Ark Tailwater & Freestone - Meh 25Oct18-26Oct18

Scott Brantley and I headed out on the PT on a gorgeous day. While the company, sunshine and beers were great, the fishing was not. We saw bug sign but the river was below 60cfs and very murkey. I did catch several brown trout fry (no pics) and a couple of 13"er rainbows - probably year 2 guys.

On Friday the forecast was good again and GL's report was that it was decent up high so I figured lower & warmer in the canyon would be fine. Nope, the rain must've still been affecting clarity as the water was plenty low but cold and murky in the AM at Pinnacle Rock. I packed up after one pass and headed upstream to Rincon where I did catch just a couple of 12"er browns. I saw little bug sign despite 62° day (but still cold water) but did see plenty of evidence that the brown spawn is on... many redds but only one fully occupied - see dark spots over finned out lighter rocks. I left early maybe missing an afternoon hatch.

Golfing With My Gal 22Oct18

Kala and I hit the links at King's Deer on a gorgeous but windy day. Afterward we hit the Brass Tap for dinner and found a really tasty IPA from Lord Hobo called BoomSauce - worth it.

Redemption With Odd Sizes 17Oct18

While flows remain "too low" @ 60 cfs and the lake churn makes the river very turbid, I was still able to catch some nice fish on the Ark at the PT section. I cannot see many fish but they are there. The day was colder than expected as I jumped out of the car at 37° and it was overcast all day, though it did warm up to 53° or so. Redemption refers to my previously losing 5 straight and this time landing all the "big" ones. Odd sizes refers to my catching fish 15", 17" and 19" among the many fry. The 19" (measure shot below) was especially strong and thick). I observed clear BWO sign in the AM and PM and midges in the AM. Best producing flies were the Silver Surfer & Destiny's Child for mayflies (#22) and the Candy Cane & Grey Vinyl KF for midges (#24). I caught the largest fish upstream from the Valco Ponds.

Some CoWWs On The Ark Tailwater 12Oct18

What a difference a day makes - weather was really nice and ultimately hit 65°. We fished the Valco Ponds area first; unfortunately it was a bit crowded, especially in a key hole which fished very well for me yesterday - we couldn't even get in to try it. Flows were again 60cfs and the fall BWOs were in the air @ 9am and again at 4pm. We had a  good time, Jim caught quite a few and Scott was one with the river. We had some tasty beers (Trellis Buster & Tricerahops) and sammies for lunch. I did OK catching a 16", a 17" and an 18" male that looked keen in spring-like gold and red colors and even a kype jaw. Best bugs were the #22 RS2, Destiny's Child, and Silver Surfer. Despite low flows, the water is pretty turbid and pale green - fishing should improve as the sediment and fauna settle out. The camera had some fogging issues early.

Recon @ The PT: Big Guys 6 - Dave Zero 11Oct18

Back on the Front Range meant wintry mix during this outing to the PT, my first in many months. I'll have a team tomorrow so I still went down to check conditions given just 60cfs flows and the recent spate of cold weather. I arrived @ 2pm and fished for 4 hours; I observed decent bug sign of the #22 fall mayflies and smaller midges coming off while I was there. I caught one decent 16" rainbow on my first cast (on an RS2), so I was stoked for a strong afternoon. However I didn't catch more, except for fry, till hours later. Then, I hooked into 6 good fish and lost every one during the fights. All were "clever" break-offs where the fish was able to get to a log or a rock and catch my line on it. Sheesh. Nonetheless, I deemed it decent enough to comeback tomorrow.

Free Solo 08Oct18

We all know Alex Honnold's accomplishments free soloing big walls. Kala & I saw Free Solo last night at the Kimball... simply a gr8 must-see movie. Some of Alex's capabilities are explained along the way, and shots of climbing are spectacular, plus, the Kimball is cool.

Jurassic In The Cold 07Oct18

I dropped onto the Blue River @ Green Mtn today... I left during sunshine and 45° and drove into a cloud bank north of town and it was 35° and foggy as I went to the river. Sheesh. I bundled up for the first time this fall - even used gloves. Fishing was OK on RS2s and grey midges. I caught a couple nice, strong 18" rainbows but the 2nd one was lost at the end of a decent fight. I caught a bunch of small browns too. The Green Mtn Rez is really low and the Blue River inlet is flowing 55cfs while the effluent is flowing 250cfs so its still declining steadily. Oh yeah - found a nice Hazy, Totally Chill, from a Portland Brewery, HUB.

