Nearly two weeks in Nathrop, Colorado…
The upper Arkansas River valley is a big playground. The name sake river has world class white water rafting and great fishing for feisty brown trout. The Collegiate Peaks have the highest concentration of 14’ers in the lower 48 and draw thousands of climbers each summer. There are four or five well maintained mountain passes that numerous cyclists try to conquer. There are hundreds of miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. And there are many miles of small streams, tiny ponds, large reservoirs, and our favorite, timberline lakes, loaded with hungry trout. Unfortunately, none of that is a secret and many Coloradoans, Texans, and New Mexicans flock to this area to play. We knew that finding solitude would be challenging during our 4th of July visit, but with some effort, we found it!
Though the campground was a bit pricey, we were comfortable with full hook-ups, decent wi-fi, and good laundry facilities. Road noise from busy highway 285 was annoying when we tried to sleep, as were the heavy slamming doors to the restrooms. The campground stayed 75%-100% full and had steady turn-over the entire time making things a bit chaotic. The constant activity was an abrupt change from our tranquil stay in Westcliffe.
A beautiful sunset over Chalk Creek Canyon and Mount Princeton
We expected to spend a bunch of time with family too. My mom and step-dad joined us the first seven days. My sister and her family stayed in a cabin three nights. Both of Arleen’s sisters and their husbands met us for a lunch. Arleen’s nephew, Erin and his friend Dean stayed a night. My dad joined us the last six nights, and finally, my step-mom came the last night.
My dad just finished setting up camp
Now for the adventures!
Fishing the Arkansas River…
Often the Arkansas River experiences peak run-off flows around 4,000 CFS (cubic feet per second) the last week of June or first week of July and provides a thrill for thousands of rafters. Fishing during run-off is extremely challenging and limited to few calm spots. However, this year’s snow pack was less than 50% of normal and the river barely experienced a run-off that peaked well before our visit. That’s good for fishermen, but bad for most others.
First we tried a section just upstream of Salida. Not many folks know about this section as evidenced by the short, wheel rutted dirt road and the cattle gate we had to open and close for access. Sure enough, we had the pretty part of prime Arkansas River to ourselves…ah, glorious solitude! It was warm and sunny, but developing rain showers chased us off the river by noon. And the fishing? We only got casting practice…no bites and no fish…skunked! That’s alright. It was very pleasant. I’d gladly spend much more time getting to know this stretch of the Arkansas River.
Arleen fishing the Arkansas River just upstream of Salida
Our next attempt to catch Arkansas River trout was about twenty miles upstream near the tiny town of Granite. I call this “skinny water”. The river averaged roughly two road lanes wide and had a riffley current with some large boulders and undercut banks that made great homes for trout. The wading was a bit difficult on the large, slick rocks, but it was enjoyable to fish. I caught two brown trout and missed about five others. They hit either a grasshopper fly or an elk-hair caddis floated on top. The two fish brought to hand were colorful and thick bodied.
Fishing the Arkansas River above Granite A healthy brown trout that nailed my hopper
Our final foray on the Upper Arkansas River was in the Hayden Meadows stretch just south of Leadville. Even further upstream, the river is smaller yet and even more enjoyable to fish. I caught five or six brown trout and had at least that many more opportunities. The strong fish averaged 12-14 inches and a couple of them were 15-16 inches. I was using two dry flies: a size 14 yellow sally and a size 16 rubber legged elk hair caddis. It was a lot of fun watching brown trout that seemed oversized for the skinny water make splashy hits on my floating flies!
Fishing the Arkansas River in Hayden Meadows south of Leadville A 15 inch brown trout
Drive to Saint Elmo…
Saint Elmo is an old mining ghost town. It was founded in 1880 and peaked in the 1890s with a population around 2,000. These days there are a few people that live there and the General Store gets lots of visitors during the summer. The Buena Vista Heritage organization is slowly renovating the old buildings. I thought that the decrepit outhouses and refurbished school house were especially interesting. Lots of ATV enthusiasts also visit to explore the rough four-wheel drive routes in the area. Kids and grown kids really enjoyed hand feeding the friendly chipmunks too. My mom, step-dad, Arleen, and I walked around the small town, had some ice cream, and left. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
My parents clowning around in Saint Elmo
See the outhouses? Arleen making friends with a hummingbird
Lunch with sisters…
Arleen’s younger sister, Kathy, lives in Kansas and they don’t see each other too often. However, Kathy and her husband, Larry, were driving back to Kansas after visiting family in western Colorado. They deviated from their usual route, to meet us for lunch in Buena Vista. Mary, the ancientest, I mean oldest sister, made the three hour drive from Elizabeth, Colorado with her husband, Kendel, to see her two sisters. My parents also came and the eight of us met at Eddyline Restaurant and Pub. Everyone chatted during a tasty lunch and then we took a nice walk along the Arkansas River.
From left: Kendel, Mary, Larry, Kathy, Shawn, Arleen
Chalk Lake, hot springs, and BBQs…
I have wanted to do something outdoorsy with my young nephew, Jordan, for quite awhile. I looked forward to getting him in a kayak and splashing around at the hot springs. The gang headed to little Chalk Lake. The steep mountains seem to rise straight out of the lake and it’s loaded with stocked rainbow trout. Jordan was hesitant about the kayak, but relaxed and enjoyed himself after a little while. Once we got him back on the bank, Arleen imparted her fishing skills and he reeled in a few feisty trout on my fly rod. His little brother, Austin, kissed a trout, but wasn’t too happy about it!
