Cousin Dave's Visit - Gunnison, Colorado

Saturday morning on Blue Mesa

Leaving the 120 heat behind in Phoenix and toughing it through a more than ten hour drive, my cousin Dave and "Sam Adams" arrived Saturday evening -- June 29th.  Originally, the plan was for him to come up to South Fork but, the forest fires had caused the town to be evacuated for a week and I had decided to book another month here after my niece's wedding in Crested Butte on June 22nd.  I had some trout thawed and ready to grille that evening and we had a few of his chilled Sam Adams while we caught up on the latest news and happenings.

The next day, we headed up to Blue Mesa Reservoir and parked on the other end of the route 149 bridge and hiked down to the edge of the Gunnison river where we fished but, had no luck there.  So, we then headed back over the bridge and just a short distance up route 50 to the first pullout where we again hiked/climbed down to the water's edge to fish some more.  Damn near wore my poor cousin out on his first full day here (before he could even get acclimated too).  I think I caught one or two keepers on my favorite Kastmaster lure and gave Dave one to put on his line but, he didn't have the luck that day.  During his visit, we seemed to alternate between him catching keepers one day and me catching them the next day.

Valley at Crested Butte

Monday, the 1st of July, we headed up the road to Crested Butte and stopped at the Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery ponds where we had high hopes of catching our limits (my neighbors had done so with their little kids).  Well, our luck did not go as hoped and Dave was the only one to catch any fish -- me, nothing.  We did make it up to Crested Butte and had lunch there at the same restaurant I had visited with my brother, my sister-in-law and my daughter.  We stoppedat the ponds again on the way back to Gunnison and fished the pond that the state record Brown trout had been caught at in 1988 (30 pounds 8 ounces).  We didn't catch anything this time.

Mt. Crested Butte and Dave

The wildflowers were still in bloom when we stopped on Gothic Road in Crested Butte and the beautiful valleys were still as beautiful as when I first saw them.

On Tuesday, the 2nd, we fished the Gunnison river just up the road from the campground and that was my day for catching some keepers -- two nice ones and lost another.  Dave caught some small ones and released them.  That might have been the day too that Dave's reel decided to break -- more frustration to a bad day of fishing (at least it wasn't as hot as it was in Phoenix).

Lake San Cristobal

Wednesday, July 3rd, I drove us up to Lake City, to try our luck at Lake San Cristobal -- another beautiful lake about an hour from here.  It is supposed to be the second largest lake in Colorado and the view from an overlook on Slumgullion Pass is fantastic.  Our fishing did not go so well again and Dave seemed to have the luck that day but, no keepers to bring back for the grille.  Still a nice place to picnic though and enjoy the cool air and beautiful surroundings.  Stopped at that little grocery store in Lake City and  picked up some Elk burgers to cook with our fish that evening.

Thursday, July 4th, we fished the nearby river again and this time Dave caught a couple of his nicest fish and got them in the freezer to take back to Phoenix with him.  We relaxed during the afternoon and chilled out by the RV and stream listening to old tunes until sunset.





Friday's catch.

On Friday, July 5th, we fished our favorite stretch of the Gunnison river until about noon (when most of the floaters and rafters started streaming through in front of us) -- my day to catch two nice ones and lost a third.   This time Dave caught a nice fish too in the same day (A first for us).  We then headed up to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison where Dave could see what neither of us had seen as kids growing up in Colorado.  We didn't attempt any of the lengthy hikes but, still had lots of good looks into the canyon and lots of pictures from the overlooks.

Tallest cliff in Colorado