Rockin' ROMO Natl Pk With Kala 18Sep22-21Sep22

Kala & I finally got a rez @ RMNP for our semi-normal fall outing there. Weather is awesome but warmth put off most of the colors for another week or so. It did not put off the fish, or hikes, or elk. We had a great time in our 1st time on B loop with the BC20X - B170 was not a great site but keen Mississippi neighbors and a reasonable remoteness from others left us feelin' good. We arrived on Sunday (mostly against traffic ~ woohoo) at check-in and headed to the BigT for the 90 min of fishing remaining before Moraine Pk closes for the elk @ 5pm. We both caught browns on chubbies in astounding surroundings and felt satisfied to then sit back and observe the show from a distant position this time... that was fine as there'd be more.

For the BigT in Moraine Pk I chose to cast the recently completed "glass" Rodfather Pure Irony. It was a blast, and as mentioned in the build post, a slight reduction in cadence yields a bomb shot if needed. I did catch a lot of grass heads in this meadow stream however... and lost multiple rigs in the stream-bank weeds or unknown grass-head. On one such occasion I had to lay flat on my chest and reach over into the stream ~ I got the fly but later learned I'd lost my midge box somewhere on the stream! I went back 2 days later and found it. Fortunate as that was, when reviewing footage I saw exactly where I'd lost it; it's hard to believe I didn't see it there (as I now do).

We chowed on yummy ribeye & blue cheese sammies that night back at camp. And we then rested well in the BC20X with the windows cracked. The next morning we brewed our DazBog and enjoyed berries in the rising light as we laid the hiking plan for the day: drive and shuttle into Bear Lk, hike to Dream and Emerald Lks and then find fish there. We added a Bear Lk loop when down to the THs here again. RMNP is simply awesome. I did catch a pic of some of the only Aspen color showing thus far. It's windy up there and I caught a tightly twisted pine from the effects.

 

We went straight to Emerald Lk (3rd selfie H2O pic above & the pan) ~2mi up and then trundled back to Dream Lk where it's (im)possible to catch a triple. I saw mostly cruising Colorado cutthroats and they were well educated. Many raced to my bug and then rejected it ~ I think they were sipping #26s but I ultimately scored with a mostly translucent #22 mayfly. Whew. My NC in-laws love waterfalls so I sent them a pic of the mighty Tyndall Ck falls at the Dream Lk effluent.

Back @ B170 we enjoyed our infamous fajitas on the skottle, and some weird Blue Curacao margs. We finished in time to hit Moraine Pk for the elk rut and scored with very close herd activities. The bull was a big boy with a big >12 point rack and ~40 cows in keep. A couple of youngsters ventured somewhat close but were easily chased off by "the dude." We slept well again ~ thanking Airstream for a built-in bathroom on the Basecamp.

With a good hike under our belts and some fish on the lines, though I was freaking out a bit about the missing fly box, we headed down to the BigT in Moraine to look for it. Super lucky success! We fished a bit more there and I encountered "the dude" again pretty close, just hanging out across the river from me, and I caught some more brownies on chubbies and caddis (and lost more rigs). Returning to grab the Crusher Too and continue chill day, we headed to some Glacier Basin spots mostly unvisted by us prior. They were close to parking lots and CGs so plenty of folk, but we picnicked comfortably near Glacier Ck, but did not fish it (no sign), and then tried our rods on Sprague Lk. The inlet to Sprague was teeming with spawning brookies (tough pic without polarizing lens). We were skunked at Sprague but saw more elk there and headed back to Moraine Pk for salmon canapes and bubbly with blackcurrants for dinner.

We decided that night we'd head out the next morning, due to a change in the weather. So, the next AM Kala's camper training was completed with a black-water pump-out on the way out of MPCG. We were fortunate we did not hit rain till Boulder. Another GR8 fall trip to RMNP... see ya next year.