Gary and Jordan on left, Nichole on right at Chalk Lake
Later that afternoon Nichole, Gary, Jordan, Arleen, and I visited Mount Princeton Hot Springs. The weather was threatening so we weren’t sure how much time we’d have. We found some comfortable pools right next to the ice cold creek. It was fun moving rocks and gravel around to make the perfect mix of hot and cold water. The sky got darker and the winds kicked up so we hurried to the water slide up the hill. We took a couple of pictures of Jordan and his parents shooting out of the slide and high-tailed it out of there right before the storm hit.
Nichole Jordan Gary
Each of the three days my sister was there, someone was responsible for a dinner. The first night we made BBQ ribs and a fancy salad, then my mom and step-dad made grilled brisket and corn on the cob, and finally, my sister and her husband grilled steaks and fresh asparagus. Each meal was outstanding and left us with more good memories.
Hike 1…Midland Hill
We were due for some exercise and needed to fill time before we met Arleen’s sisters for lunch. This nice loop hike was just southeast of Buena Vista and had great views of the Arkansas Valley and Collegiate Peaks. It was a pleasant four miles, not too hilly, and not too warm so our 11 year old four-legged friend came with us. It was a good work-out and a nice way to spend the morning.
Hike 2…Waterdog Lakes
It was time to visit another alpine lake! Waterdog Lakes near Monarch Ski Area at 11,500 feet were beautiful. We parked near the beaver ponds in Monarch Park and hiked two miles and climbed about 1,500 feet to the lakes. The lower lake was shallow and didn’t look too interesting so we headed to the larger and deeper upper lake. The cliffs that circle the upper lake are part of the Continental Divide and make a breathtaking backdrop. We kept a close eye on the building clouds, and though we heard a few distant rumbles, we stayed dry. We fished for about two hours and caught six trout and missed many others. There were two small, but very pretty brook trout, and the others were skinny lake trout. The lake trout were a surprise! Most of the fish aggressively smacked floating grasshopper flies and the others hit a size 16 gold ribbed hares ear sunk about two feet below. “Hopper and hares ear” will be my mantra most of the summer!
Fighting a lake trout under the Continental Divide
Hike 3…Ptarmigan Lake round 1
Research didn’t turn up much on Ptarmigan Lake, but after I saw a picture of someone holding a 20 inch cutthroat trout, we had to give it a shot. The Ptarmigan Lake trailhead is 2/3 of the way up the east side of Cottonwood Pass at 10,700 feet. The large, deep lake is roughly 2.5 miles and 1,500 feet up at 12,150 feet. It’s above timberline and a good chunk of the bank is fly-fishing friendly. Gary, my brother-in-law, eagerly joined us with the thought of catching a bunch of fish and getting some exercise. Our start was rough as we took a wrong turn from the parking lot and got a mile and a half of extra exercise. When we finally got to the picturesque lake, we saw many bright colored cutthroat cruising along the steep drop-off. A few were 18-20 inches long and thick bodied…some of the largest cutthroat I’ve ever seen! It didn’t matter. They wanted nothing to do with us. I think that they were concentrating on making babies, not eating. I managed to catch two healthy 12-inchers on a size 16 gold ribbed hares ear fished about eight feet deep. Gary got great exercise but didn’t catch any fish. I thought that he might jump in after he watched a few big trout ignore his offering! That’s alright. We made some excellent memories!
Gary with 14,196 foot Mount Yale in the background Arleen fishing Ptarmigan Lake
A field of flowers and Mount Yale
Hike 4…Hartenstein Lake
We planned to hike a mile up the trail with Erin and Dean and part ways. We would take the left route to the lake, and they would take the right route up to 14,196 foot high Mount Yale. We’d say good-bye to Erin as he heads to the Vatican to study for five years.
The parking lot was nearly full at 8:00am. We figured that most people were going to climb Mount Yale. Just a short ways up the steep and rocky trail, we said our good-byes. Our trek continued for a pleasant three miles and 1,500 feet of climbing. The lake was large, shallow, and difficult to fish. It was bordered by bog and trees. In an hour we only saw two rise rings from feeding fish. We had no bites, not even a sniff. Surprisingly, we had the pretty lake all to ourselves…ah, more glorious solitude! On the hike out, I dropped my fly into a few small pockets of the tiny creek. A colorful, 6 inch brook trout gulped up my hares ear. I didn’t get skunked!
Hike 5…Ptarmigan Lake round 2
We enjoy this hike and we like the lake, plus there are 20 inch cutthroat trout that we’d like to catch! We anxiously watched exploding cumulous clouds, but the weather stayed great. Our fishing success was minimal the first time we went to Ptarmigan Lake, and it was no different the second time. We each had three or four weak bites, but only landed one nice 12 inch trout. The large cutthroat easily seen within 10 feet of the bank, keep eluding us. We may have to visit this pretty lake a third time while we are in Taylor Park next week!
Exploding cumulous cloud over Mt Yale
The elusive 20 inch cutthroat trout…We’ll be back for you!
Fishing with my dad…
My dad and step-mom have camped in the upper Arkansas River Valley many many times. They know the area well and have a bunch of good fishing holes. They prefer small lakes or ponds with easy access and hungry trout. Though I caught a bunch of trout at Hayden Meadows, I enjoyed fishing pleasant Wrights Lake the most. However, what I enjoyed more than anything was fishing with my dad.
Crystal Lake, Wrights Lake, Hayden Meadows
Arleen and dad fishing Crystal Lake just south of Leadville
Dad and I fishing Wrights Lake
Dad slaying them at Hayden Meadows
WHERE WE GOT OUR MAIL
Nathrop, Colorado
Next we will spend six days on the west side of the Sawatch Range in beautiful Taylor Park…
(12,880)
