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Well, it seems that summer has finally hit Colorado. The snow is starting to melt, which means high water, which means less fishing and the bugs are out in full force. I’m currently rocking the finest Colorado cologne. Ah, well… such is life.
In honor of this momentous occasion of not having to run the heater at night, Jacob is running a Summer Sale on all of his fiberglass rods still in the shop.
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I can hear Jacob in the corner packing his things. I've been getting together our last bit of laundry to clean before we shove it in backpacks. At four am, tomorrow morning, we make our way home.
As always, we never get enough time here and it's always heartbreaking to head home. I guess maybe that means something when you're always sad to go home.
Our final adventure here was to the same place as our first. I think it's safe to say this little creek is so very special, to both of us.
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I've always considered myself to be a mountain person. I live, play, survive in the mountains, define myself by it. I've never been so wrong about anything. At best, I'm a hill person.
Last week, Jacob and I made plans to meet up with a fellow bamboo rod maker and one of my first rod bag customers, Dave Sornborger - Animas Rods. After all, we're are in his backyard, who better to show us around. "You're good with 2.5 miles, right?" Jacob asked me. I didn't give it a second thought. Two miles, seriously, that's a quick hike for me. It wasn't until the night before that I was informed that over the course of two-miles we'd be gaining 2,000 ft in elevation and starting off at 10,000 ft.
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We finally made it to Colorado and our favorite high-country trout stream. For the first time we’re seeing green hillsides and plentiful wildflowers and I admit that I’m more than a little distracted by them.
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We're 17 days away from Durango! So naturally, it's time to start packing!
Here's a look at a few of the outdoorsy things I love and plan to take with me.
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Saturday I was looking back at our time in the Southwest. The weather here was rainy and cold, I had no desire to get out in the crud, and so I spent a lot of time looking through the photos I had taken. That's when I remembered our trip to Pagosa Springs.
If you're ever in the Southwest, I highly recommend it. Maybe not the "hot spring theme park,"(no judgment if that's what you're into, it's just really not my speed) but the rest of the town is pretty cool. It's nice to walk around the antique shop there, you could find ANYTHING in there, and Riff Raff Brewing Company had some of the best brews I've ever had (El Duende Green Chile Ale is to die for!!!).
However, when we first arrived the temperature had dropped from the upper 60s in Durango down to the 40s and raining by the time we got to Pagosa. Not the best day to walk around outside.
Eventually, we stumbled into a little fly shop, Let It Fly. Jacob was sorting through the flies, examining patterns that haven't made it to the East Coast yet, scooping up what he didn't think he could commit to memory. That's when I discovered a small bookshelf. I sorted through old issues of Gray's Sporting Journal, well-worn fly tying books, and guides for fishing the Piedra that outdated me. And, that's when I found them, two books by Steven J. Meyers. I gathered them up, immediately paid for them (I wasn't entirely sure they were even for sale), and started combing through Notes From The San Juans directly.
I've mentioned many times before that Mr. Meyers is one of my favorite fly fishing authors and Lime Creek Odessey may very well be my favorite book of all time.
Like his other books, Notes From The San Juans is a collection of stories, some being explicitly fishing stories, others merely tying in fly fishing to life. There's a specific chapter in the book which describes his time working in a mine, out of necessity to remain in the San Juans. At the very end of the chapter, he states, " It's not just mining San Juan county that's given me that perspective. I like to think that fishing has helped a bit too. I once worked in an office in New York City and I'm not sure that mine was any darker. Fishing taught me that."
Having worked in the corporate world, having lived in that office, and then dropping out of it all, I get you, Mr. Meyers.
Need an excellent collection of fishing stories? A few that will make you laugh and make you cry? Pick up any Steven J. Meyers book, or better yet, pick up Notes From The San Juans.