Williams Fork With Kala - Flowed Out 31Aug19

We took a risk and drove to Williams Fork on  a weekend but fishing was reported decent at 100cfs flows last week. I should've done more homework as flows had doubled yesterday and were again on the rise as we arrived. Grrr... It was a nice outing if not a little buggy; I'd just wished Kala had been able to catch fish on this typically strong fishery.

Arkansas River Headwaters With Kala 29Aug19

Kala and I went fishing today! We jumped Fremont Pass into Lake County and hit the headwaters of the Arkansas River @ Hayden Meadows. We got a late start but were undaunted after a blackout in the AM and returned to the water upstream from the bridge in the PM. We saw precious little bug sign and fewer fish - but persisted and found a fruitful run where I caught some browns and Kala scored the big fish of the day with a 12" rainbow. Fun to be out together. We rambled into Leadville and shared a beer at Periodic.

Clear Ck On The Run 28Aug19

I'd gone down to Den to meet Paul Caragher and visit Matt and on the way back out to Summit I stopped very briefly on a very warm mid-day just in Clear Ck Canyon below the quarry. I caught one tiny fish and turned some others over with a little green Chubby Chernobyl but ultimately packed up and headed through the tunnel to dine with Kala.

Climbing To Lost Lk In The EN Wild 26Aug19

Kala and I took out from Wheeler Jct parking near the SR91 bridge over I70 on a stout climb into the EN Wild of the Gore Range - yet another entrance trail to our awesome home wilderness. We started late but headed out at 11:15am or so out 5.2 mi from parking, and up 2300 ft to Lost Lk. We passed the Wheeler Lks folks (and junction), oversaw Copper and the 10 Mile Range and even peaked over past Leadville. We slowed as we reached our objective below Uneva Pk, but made it a bit after 2pm. I laced the rod while Kala explored the Gore Trail. I turned over some nice cutthroats with ants, Adams and smaller but I either didn't close or they didn't... rejections were clear. I stalked along the  lakeshore watching the drop-off for cruisers and Kala and I both saw this orangish and largish cutty every 15 min or so on this decently deep but small lake. I saw ~6 cruisers on my observations. There was a guy across the lake who could cast and had a cool dog who'd been there since 8am and was totally frustrated but pleased as he finally caught a fish as I observed. I made my way to the inlet streams and saw the bigger cruiser again. I tied on red - a royal coachman dry and dropped a red-headed nymph (as the guy just caught his on a reddish Amy's Ant), as I didn't want to go too big for the brute. It worked! I landed the biggest fish I saw cruising - he gobbled the coachman; it's ~20" and I handed it without a net. This made the extra effort on the trail worth it for me and I was stoked Kala made the full trek as I would not have left her if we needed to bail. We had lunch after my flies flew in a tree from another strike. And then we got back down, but it's not easy. Celebration at ORB with a nice new Stray IPA and the venerable Steezy DDH. Fabulous hike, spectacular weather, wondrous hiking buddy, gr8 20" CO cutthroat (perhaps the biggest of these I've caught but I did larger at 11 Mile - I'm just unsure of the exact cutty sub-species).

Fishin' Boyz On Arkansas & Gore 22Aug19

The Brown-Hubbs boyz wanted to fish again so we hatched a plan to hit the headwaters of the Arkansas at Hayden Meadows right below Leadville. We got a good start but did not catch much - but I scored some small browns on a green drake nymph (though we did not experience a hatch).  The flows are a little higher here @ ~120cfs than what I'm used to but that couldn't explain the low take of our awesome offers. We dined stream side contemplating our next move, and my broken Winston, as a storm approached.

We decided to head to the Gore for the PM and through Leadville hit Periodic Brewing of course. It was a stormy drive up SR24 up to Minturn but very pretty. We arrive about 1pm and I did my normal guide thing - "here are the bugs, cast there for some good fish, see ya - I'm fishing." In cases it worked and others not so much. The DCEZ WD40 I tie almost exclusively for this stream did it's work for Richard and me... he caught a nice 16" cut bow and I caught some browns. We danced in 80cfs near the mouth with the Eagle River before continuing the brewery tour at VBC.

