A trip is not complete unless there is fishing! Today we head to the Yampa River in Stagecoach State Park, just outside of Steamboat Springs for a day of fishing. Ray tells me what a great river it is and I am eager to try. We leave early in the morning so to get a good spot before others show up. The river is fed from waters below the dam keeping the water temperature cold year round. We walk a bit under a mile to the spot Ray had fished before. The morning air is chilly and as the river is in a canyon. We don’t see the sun until mid morning. Naturally, Ray immediately catches a couple while I get used to being out there and try to remember all of my skills. The water is sooo cold I end up going back to the car for another layer of pants. After following Ray around most of the morning and not catching anything, I finally branch out on my own, find my spot, set up my own line and lo and behold, actually catch a fish! What a great feeling to have done this all by myself. (see photo below).
Sarvis Creek is a mile down a dirt road and that is our next spot. We fish the Yampa right by Sarvis, which is much more challenging and after an hour, strong gusts and dark clouds chase us out. Just in time as a huge rainstorm hits the area. We haven’t seen such a heavy rain in a long time! We take our time leaving Steamboat and manage to get on the road while there is a break in the storm. Misty clouds float across the skies as we ascend the summit above Steamboat.
The road winds down from 9,500 feet to 7,000 ft. until it reaches Laramie, a frontier town that was founded in 1860 as a tent city near the Overland Stage Line route, the Union Pacific portion of the first transcontinental railroad. The landscape is flat with occasional rock outcroppings but the dark clouds and dwindling light create a very dramatic scene. Cheyenne is just an hour away and we reach town just as darkness falls. We have arrived in the Wild West. The Little America Hotel is a very nice cheap deal, the best we have seen so far.