On Friday, we loaded up and after bagel Sammie’s at Butte Bagel, headed to Denver. We made several stops for Ela and the drive was less painful than going out. Our Airbnb was close to Aurora, conveniently located and comfortable.
Jen, Ela and I visited the Denver Art Museum on Sat. and Ela charmed all the visitors, smiling and waving. The cultural plaza is a beautifully designed place. Denver reminds me of the Chicago suburbs and is a sprawling city without too much character.
We ended our stay with dinner at a Burmese place which ended up being a both in an International Food Court consisting of 5 small stalls in an old JC Penney’s building.
Our morning hike was at south Crested Butte near Taylor Creek. The day got hot around 11 so this was followed by ice cream for lunch- why not?
With everyone acclimated to the altitude, we took an evening hike on Teddys Trail which is an offshoot of the Snodgrass Trail just outside of Crested Butte. At sunset, the low light on the hills are magnificent. We walked about 1/3 of the trail, encountered horses, and thoroughly enjoyed this ending of our visit.
It was a lazy day, beginning with breakfast outside at Paradise Cafe. We lingered over coffee while Ela slept in the carrier. At 10, it was cool and we wandered through the quaint downtown, browsing in the shops and the many art galleries.
We ventured home when it got warm and spent the afternoon napping, playing with Ela and relaxing. We ventured out for a delicious dinner at Ryce Asian Fusion, Ela attracting the attention of many people who wave and smile at her. We were startled to see signs of a wildfire, billowy white and orange smoke rising up over the nearby mountain. By the time we were headed home, the news reported a wildfire between Gunnison and Crested Butte, started by a lightning strike. The regular lightning storms, not always accompanied by rain, are a real threat to the dry landscape. Colorado needs rain. We hope the fire does not bring smoke and dies not affect our drive to Denver on Friday as there are not many options for routes out of Crested Butte.
We started the morning with a grocery run, French toast, and plans to go in search of wildflowers. The volunteer at the visitor’s center was helpful but by noon, the temperature was already close to 80 degrees. That plus the strong sun and altitude made walking unpleasant. Crested Butte is beautiful, surrounded by green peaks and pine forests. Much of the wildflowers we’re past their prime so we found a shady spot under the bridge, had our picnic lunch and went back to the house.
Dinner at the house was followed by ice cream and a nice cool walk at Mt. Crested Butte Lodge and ski area.
Our original plan to meet Jen and family in Crested Butte was thwarted when Czarek got called for jury duty. Jen chose to come alone with Ela. Not wanting her to make the 4 hr drive from Denver to CB by herself, we volunteered to pick her up in Denver. The plan became more complicated as she had to return her rental car. We left Basalt at 8 am consolidating our luggage to make space for Jen, Ela (with car seat) and their bags.
The 3 hr drive went quickly as we passed much of the same road we had covered in the last week.
Arriving at her hotel downtown, I stayed with Ela while Ray went with her to gather the car seat and load up the car. We waited a couple of hours in the room and lobby as she drove to the Denver Airport and returned by train. Packed to the roof, we set off on what felt like an eternity. Driving long distance with a baby, we realized, is not like a couple’s roadtrip. Making stops prolongs the drive and the altitude changes made Ela’s ears uncomfortable. She was a trooper but the last hour was difficult for her and we all felt so sad for her. We stopped for dinner at a pizza pasta restaurant in Gunnison and she became her cherry self again.
We finally arrived at the vrbo at dusk. Ela at 9 months is a total delight, crawling with glee around exploring all the rooms. We had a few hitches- the house did not have ac, but we were able to cool it down by opening windows. The pack and play turned out to be a large playpen without sheets, but we made do and called it a night.
