I Chose Poorly But Enjoyed The Day Anyway 12 May17

We were headed to Boulder for our monthly dinner date with Tom & Leslie but the nice weather beckoned me to fish in the AM... Hmmm, 11 Mile or PT? Both tailwaters would be ok after rain had subsided 8 hours earlier. I checked the flows and both were great. PT is closer. I chose poorly - the river was milky green on arrival but I was undeterred and rigged up (out of Valco to begin for a change). I hooked up pretty quickly but didn't close, behind the diamonds above the deep pool at the parking lot I was broken off on a rock by a decent but clever cutbow - and finished my cross of the river to get the sun on my back. I noticed more & more stuff floating downstream in front of me; the river was rising. I heard the siren and it was unleashed while I was caught on the north bank. I quickly found a stick and recrossed to head out - fortunately I made it. Here's the big weir with submerged log above Valco on the way up, just after I'd re-crossed. The flows increased from 380cfs to >4000cfs! I got home early and spun out a 20 miler with Kala then headed to Boulder. We needed to avoid 3 accidents on each of I25, 470 and even #85 as we approached 470 - we went around the south and west of Chattfield Rez on backroads. We had a great Italian meal in Boulder then I got to play one of my rare rounds of golf with Tom on his home course, The Flatirons. We drove up to Summit then to help commission Mon Ami and do so maintenance stuff. OMG Clear Ck Canyon was packed with hikers, kayakers, fishermen and gawkers - always a pretty cool drive.