some practice on Mario Kart on the back porch at Josh and Selby’s. Completing the whole 50cc level, I would be unstoppable; so I thought!
Giving my friends Jason and Catherine Elmore a call, I wanted to check in to see how they were doing, since they would be expecting their first child in the next few days. It’s not often that I get to talk on the phone much being on the road, in and out of service; so it was good catch up with them. Around 4pm, I headed south to meet up with Ryan. Only hanging around the one night, we had planned to grab dinner and catch up about my trip and plans for the rest of the summer. Ryan would be heading to East Africa with his dad in August, so we planned to try and fish together before then, while we reminisced on stories from college and stories from my trip on the road.
It is a true gift to have friends all over the country now, to reconnect with along my journey. Waking up after 9am, we both knocked out some work, before I headed out. With no real plan, but a direction, Ryan gave me a few pointers on the area I was headed and some other great places to check out, including the San de Cristo Mountains. Heading for Buena Vista, Pearl and I drove 285 west, passing through small mountain towns; I recognized a few as we had been here a little over a week ago for hike before the Avett Brothers concert. Making it to grant, there isn’t much left that is too steep, but I noticed a field of International Harvester trucks. I plan to stop on my way back to Denver next week.
Continuing on, I drove through Fairplay, Colorado before reaching the Arkansas River and Buena Vista, Colorado. Driving through town, I passed a fly shop and figured I would stop in for some direction, but first I needed sustenance and found Eddyline Brewery for beers and pizza. Heading back to the fly shop, I found that the area north of Granite would be the most suitable place. for me to cast a few flies. Heading north along the Arkansas River, I had not reserved any camping, but knew there was some dispersed camp sites next to the river. Making note of where they were, I kept driving towards Leadville. Being the weekend, it may be hard to find a spot. Driving through Leadville, I figured I would come back tomorrow (Sunday) to check it out. Turning down a side street to head for camp, I passed an open garage with a late model Scout inside. Backing up, I was lucky enough to meet the owner, so we chatted a bit and talked shop; which has been one of my favorite things when meeting other Scout owners. I always learn something new.
Heading for camp, I had planned to try a spot near the lake that my new Scout friend had mentioned, but took a wrong turn. Turned out, I wasn’t too far off course, but was able to watch an afternoon shower spread across one of the many 14’ers (mountain peak reaching above 14,000ft elevation) in the area.
Back in the right direction, Pearl and I had found one of the campsites we passed earlier. Locating a spot, I quickly pitched camp as rain was starting to fall. Climbing back in the truck to wait it out, I took advantage of an empty passenger seat as a mobile office.
As the rain settled, I took a quick walk towards the river for a glance at possible fishing, but quickly decided it would not be feasible. Steep drops and rock slides have proven it an unsafe area to traverse down to the river. Lucky enough there are plenty of spots off the road to get better access. Hiking back up to camp, I studied the area and my maps for fishing tomorrow and the other campsites.
I don’t think I have ever slept so late in a tent before. Not waking until 7am, the sun was already up and temps were warming and climbing. Having. marked a few spots to fish on the map, I first headed to Clear Creek, where I met a couple that had been camping and fishing over the weekend. New to the area, they gave me a few pointers and a recommendation on another camp site to check out that had good access to the river. We also had a common bond, both having issues with our rod carriers. Having planned to check on another campsite, my new Scout friend had mentioned, I departed the fishing access and headed toward Leadville. This would turn out to be a bad decision. Apparently everyone knew about this secret spot below the lake, so I headed to town for a bite to eat and a couple beers and the highest brewery in the United States, Two Mile Brewing Company.
Taking the recommendation from the couple fishing earlier, I found the dispersed camping area they told me about, but was forced to utilize an area with less access to the river than I planned on. Stone Cabin was definitely the best campsite along the river, especially now that it is Sunday and most people had to leave to make it to work on Monday morning. Pitching camp when I arrived was a good idea, since the wind had picked up and shifting coming off the river.
Having plenty of time to fish before dark, I made my way down to the river and began to wade upstream, casting to pools and fishy places that a trout would make home to ambush their prey. Using a hopper-dropper rig (terrestrial bug with a nymph suspended below), I felt confident I would hook into my first Colorado trout. Heading upstream, I continued to pic apart the pieces of water I thought would hold fish. Finding an eddy behind a large boulder, I cast my line with the rhythm of a metronome and landed my flies, just ahead of the boulder to drift them past the eddy in clear sight of any fish waiting to strike. With a quick launch, a brown trout smashed the surface and my hopper fly; and as any excited kid would do, I swung hard to set the hook. Missing the initial strike, I still managed to stick my first western trout, but something was amiss. He ran down stream, fighting the drag of my Reddington reel. As I was able to bring him closer to shore, I realized I had gut hooked him. With water temps pushing the limits of ethical fishing, I acted swiftly to get him to shallower water where I could dehook him and safely release him back to the cooler waters of the Arkansas River.
