RMNP (Rocky Mountains) 31 days

I must confess first that I have been fishing since July, although not as much as I would have liked. Knee brace wait time per dr's office- 1-2wks, actual wait time for said brace- 6-7 weeks. Finally received the brace in time for the trip to Denver, more specifically Rocky Mountain National Park (or RNMP as locals call it) but not in time for my trip to Caples Creek off the Silver Fork (below) of the American river or the John Nutting memorial Stanislaus disaster trip.

Caples creek trip was a quick one, just Claude and I, and except for slipping on a rock (see boulders in above picture, very slippery) and spraining the already injured knee (see the note about no knee brace above) and slicing my thumb open which required about 3 hours of driving to Tahoe urgent care to get the thing glued back together) overall it was a great trip, short and sweet with 2 days of fishing for little wild rainbows and lots of action from Claude, who this trip was actually a great fishing dog- he sat on the bank, didn't run off or jump into the water and scare the fish and of course had to lick/kiss the fish I caught like the sweet baby boy hims is ! he is studiously following the fish in the water below...
Camping in the truck was easy, weather cooperated and we had two nights of camp fire which I miss sorely now...!! Stanislaus was another story, John Nutting was in town (allegedly AFTER the san bruno explosion, although at the end of the trip we decided he probably was responsible for that too) and we (Dana, Claude, John and I) decide last minute to "borrow" a friends cabin (technically I did send an email to ask but Mary was in Puerto Vallarta with no email access) in Arnold which is right off the Stanislaus. I had my new knee brace (which didn't fit) and we stocked up at whole foods (they took 40 mins, I took 5) and headed out into Bay Area traffic at 6pm on a Friday. We were supposed to arrive about 8pm but due to a hazardous spill on the freeway, we had a two HOUR delay. Needless to say the next day I needed to a) be on the water and b) catch some fish- which did happen but not without some video footage (look-it's a fish, brilliant direction and narration by John Nutting) which was right before Claude fell off a rock into a big pool of water.

We head back the next morning, leaving about 1 extra hour for John to sit at the airport only to once again get stuck in over an hour delay on the 101 because a drunk driver lady was driving the wrong way and then walking on the freeway, then a man stopped his car to try and help her and then they both got hit and killed by a limo heading to SFO. Needless to say, this was obviously all John Nuttings fault for even thinking about moving to SF- his initiation into Bay area traffic intersected with my nice fishing weekend- ce la vie...onto the real trip...

I arrived in Denver Thurs night and headed to Estes Park on Friday where Rowdy met me along the Fall River. I got great suggestions from Kirks fly shop and some great flies and tried my luck on the Big Thompson which this time of year isn't very big (nor was the Roaring river roaring) but I forgot my license in the urgency of having to get onto the water, so the second cast out I headed back to the condo. We had a great evening catching up and a very big adventure (read, unexpected very strenuous hiking up to Fern lake which ended up being about a 1k elevation change in about .5 miles) the next day where I caught some little browns and greenbacks on the Big Thompson. Unfortunately I had my floating line only, so once we got to Fern lake I had some fish on my streamer but since the fly was practically floating, no takers. The hiking was fun, the Aspens are turning already and Rowdy even casted a few in between crocheting and chain smoking on the bank while I fished.
I have to say that after having spinal cord surgery and two spinal blocks, he actually did a great job of making it literally up the mountain and not complaining- I know very few of my friends who would do this hike and not make me pay :)

The next day we enjoyed a lazy morning and I hit the Roaring River which I fell in love with, again not the time of year for Roaring water, so mostly little greenies but it was gorgeous, I saw only one person over a two day period, the views were spectacular and the hiking was much easier than the Fern lake hike.
I did see some bigger fish (bigger for RMNP which was 14-16) but was not able to catch the big guys despite having tried: every fly in my box, stealthful approach on my hands and knees, having no TIPPET (not just leader) in the water- precariously balancing the fly on the water high-sticking even the dries, getting more flies from the fly shop...so needless to say it was frustrating to get the average size fish but they fought and I had a great time....one particular large fellow that had my eye I believe lucked out only because big rain thunderstorms were headed my way from two directions, so needless to say he's the one that got away. I just couldn't fish on slippery rocks in the rain and of course a 4mile hike back downhill on a muddy terrain (after 3 days of fairly difficult hiking) my knees voted to head home early. So I called the airline, changed my flight, re-packed all my gear, showered at a gas station (ok, used some wet wipes in the bathroom) and watched the SF debacle against the Saints until the 4th quarter to end a perfect long weekend.

Now the Rocky mountains are pretty cool, I did notice there was a lack of Deryls- I didn't at any time worry about my belongings in the car but there were lots of older white folks watching Elk from the side of the roads (thus impeding my progress to my much needed dinner) and the park ranger gave me about 10 minutes of crap because he didn't like the way I signed my $40 annual pass to RMNP. Now I guarantee I won't be purchasing said pass again, although I like to do so because I like to financially support the national parks. I also think in terms of spectacle, RMNP has nothing on Ansel Adams wilderness and our golden trout but there is nothing like your home waters and I am sure the fly-fisherman in RMNP feel the same way.

Gratitous fish porn