Colorado (Part II)

The Great Plains behind us, the highway tilted upwards as we passed Buffalo Bill’s Grave and began our ascent into the Rockies. The initial climb takes you up the Front Range as you look back over Denver and the surrounding areas. Eventually you reach the peak and plunge back down again into the Clear Creek Valley. Like any highway through the mountains, I-70 then tracks right through the narrow valley that the waters had forged over millions of years. You pass small mining towns and get a glimpse into what this area was like at the turn of the century.

Finally, the highway begins another steep pitch up to Loveland Pass. In the winter time you can get held up here for hours by pounding snow storms and eager skiers. We, however, fly up the pass, through the tunnel and into Summit County: Colorado’s Playground. You get a great view of the Dillion Lake Valley before the highway plunges downwards as you head towards the ski mountains and surrounding towns. You wind through the towns of Dillion and Frisco, through Officer’s Gulch, past Copper Mountain and up eventually up Vail Pass, which leads you down into the Vail Valley.

We met Jake at his newly bought condo in West Vail along with girlfriend Jackie, roommate Nikki and her boyfriend Charlie and headed straight for Pazzo’s Pizza. Again, I won’t go on a food rant but if you are in Vail, eat here. They have amazing pizza and play really good live music. Having not eaten much since Salvaggio’s that morning we chowed down pretty hard on a few large pies. Exhausted after dinner, we crashed in Jake’s soon-to-be-fully-developed guest room.

The next day (Monday the 1st of October), was described by Ellie has her “ideal day.” I’ll give it to you in bulleted form:

- Woke up at 8
- Ellie and I went down to Vail Village for some fresh ground coffee.
- Met up with Jake back at his place and the three of us went to yoga at the Vail Athletic Club. Ellie is flexible. Jake and I are not.
- Met up with Jackie and Skyler (their rambunctious dog), changed into hiking apparel and did the Pitkin Lake Trail in East Vail.
- Went back to the Vail Athletic Club and soaked in their outdoor hot tubs for a while. This was awesome.
- Showered and went into Vail Village where Vail Sports was having a 50% off sale which meant total steals on gear. Jake, Ellie and I were all very happy customers. The highlights were new hiking boots for Ellie and me and Jake scored some new biking shorts.
- Had a beer at the Red Lion.
- Went to Chuck’s (my college roommate) house to watch the Patriots trounce the Bengals and the Rockies clinch a playoff spot all while feasting on chili made by Chuck’s girlfriend, Heather. She’s from Kansas City so this was legit chili. Anyone around us for the following 12 hours can verify this.
- Went to bed.

Solid day. Here are some pictures from the hike and Vail.

The next morning we took Jake and Jackie out to lunch at the Route 6 Café in Eagle Vail to feast on some good America breakfasts. We really enjoyed the guy in the Yankee jersey that walked in and said to his buddy, “This place is like an authentic diner.” Don’t get much by Yankee’s fans. Anyway, we decided to end our streak of “consecutive days going on a hike in Colorado” at four and headed for Silverthorne where our plan was to go to the outlet malls, have a beer at the Dam Brewery and then see “The Kingdom.” Well, as Jake said, “outlet malls are hit or miss…and today we missed,” so we bailed on that early and went to get coffee at a Border’s books that probably has the best view of any Border’s in the country. We also were pretty sure that the waitress at the Route 6 café had given us decaf since all four of us were really sluggish despite downing a few cups of joe at breakfast. It was a much needed pick-me-up. The view...

Getting back on plan, we headed for the Dam Brewery and saddled up at the bar to sample some of their brews. We also ordered three plates of their infamous wings and made a late lunch of them. The weather had really turned a corner for the better since the morning so we felt like slobs for going to a movie so we did the logical thing and ordered another round…

But after that we headed down to Lake Dillion to take a walk on the path that surrounds it and take in the mountain air. Even though its man-made, Lake Dillion has to be one of the prettier lakes around. It fills the majority of the valley as its lined with mountainous peaks, two sets forming Keystone and Breckenridge ski areas. Here we said goodbye to Jake and Jackie and headed for the Garnsey’s Breckenridge house where we would spend the next two nights. Here are some pics of our walk around Lake Dillion…

Later that night, I realized that I had not bought a fishing license, despite the fact I planned on going the next morning. This was a problem. Yes, I could probably get away without being checked by a ranger but that’s not how I like to roll. We checked around town and nothing was open since its October, the major downtime for all mountain towns. The hardware stores were closed and the guy with a bull ring in his nose and full camo at the gas station was of no help. Luckily, with positive vibes from El, we found that they actually sold them at the super market. So nine dollars later, (it was five when I used to guide here) I was legal and ready to go the next morning.