Confidence now rising and the skunk lifted from a new combo, I kept pushing further upstream to continue the outing. No other fish were landed, but I had one good strike, missing on the hook set before tying up my leader into an unsightly knot. Day one on the Arkansas was over, but one for two on fish, it was 100% successful. Making the hike back to camp, I called a buddy (John Fritz) to fill him in on the days catch. John and I worked together in college and talk fly fishing every now and then. Hanging up, I noticed a couple sets of tracks, not quite positive on what they were; I deduced they were not fresh since it had rained the day earlier and was not worried about the presence of an animal so close to camp.
Time still to spare before eating dinner, I caught up on some reading. Having brought a small amount of my library from home, I chose to finish Volume 5 of Modern Huntsman. As the sun set, the air began to cool and the mosquito and fly pressure picked up. Dancing around, dodging bites, I killed at least a dozen blood sucking mosquitos. Deciding it would be good idea to get to bed early, I had dinner and climbed into the tent to finish MH Volume 5.
Waking again later than I thought. The air was cool, birds were chirping and the sun was peaking over the mountain through the trees above the campground like waking from a long slumber. As soon as the sun crested the peak, the heat was on. Having planned to fish that morning, I quickly packed up while coffee was cooking and headed for my spot. Just up the road at Clear Creek, I parked and quickly began casting my hopper-dropper rig first below a feeder creek dam, then flowing it under a large evergreen providing shade in the creek. No hits so far.
Moving towards the confluence, and upstream, I cast to every large boulder forming an eddy with no luck. Eventually I reach a small rapid I cannot safely pass and head back downstream to where I parked. I met another fisherman and watched him for a bit. Seeing fish rise on his fly, we chatted for a bit. We shared what we were fishing, and what was working and went our separate ways. I tied on the only Caddis I had, a size, or maybe two, too big, but you can’t catch any without a fly on the water. Making casts to the white wash under the dam, I could see a couple fish smacking the surface. I even had one follow my fly, inspecting it closely before turning away. Trying fresh water, I cast cross stream, floating my #14 Elk Hair Caddis down the rocks, and BOOM! In a split second, a Brown Trout hit my fly; and I wasn’t ready. Slow on the set, I missed my only good take of the day. But that’s fishing.
Ready to start my trek back to Denver, I first stopped in Fairplay, at the South Park Brewery for lunch. The beer today, was much better than yesterday at the Two Mile Brewery. Moving on, I spotted my first wildlife on the roadside, a Pronghorn Antelope. The day got even better when I arrived in Grant. After passing Coonrod’s on the way west on Saturday, I had planned to visit on the way back today. This place is IH (International Harvester) Heaven. If Phil doesn’t haven it, you probably don’t need it. Walls are filled with everything from door buttons, cigar lighters, belts, transfer cases, brake master cylinders, you name it. More than a dozen new (old stock) trucks could be manufactured with the parts onsite, and have plenty to spare. I was very overwhelmed, but was so glad to find this treasure trove. Plus meeting Phil and the guys that work for him were a pleasure; their knowledge is immeasurable.
Making it back to Denver, we finished watching “Manifest.” While heading to bed, we awaited any news that Jason and Catherine had welcomed in their baby girl into the world.
Nervously waking up to move our trucks before being ticketed ahead of the street sweepers, we luckily found spots across the street. Now awake, Josh brewed a French Press and we all got to work. The only two goals I had today, were to clean Pearl up a bit and to work with tech support on my website. Neither was fully completed.More Mario Kart this afternoon; emboldened by my success, Selby and I raced and I got my butt whooped. Guess I need a bit more practice. For dinner tonight we grilled some steaks and mushrooms, with veggies and a baked potato. Josh has become quite the griller and meat smoker.
Today, was pretty low key, and not much to report on. I finally picked out a sticker for Pearl and placed that order on www.stickermule.com. Stay tuned for when they arrive.
We moved inside to race on Mario Kart as the heat really has picked up this week. Later heading to Crush Pizza for trivia night and finished in 3rd place. Next week, we will do better and take the cake.
Today as normal, we a had a nice hot cup of coffee, but I was off to Staunton State Park, to do a little fishing with Ivey. Meeting at the Ranger Station around 9, we fished the upper Davis Pond till around 1130 when the flies really started to get bad. By that time the water was warming up too much, and the fish stopped rising. I missed one strike, while Ivey landed three small rainbows. Later we went to Snowpeak Taproom for lunch and a couple tasty brews.
Heading back to Denver, Josh and I would be hitting a few breweries and a beer fest this weekend. Starting with Bierstadt Lagerhaus, this has been some of my favorite beer this trip to Denver. Brewing in only German styles, they also only use German equipment. The only thing American about the beer they brew is the location. No complaints here, as my favorite style is a Marzen. Before heading back to the house, we stopped in to Mockery, just down the street for some crowlers to go for dinner. Filled with tasty beers and pizza, we capped off the night and the week, with Mario Party
Week 9 Mileage – 491.4