Return To Colorado and Some Long Term Gear Reviews 05Oct18

It was great to hike the parks of southern Utah but it is very nice as well to be back in Colorado. We are pleased to have real beers again; we are grateful to no longer endure kitschy cowboy decor; we are more comfortable without the ever-present influence of LDS; we are thankful for a hot tub where we can work out the aches; we are pleased to have real pizza. Kala & I first stopped in Fruita in CO (not far across the border) @ the excellent Hot Tomato for pizza and beer and fine Colorado biking decor...

Coming off a vacation like the Utah NPs one prompts me to also offer some long term gear reviews - simple things really, but those I depended on and which performed gr8 every day. First is my 1.5 yr old RTIC cooler ($80)... this soft sided Yeti knockoff keeps stuff colder than my bigger steel and plastic coolers with 4 cold packs. The only downside is that there isn't a valve to release water (hence my exclusive use of cold packs in this beauty). I use this daily for fishing lunches with beer and soda as well as daily on the road for everything else.

Next up is my 4 yr old Osprey Raptor 14/3L hydration day pack ($100). It is perfect and stable for mtn biking but useful daily for day hiking too. I've been noticing a lot of Osprey out on the trails now and bully to them, a Colorado company, for upsetting the staid market with great designs. The Raptor and their other designs are worthy, comfortable, hydration bladder superior, fully suspended, and best of all reliable. I think I might need to clean mine in the washer soon though.

Third is my amazing 15 yr old Canon PowerShot Pro One (~$350 long ago) automatic zoom camera. Despite my owning much better 35mm bodies and lenses - the weight and range of this camera is the go to when the phone-cam is just not good enough. Killer optics with 7X zoom, a simple UI, reliability and low weight, and gr8 results place this item in the car all the time. The only downside of this aged weapon is the response time of focusing.

Now simply... socks. As a hiker, biker, fisherman and the like, socks which are warm/cool, comfortable, long-lasting and dry are key. Never go short on socks. Two years ago I switched from SmartWool to Point 6 merino wool (yep another CO company) and performance and fit are superior. Here's my hiking preference when going with low-top shoes, the medium weight hiker in short length. They even mark each sock at the cuff so if you buy many weights and sizes (like our family now) you can actually sort them out. Watch out SmartWool.

Shades are also critical and to be appreciated in depth. They've gotta be cool, killer transparent in optics, comfortable, scratch-resistent, available in prescription and fit/feel great. I've had many coolers and choose my 2 yr old Costa Mantas with grey iridescent lenses (~$300) for my driving, hiking  and almost all uses now (including river fishing 50% of the time). I chose grey for the true color reads and I chose Costa when a mate, Rob Haine, alerted me to their quality. Awesome on this recent trip.

Not for everyone, but why not? My 2 yr old $8 (China/Amazon) remote shutter selfie stick (with $30 Apple lightening adapter) is critical to include yourself and friends, and surroundings, in an image from your phone-cam. It's been good so far and I bought a pack of 3 just in case; why not? Didn't go Bluetooth for latency and pairing issues - one can't beat hard wiring for reliability.

One key piece of the kit is camera carry technology; I have tried many - from chest harnesses, wrist carry, in-the-backpack, over-the-shoulder and on & on. My 18 mo old Peak Design Capture Pro (~$70) is the shizzle. It is light and durable aluminum with definite holding power, easy access and versatile installation and use. I primarily secure it to my pack shoulder strap (as shown above) and have "boots" for my big cams, GoPro Hero and Pro One to attach it. Completely awesome and discovered after a long set of trials of other schemes. I use this 
boot to also to set my cameras on tripods now, so I don't have to remove the custom boot.

Boot utility, for feet, of course, depend most on fit - choose wisely. I do choose waterproof and will typically use GoreTex as experience with other fabrics has been quite variable. My choices of the  1 yr old Arcteryx Bora2 GTX (~$250) for mid-tops (long hikes or backpacking on tough terrain) and the 2 yr old Patagonias (~$100) or  3 yr old Lowa Renegade GTXs (f~$140) for low-tops are for fit 1st, gummy rubber soles 2nd, weight and shank 3rd. I can say that all these are worthy of going long, every day... with or without "custom" inserts. Patagonias (discontinued) did all the damage on the Utah hikes - I floated like a goat.

Hiking Angels Landing in Zion NP 04Oct18

With the team done or beat up I decided to climb the iconic and strenuous Angels Landing solo. This was a straight vert climb up numerous switchbacks to a fin with two cabled and very narrow ridgelines even higher to the summit. Up ~4Kft over 2.5 miles. It was a blast but very hard. Check the selfie taken at the top with a 2500 ft cliff to the valley floor. The ridgeline fin climbs are shown #1 behind me (brim forward) and #2 behind me (brim backward). Whew. Kala got me the sticker and t-shirt for finishing this one alive.