6 AM rolled around faster than I wanted so after a snooze or two on the alarm, I had a coffee in hand and was heading for Hoosier Pass. From there I would drive down to Harsel and catch the middle fork of the South Platte river as it made its journey from the mountain springs, to its four huge reservoirs, to Denver and eventually on to the Platte River in Nebraska which we had followed on our journey from Iowa, less than a week before. The area that I was going to was also known as South Park and while I didn’t see Cartman or Kyle running around, it was funny to drive through these towns and get what inspired many episodes of the cartoon. Lots of gun racks…

Anyway, I got on the water shortly there after and had a nice day fishing the stream that drains out of Spinny Resevoir, one of the four the South Platte fills. It took me a little while to get back into the Colorado stream mindset as I have really spent the better part of the last four years fishing in Poseidon’s backyard with Captain Lane off the coast of Cape Cod. With a little seining, branch shaking and rock turning, I was eventually onto the current hatch, yet still searching the fly boxes for the perfect match.

When folks find out that I know how to fly fish, they typically want me to teach them to cast. If you are coordinated with good strength, fly casting is something that should not take a great deal of time to learn. It’s a back and forth rhythm and once you realize that you’re casting the line, not the rod, it becomes very easy. The problem is, you’ve only learned about 5% of fly fishing. The rest is mostly science which is what appealed to me when I was 14 and still does today. Instead of throwing out a big shiny piece of metal with a hook on the end, as is the case with most spin fishing, when going for trout (in a heavily fished river for that matter), you’ll need to be smart about figuring out EXACTLY what the fish are keying on. If a certain bug is flying around you and landing on the water, this may be a good indication of what the fish are eating but if you tie on a fly that resembles that bug, you may find yourself getting frustrated since the fish are actually eating the aquatic version of that same mayfly. I’ll stop there. Its science.

Anyway, after filling half my drying patch with failed fly patterns and the air with dirty curse words, I finally went back to an old faithful. There is an old saying in Colorado fly fishing that you only really need six flies in your fly box. (Yes I realize this totally contradicts what I said in the previous paragraph. These old timers were talking about the days before you stood shoulder to shoulder with other fisherman and the trout got wary and picky.) If you had a wolly bugger (looks sort of like a minnow), a parachute adams (mosquito), a bead head nymph (an aquatic version of a mayfly), an elk hair caddis (an airborn bug), a copper john (another aquatic version of mayfly) and I don’t remember the sixth, you could catch fish on any water in Colorado. So as it turned out, I didn’t need to be a smarty pants about the fishing and only needed fly number five, the copper john. Once I tied this guy on below a bead head nymph, I was picking up a fish every ten casts or so, no beasts but all fun rainbows. I actually also saw a few pairs of large brown trout spawning on the sand beds as well. I love Colorado fishing. Here is a little guy and some scenery…

I met El (I was late, the fishing was good) back at the house later that afternoon and we ran into town to do some errands (Jball!) and get coffee. This is also when Colorado Part I was posted. After this we decided to get in an evening hike so we toured one of the many trails that go from the Garnsey’s back yard on Boreas Pass Road. The trail was shared by mountain bikers so you had to keep your head up or you would be in for a surprise as some badass came bearing down on you from the trail above. Anyway, here is a pic…

We cooked a delicious trout dinner that night (store bought, I am a catch and release guy) and prepared the car for our journey the next day. This night really served as the halfway point of our trip. For the previous two weeks we have gone to places we have been to before and stayed with friends each time. The second half of our trip is going to be very different. We now will head southwest to Taos, Santa Fe, Sedona and the Grand Canyon where we will camp and probably be on our own for the most part. It is very exciting but it was necessary to hit the reset button with out road trip operations and get ready for some camping. Having the Garnsey’s Breckenridge house allowed us to do just that and for that we really want to thank them. Having a place to ourselves for two days was so key in getting ready for the second part of our journey, a halftime, if you will. Thanks Georgia and Woody!

We went to bed Wednesday night, ready to point the compass south the next day…