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.

Wild Basin Pack & Peak & Fish Trip 24Jul20-26Jul20

Awesome, 'cept for some weather. Tom Wilke (our leader), Tom Resman (the summit mate), Greg Lehmann (master cutthroater) and I backpacked in to the Wild Basin section of RMNP Friday. We had a blast toting our gear just ~2mi to our Hole-In-The-Wall backcountry campsite. We were alone together there thanks to efforts by Wilks to score the permit earlier in the year. Here we are after fully convened with Greg's arrival at the site and a map of some objectives.

We had a good but early night around the stoves (no campfires here!). But it all started with the Toms and Dave arriving earlier for the climb into HitW along Sandbeach trail. We had permits for overnight parking, thanks to Wilks, right at the trailhead - and the one man tents were socially distanced and bear can appointed as required.

The Toms were climbing Mt Meeker (13.9Kft) and Dave & Greg were headed off-trail for fishing @ Thunder Lk. Both aggressive trips were successful but drenched with rain. Lehmann and I hatched a plan to go off-trail after reaching the west end of Sandbeach Lk via trail direct from our campsite. We did so descending 800ft over 2 miles down two cliffs, through forest and over deadfall, and skirting two swamplands near Twin Lks to acquire the Wild Basin trail. Sandbeach Lk looked promising for cuts and had many nice campsites and people - we moved on; the bushwhack was done with skill and route-finding but the down angle left us concerned for it as a return route; Twin Lk One was choked with lily pads and looked barren while Twin Lk Two was larger and looked fruitful but - we moved on. Once on Wild Basin trail we anticipated our objective below the fierce mountain valley we were ascending.

After ~9mi of climbing, bushwhacking, and otherwise we arrived at Thunder Lk. We confirmed the claims it being a good cutthroat lake with Colorado cuts and more classic cuts caught in abundance. We met a flyfishermen who said "fish the inlet with #22 BWO dries" so we went there first (but fished real bugs) and were greeted aplenty with golden-colored CO cuts. Greg schooled me in fishing with a couple dozen on the day, on 2 different rod setups, while I mustered about a half doz or more. The inlet carried the golden cuts and the deep side of the lake (no pics) carried the more silvery, less spotted  cuts. Peacock olive chubby #14 ruled for me and Greg did well subsurface with BHFBPT soft-hackle. A great day, even in the rain, but after 3.5hrs we needed to head back to camp - chance for more exciting debates on how to fix the country!

We took the long way back to our campsite (to avoid the off-trail climb) which required returning to the RMNP entrance and the start of Sandbeach trail again. Our hike ultimately was 17mi with 3Kft of vert and a 1.5mi car ride (thank goodness good citizen) down the Wild Basin road. The Mt Meeker seekers did well moving up Sandbeach trail then up Hunter's Ck drainage past the Dragon's Egg rock and up that couloir to Mt Meeker summit. 12 miles with 4.7Kft of vert including plenty of talus scrambling and the same soaker on the slog back to camp. Well done boys.

We all slept well that evening - or we think so as Resman left for Crested Butte Sat night. Greg and I departed Sun AM and sheepishly left Wilks to climb alone. Fortunately for all it was a good day with the forecast rain holding off.

Romping In the RNMP 17Sep19-19Sep19

Kala & I camped again in Moraine Pk among the bugling elk rut. We were fortunate to have been joined for part of the outing by Jim & Mary and Tom & Leslie. Tuesday we caught the rut with the most chill big bull we've ever encountered. He and his harem were just lazing' in the tall grass for hours - nearish bulls never came to mess with this boy. On Wed we hiked out of Bear Lk to Loch Lk and then to Mill Lk (don't ask). Jim and I caught nice rainbows in Mill Lk and I hooked some fish hiking down Glacier Creek. Jim & Mary stayed for and made us a nice camp dinner joined by a fine BdEdgar Tempranillo. Thu Kala and I fished the Moraine, did some elk watching and headed into town for a nice lunch at Wapiti and cell phone coverage. Great several days in the park.