Laura's Visit - Gunnison, Colorado

After getting moved over here to Mesa RV Park on June 17th (just a few miles west of Gunnison), I got myself and the twins settled in just a couple spots from a nice little creek with a concrete patio and grass mostly around the rest of the site -- a real paradise compared to some of the dirt and gravel sites we have been.  The next day (Tuesday), I fished a spot on the Blue Mesa Reservoir and caught a few nice trout which I released since I was not certain of the regulations for the lake -- had plenty of nice fish in the freezer too from South Fork.

Wednesday, the 25th, Laura flew into the local airport in Gunnison and I picked her up there after a short delay while they got the baggage unloaded from the small jet.  A whole week with my daughter staying with me was a special Father's Day treat for me.  So nice to see her again for the first time since last fall in Virginia.  The occasion for the visit was, of course, her cousin Mary Beth's wedding in Crested Butte on June 22nd -- a doubly joyous occasion for me however.

We wasted no time it seemed as we headed to Crested Butte, Lake City, The Black Canyon of the Gunnison River and anywhere else we could go for a hike or a lunch or just sightseeing -- including a little time walking around the town of Gunnison.



 

We did a hike with Rick and Kay near the town of Crested Butte and had a nice lunch in town afterwards at the Last Steep -- think that was Friday.  Lots of beautiful wildflowers all around us as we hiked -- including plenty of Columbines (the state flower).

Sunday, after the goodbye brunch, we headed up Gothic Road for Gothic and stopped there briefly before heading on to Emerald Lake where we bumped into Laura's cousin Billy (my nephew, of course).  They had some fun on the snow drifts while I again tried some fishing in the lake -- no luck again.



Judd Falls

After that, Laura and I stopped on the way back to hike out to Judd Falls -- a half mile hike supposedly that turned out to be 3/4 mile each way but, worth the stop and the additional hike.


Everywhere, the beautiful flowers and always the need to drink some water.

The next day, we headed to Lake City and the overlook at Slumgullion Pass.  We had hoped to take the 4-wheel road to Carson where we wanted to try the mile hike to the top of a 13,000 foot peak -- thereby creating another father/daughter memorable moment like Macchu Picchu.  However, the clearance on my Jeep didn't look to be adequate so, we headed back to the lake for a picnic after an alternate drive up a portion of the Alpine Loop.

On the way back through Lake City we stopped for a short walk around the town and then headed back to the RV park to meet Rick and Kay for dinner -- luckily we found some Elk in a store at the edge of town and added that to the big fish I thawed for grilling (too bad I overcooked the Elk -- shame on me).

A nice evening meal with family and the next day had to say goodbye to Laura and get her back to the airport.  Nice visit over too soon.