We did some exploring in the morning, driving up past the Rudi Reservoir and dam, in search of the “little fished” section of the river. We reached the fork after about 30 min and saw that it was narrow with big boulders and not very accessible. We later learned the fish are plentiful and eager. Back down by the bridge, we fished the flats. Ray caught a couple but not me. I was eagerly anticipating our guided session in the afternoon. We met Sam Merrill at 12:15 and he took us to a spot not far from the bridge, a honey hole, he called it. His line was set up with 3 flies, the top being a “worm”, rubber legs which looked like a strip of fruit roll up. He taught us to be sensitive to the indicator and to fish with very little line. I pulled in fish after fish and Ray caught a huge brown. What I learned is that rivers and fish are very different in each river and knowing how to fish it is crucial. This river has shallows and fish swim all around your feet but if you don’t have the right technique, you will catch nothing. We had a fun day and it was so worth the money!
With great anticipation, we got to the river early and fished by the bridge. A guy upstream from us was catching one after another. Across the river, a young guide was with a family and the 2 kids were pulling them out without pause, seemingly with little fly casting experience and skill. What gives?? Finally I shouted out to him asking his name and fly shop, and his availability the next day. His name was Sam and he was available tomorrow afternoon. That hole was occupied all day. We left in the late afternoon and had a nice early dinner at Heather’s, chicken pot pies, yum! Taylor Creek Fly Shop sold us some itty bitty flies, nearly impossible to hold and even more so to tie on. Evening fishing was ok. I landed 2.
Beautiful scenery on the way from Woodland Park to Basalt. The highway winds through dense pine forests, up passes and past famous ski resorts – Breckinridge, Aspen, Vail etc. The continental divide at Independence Pass is the highest paved highway in the US at 12,000 ft. We walked up the path to the overlook which was breathtaking but I yearned to keep walking and went up the trail to the summit, not at all out of breath from the high altitude. The photography was exhilarating.
We arrived in at the Basalt Mountain Lodge and went out onto the Frying Pan for a short evening period of fishing.
We ended up spending more time in this canyon than we had planned. Eleven Mile Canyon is fed by cold water from the dam and stays cool and fishable when the other rivers and lakes were not. It is beautiful and I walked sections of it. We had some but not huge success.
The heat wave is still on and the river was running warm. According to Landon, morning fishing is not possible because the sun heats up the water very quickly and by 10 or 11 is too warm. Typically afternoon clouds and thunderstorms will cool the water so that by 3 or 4 pm it is more favorable. We met up with him at 1 and he took us to the Dream Stream. We could see dark clouds as we walked, thunder in the distance but we trusted that Landon knew when to leave the area.
It was an intense afternoon, rushing from spot to spot. I think Landon was determined we catch fish and didn’t know how long we would have on the river. Obviously conditions were not normal and were definitely unpredictable. Landon equates what we were doing to hunting- he spots fish and we cast out over the fish trying to entice it. I was alternating between a dry fly set up and a nymph rig, going after a fish he saw underwater. I hooked one and we went running up and downstream, following the fish, with him holding my waders so I wouldn’t fall. I felt my arm burn as I tried to hold on, keeping tension on the rod and reeling him in. Finally, we brought it in the net. It was a huge brown trout! Next it was Ray’s turn and he and Landon went racing downstream. He also caught a nice size brown.
Just as quickly as it started, the fish stopped biting and the water temperature was 72, so we ended our fishing and left. Unfortunately our 2 day booking ended up being only 2 half days, but such is fishing, you never know what weather and fishing conditions will be like.
We left home sat morning and drove for two days through record high temperatures in Nevada and Utah that were 100-106 degrees. Colorado was cooler but also unseasonably hot, 86 degrees at elevations of 8500-9000ft. we learned that it had been a long winter with lots of snow, which quickly switched to a heat wave. We drove through Grand Junction, through the impressive Gleneood Canyon, over the pass at Vail up to 12,000 ft and past the continental divide. It is a beautiful state.
It is Tuesday and today we met up with our guide, Landon Mayer who is well known for his books and presentations on dry fly fishing and fishing the “Dream Stream”. We met early at the town of Hartsel and followed him to Antero Reservoir, a large shallow lake surrounded by mountains and salt flats. There we attempted to chase big trout by casting to rising fish and wading the very mucky lakebed. Alas the high temperatures caused the water temperature to rise and we had to quit at noon, no fish caught today.
