Headwaters Of The Rio Grande 16Jul22-19Jul22

Kala and I went camping together for the first time in a bit. We headed to the San Juans near Creede and camped at Marshall Park, right on the Rio Grande. We were in the heart of the Rio Grande headwaters at the end of the San Luis valley. It was awesome and we had a great time, despite the regular PM deluges. On the way we stopped in Alamosa for lunch at the San Luis Valley Brewing Company taproom. I'd enjoyed their stuff at some festivals so stopping  by in person was a bonus. The two IPAs we chose were meh - too malty and sweet. Food was fine. Good vibe though.

Notably there are just two roads on this trip and just one turn in Walsenburg, from I25 to CO160 or the reverse. Moving on to 160 W for ~160 miles we paralleled the gorgeous Rio Grande river through the valley, including South Fork and Del Norte, and then pulled into the mining town of Creede. Very cool. There are just as many ATVs and rod vaults here as there are humans.

We kindof U-turned in Creede after crossing the RG and continued on 160 on the other side of the river to our #8 (of 15) campsite at Marshall Park CG right on the Rio Grande. Our campsite was great and our concern for generator operating hours melted when we leaned it to be from 6am to 10pm, no exceptions (bur for our neighbor on the final days, who ran it everyday, 24hrs/day).

Camp setup was quick but the storms came soon after and we chose to hang at camp rather than try our hand fishing on the RG. Bedtime came early after the 4 hour drive ~ but we had solid cell coverage in Marshall Park. We made killer steak sammies with fries for dinner and slept well.

The rain notably stained the river pale green, we noted on arrival, and observed in the morning, which was spectacular with clear skies and great sunshine @ ~9Kft elevation. I chose we'd fish the Coller SWA access points, below Wagon Wheel gap, ~30min downstream from camp, on our first real day ont he water. The Rio Grande is a tailwater fishing like a freestone, much like the Ark... Big Meadows rez high up near Wolf Ck Pass holds back some but 100s of miles of water flow free below that. We 1st hit lower Coller SWA with clear river improvements dotting the river like diamonds. Unfortunately we still had the stain in the river... calling for big bugs, I tied us on some big #12 chubbies and drowned some stones and midges underneath. Wading was doable on this strong flowing big water ~ but it's wide and relatively shallow at Coller. I caught a number of fish but totally outgunned the run with Rodfather T5 5wt and Colorado 6wt rods I chose, whereas the catch was smallish. I know there are some big browns here somewhere but I didn't find them on this day. Flows have recently dropped to ~380cfs from Big Meadows rez upstream.

We lunched well riverside as some others launched plastic crafts and planned to float to South Fork for fun. It is a mellow, and non-raging river at this point already. The elevation loss from our site  20 mi away to here was only ~400 ft or so - I'm not used to that meager rake. We broke lunch camp and moved upstream but observed the same stain so we just returned to camp to fish the campground area and upstream, and hide under the canopy as rain fell in the PM. Here the river was narrower and rockier and wading was more difficult. I danced but did fine and scored plenty more fish, but again smallish. Though, I hooked a 17"er but lost him downstream.

We pulled out the stops and deployed the skottle for our 2nd dinner at Marshall Pk. Kala sue chefed an awesome mix of veggies and chilis and I stir-fried a tasty Asian-centric dinner of noodles and veggies in spice. We had some margs and slept fine to the patter of rain (and our neighbor's generator) all night long. We arose again to a fine morning and laid plans to head to the fine tributary of the Rio Grande, the South Fork. We didn't push it and arrived at our first public access pullout at Highwater CG @ 9:30. We dressed and attacked through a keen field of purple XX but reached a too-steep cliff and decided to move retrack and move upstream. This is a heavily wooded and brushed area and access is a challenge. We got there however and I enjoyed some success with smaller rods like the Rodfather Lightning but similar bugs to yesterday. Flow was brisk, color was better, bottom was uneven but fun was had.

We looked for easier access to the South Fk as we climbed up to Wolf Ck Pass for a hike there we'd planned. We let out from the pass almost straight south on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) and targeted an out and back directly above Wolf Ck Ski resort. This is the ski resort with the heaviest snowfall in CO (often >400in/year). And, WTF, I've not skied here. The snow was all gone but we had a keen lollipop hike up a ski run to the Raven's Nest and down the CDT to the car at Wolf Ck Pass. The wildflowers were more prevalent up here and larger than those we encounter in Summit, even in the alpine. We blew off more fishing but as we declined into South Fork we chose to dine at Ramon's for Mex "lunch;" it was tasty and worth the stop even though the relleno wasn't up to snuff.

 

As seen from storm clouds, we judiciously headed again to Marshall Park. And again I fished the "hood" by dancing on rocks and through downed trees aplenty and streamside willows galore. This is wilder country than most Front Range fishing, for sure.

The skies broke open and with lightening all around close I exited the water and clamored my way back to camp, drenched. It stormed hard again for hours but our plan for leftovers was perfect. My "on the way home" plan was to hit the gold medal section of the Rio Grande between South Fork and Del Norte but the storm and water conditions didn't warrant a stop. We have the Haine family tomorrow and returned to COS in quick stead to prep. Awesome camp trip despite the weather.