One week fishing in South Park and trying to stay warm…
Our campsite only had electric, but we filled our fresh water tank before setting up and flushed the gray and black water tanks on the way out. The sites are big and have plenty of room, but most of them are quite unlevel. We had a nice view of the lake and pretty sunsets. The campground was nearly empty until the weekend when our loop was about 3/4 full. The notorious South Park winds kicked our butts…more on that later.
Our home bathed in a warm alpenglow Pretty sunset over South Park & Eleven Mile Reservoir
- Fishing Spinney Mountain Reservoir
Spinney is known for big trout and northern pike. Recent reports claimed “excellent” fishing so we were eager to check it out.
We did not experience “excellent” fishing nor did others that we spoke to. We fished two or three hours on four different occasions and caught a total of seven nice trout. They were 17-19 inches long and STRONG. Once hooked, Spinney trout take off and it’s almost impossible to stop them. Fish nearly got into my backing twice. They hit a size 10 olive and black lake leech, size 16 callibaetes mayfly nymph, and size 10 chironomid. The chironomid attracted the most fish.
Brian joined me one morning, but he got skunked! That’s all right. A tasty breakfast burrito at the Donut Mill in Woodland Park, erased his memories of poor fishing.
- Day trip to Fairplay, bristlecone pine forest, and Breckenridge
The weather was funky so we decided to hop in the truck and do a little sight seeing.
Our first stop was Fairplay where we got warm chai teas at the Java Moose.
Then we headed towards Alma, the highest incorporated town in the U.S. at 10,578ft, took a left turn on County Road 8, and climbed a narrow and rough dirt road to an ancient bristlecone pine forest. Some of the gnarled trees were nearly 1,000 years old! We had the neat forest to ourselves and really enjoyed wandering around the old trees.
It was mid-afternoon and we were hungry, so we decided to go to Breckinridge for lunch. There are lots of good eating options in the cool resort town and we chose Mi Casa. It was about 3:00pm and we were the only ones there for dinner so we got the best table right by a big window with a good view. The menu was fun and so was our waitress. We knew we were in for a treat when she made fresh guacamole right at our table…it was excellent!
After filling our bellies with good Mexican food, we drove about six miles north of town to check out Tiger Run Resort. A lot of RV parks throw the word “resort” around quite loosely. Not Tiger Run…it offers all kinds of resort type stuff and looks like a great place to stay. It comes at a cost, but the cost is reasonable if you stay for a month. I’d gladly stay a month or an entire season!
Fairplay Colorado
- South Park critters and scenes
Pronghorn in the fog Bison with storm clouds sneaking over the mountains
- South Park weather
The weather is always a wild card in South Park. Unfortunately, during our one week stay, two storm systems moved through. The main problem was wind. Winds blow most of the time in South Park, but you can usually count on a few hours of calm most mornings. That little rule of thumb flies out the window when storms move through. We had 20-30mph winds more often than not which limited our fishing opportunities. The wind peaked at 45mph at 1:34am one night making it very difficult to sleep in the rocking trailer. Surprisingly, we didn’t get any snow, but did get .14 inches of rain one night as the temperature hovered around 40 degrees.
The second storm system was interesting to watch. Cold air moved south along the front range and finally “back doored” us from the east. When we were driving back from Breckinridge, there was a line of low clouds across the entire eastern horizon. The clouds tried to flow west over the mountains into South Park. The strong easterly winds and cold air finally overtook the westerly winds and mild air. The temperature dropped from 50 degrees to 30 degrees in about 30 minutes! That cold air moving over the relatively warm reservoir made an eerie steam fog that whisked in fingers across the lake. We are “weather geeks” and this nearly pegged our geek scale!
A final weather note…we experienced our coldest temperatures yet: 20F and wind chills 10F to 15F. Our trusty Arctic Fox handled it just fine!
45mph winds at 1:34am
Low clouds and cold air spilling over the mountains Steam fog over the lake
Next we will spend three weeks along the Front Range. First we head to Loveland, CO to get our home fitted for an RV skirt. Then we will spend 10 days in Colorado Springs prepping the RV for winter and visiting family. And finally, we will spend a few days in Pueblo doing final winter prep and visiting more family. If all goes smoothly, we will be in Nathrop CO around 1 November and tough it out until 1 March.
As far as the blog goes, we’ll likely do a single Front Range post in about two weeks. Stay tuned…
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