We then headed upstream to the Dawg Park. I reloaded lines and pointed at the river then set out to find my fish. I did ok and this time I caught the 16" cut bow (with a broken jaw) and some more browns.

Good times.

Ride & Sail With Steve And Richard 21Aug19

My friend and neighbor here in Silverthorne, Steve Brown (Omaha), is here in Summit with his good friend Richard Hubbs (MN). We're taking the chance to do some stuff. Steve and I rode the Natl Forest while Hubbs recovered some before sailing this day. We had a fine ride where I bettered my prior outing - it was enhanced by Steve's toting a beer to the summit above Frisco and the lake.

In the PM we sailed the Dillon Rez aboard Mon Ami in frequently good and frequently weak winds and then enjoyed a Pug Ryan beer @ the Tiki Bar and dinner @ Steve's.

Dropping In With Brown & Hubbs 20Aug19

Kala headed down mountain for appointments and I headed out to the Jurassic Pk section of the Blue with Steve Brown and friend Richards Hubbs. I performed my normal extremely mediocre guiding duties... lending a smidge of advice, a few flies and ties and otherwise fishing my own ass off. We arrived to 500+cfs and challenging wading. Bug sign was everywhere with tiny midges @ 9am, followed by tons of other mayflies including green drakes, PMDs, and BWOs throughout the day. I turned a really big one over on a drake but really just caught smaller on dries. These were joined by many caddis, mostly brown, all day. Awesome.  Outperformers underneath were my green drake nymphs, my PMD variant of BHFBPT, and blue head Destiny's Child (FOD). I caught many rainbows, cutbows and browns in the ~17" range, like these, and while stocky, nothing bigger came to net. My mates didn't fair as well but did have fish on the line and enjoyed the incredible canyon vibe.

Hike & Bike Surprise & O-Uv... 3rd Time's A Charm 18Aug19-19Aug19

Kala led me through a hike up Surprise Trail over in the Natl Forest directly from the house. The network of trails near us is much bigger than I knew and it's all been recently marked with the help of the Summit MTB Club. We'd tried 2 prior times to take the route Kala finally found - the errors were taking a bridge too soon rather than one 50 fit further on the creek... sheesh. The the 4.3mi/600ft vert result is keen views of Frisco and the Lake from the ridge aligned with I70, a walk through awesome new growth pine forest and more.

The hike was great and spurred me to mostly repeat it - but on my Broadaxe. I went down Warden, over Sluice, up So-Uv, down Surprise, up bushwhacking and up Warden. I went a bit further and higher and lower than the hike and was basically in reverse on the looping part. The trail is rock-strewn and not too comfy on the hardtail but doable. It was good to be back on the bike but I'm none too fit or healthy for such endeavors as the 5 miles and 800ft took me an hour, and a number of stops.

Mountain Town Music With Kala 17Aug19

Kala & I took in the Mountain Town Music Fest @ Keystone today. Awesome stuff from some eclectic bands. We stayed for the first three: Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal (2017 Voice Finalist - funk & soul), Jared & The Mill (PHX-based alt country band), and The Brothers Comatose (SF-based Bluegrass). Kala liked the 2nd guys best where I heard Gin Blossoms and Peacemakers in a distinct southwestern rock & roll sound... but I liked the 3rd band most where I heard angry bluegrass with awesome strings and some tougher than normal bluegrass lyrics. They even played a duet with a 9 year old from the audience which was actually good. The afternoon was awesome with Palisade peach items and some other good food and great beers I smuggled in collaborations from ORB in my pack. We did not stay for the Strumbellas but no matter, I was with Kala in Summit Co where we found our personal great seats at a live music festival.

Soul Colossal

Jared & The Mill

Brothers Comatose