Denver Burches - Second Visit

Rick, Kay and me.

My brother Rick, his wife Kay, their son Billy and his girlfriend Hannah left here yesterday a little past noon to head back to Denver after spending Tuesday night and Wednesday night here with me and the twins.  Their second visit here went quicker than the first since they arrived around 8:30 p.m. after the 4-1/2 hour drive down 285 and through the San Luis Valley - said they saw a beautiful sunset as they made their way here to visit and fish.  We enjoyed some of my deviled eggs and some brews outside in the cooler air (much to their delight) and listened to CDs while catching up on latest happenings.

Pass Creek Lake

Prior to their planned arrival on Tuesday, I had spent most of the day Sunday exploring other options for fishing and possible things to see during their full day here Wednesday by driving up Wolf Creek Pass to test the fishing at Pass Creek Lake followed by a trip over the summit of the pass; a stop at the scenic overlook of the San Juan Valley; a hike to Treasure Falls; and then a drive up the West Fork Access Road (of the San Juan River).

I hiked completely around Pass Creek Lake and along the way managed to catch more than a dozen Rainbow trout -- releasing all but, four of the fiesty little stockers.  I determined the best spot to be the far southern end where there were hundreds of little silver minnows swimming the shallows -- food for the hungry larger trout.  The path along the western shores provided easy, fairly level walking to the far end while the other side was more difficult to hike because of the numerous fallen, dead trees along the steeper banks.

Treasure Falls

After putting the days catch in my cooler with some iced-down water, I headed to the summit and over to the overlook before stopping at the parking area for Treasure Falls near the bottom of the western approaches of the pass.  The quarter-mile hike to the falls was not too difficult and the trail only climbed a couple hundred feet in elevation to reach the bridge over the head waters of the San Juan river (just a small trickle of a creek there). 

Then, I headed to the West Fork Access Road farther down the approaches of the pass and took the dirt road past a couple small campgrounds with trailers, RVs and tents -- even saw a big rig in the smallest campground (West Fork Campground) before reaching the end of the dirt road (which almost required 4-wheel drive).  I hiked through the woods there and followed the sounds of the stream to reach the edges of the small stream that numerous fishermen were seeking as well (besides me) -- I only took my camera this time.

West Fork San Juan river.

Finding my way back to my Jeep required some faith on my 1/8th indian blood to help me -- luckily, it worked and I reappeared on the small broken trail leading right to the front of my parked car.

Next, I headed back up the pass and over the summit to make a stop at Big Meadows Reservoir to see what I could find there and discovered a much larger lake than Beaver Creek Reservoir (with waters much clearer and seemingly more inviting to trout).  I fished off the rocky dam beyond the foot bridge which ran over the spillway and the beautiful little falls beneath it.  After nearly an hour of fishing and only one good strike (with a fish nearly on), I yielded the rocky, boulder strewn dam to a number of young anglers casting about and over each others lines -- content that I had found another option for us Burches to fish (and we could enjoy the beautiful surroundings too).

Our full day of fishing together (Wednesday) took us to three of the four of five spots I had visited on Sunday with slightly less fishing success than I had.  We didn't catch anything to keep at Pass Creek Lake but, Kay caught and released the first fish out of the group and Billy had a nice one on that got away just at his feet, as we were making our exit and fishing along the path/shores toward the Jeep.

Billy and Hannah at the overlook.

On the other side of the summit, we stopped at that scenic overlook and enjoyed the impressive view of the San Juan Valley -- the dirt road I had taken Sunday clearly visible far below winding its way up the valley to the north."

After we all had our inspirational looks over the precipitous edges of the the overlook and stood in awe of the beauty surrounding us, we headed back up the pass; passed the Wolf Creek Ski Area on the other side; through the "Snow Shed" and the short tunnel before taking the turn to Big Meadows.

We made quick use of the facilities there after gathering all our fishing gear from the Jeep and headed out the path on the north shores -- following the directions of some local who told us (in the parking lot) of the best spot to fish just beyond the point on the distant shore, past the small creek with big fish waiting just some 15 feet off the shore in a steep drop-off there.  The path wound through the woods and provided beautiful views with little shady spots along the way -- only slightly steeper as we climbed down to walk along the shores of the lake (and cast occasionally into the inviting waters).

Big Meadows Reservoir

We crossed the little foot bridge over the creek and found the area around the point already occupied by other fishermen and some people wading/swimming (later in the afternoon).  We continued on the path and around the next cove to an area of rocks that I thought might offer some drop-off with hopes of hooking one of those "big ones" mentioned by the guy in the parking lot.  After a few casts, I did hook a nice one but, lost him while turning to talk some to my brother.  Soon, though I did catch two trout and had them on the stringer.

Billy did an exploratory hike farther on toward the grassy meadows where an angler in full waders fished off-shore -- seemingly, he walked on water as he got farther out and climbed into knee-deep water after being in above waist-deep water (when we arrived earlier).  Since no other Burches were having any luck and Billy determined no better fishing spots were ahead, we retraced our path back toward the parking lot and stopped occasionally to try some of the deeper spots along the rocky shores -- resulting in my catching one more small trout before we headed back to the RV.  Those three fish added to the one in my fridge, combined with some bacon-wrapped steaks, provided us an early evening dinner with some fresh cut fruit and 5 ears of fresh corn.

Of course,we enjoyed some cold beers and snacks (Cheetos) while the dinner preparations were underway -- and we discussed where to fish the next morning (before they headed back to Denver).  Small glasses of chilled Sambuca, followed by glasses of Wild Turkey for the women and Johnnie Walker Black Label for the men capped the evening.  All Burches were ready for some rest.