CO -- Breckenridge, 1-15 July 2015

Two weeks in Breckenridge, Colorado…

Why we came…

To play in spectacular Summit County!

The campground…

Tiger Run Resort is amazing.  The sites are twice as big as most and landscaped with trees, grass, and flowers.   Every site is paved and close to level.  The sites are privately owned.  A portion of them are RV sites and the others are small cabins.  Owners are from all over the country and many spend the entire summer.  The sites are available when the owners aren’t occupying them.  The campground is well run and has a big staff.  Laundry, swimming pool, playground, club house are all top notch and well maintained.  They offer all kinds of activities…it truly is an “RV resort”.  Plus, it’s in a sweet location between Breckenridge and Frisco and surrounded by incredible scenery.  All of this comes at a price…It’s very expensive.  We considered it a treat and didn’t want to leave!

Summit County, Colorado, population ~28,000, is an outdoors playground.  Most of the county is above 9,000 feet elevation with numerous mountain peaks above 13,000 feet and a few above 14,000 feet.  There are four ski resorts, many miles of paved bike trails, many more miles of hiking trails, and numerous lakes and streams.  The county is also loaded with hundreds of restaurants and stores.  Because it’s less than 90 minutes from Denver via I-70, it’s always swarming with people.  We were about three miles north of Breckenridge, population 4,540 and elevation 9,600 feet, and really enjoyed it!

In the shadow of the 10-mile range near Breckenridge, Colorado

Adventures…

   

Fly-fishing the Eagle River near Vail

On 2 July we had medical appointments in Vail and explored the area…

I had two medical tests in Vail to determine the extent and cause of my hyperthyroidism.  We used it as an opportunity for an adventure.

After round one of my tests, we walked a few miles of Vail’s quaint streets and paths and then busted my fast with a huge and tasty breakfast at “The Little Diner” .  Then we drove south through Minturn to check out two campgrounds near the Holy Cross Wilderness.  We still had an hour and a half before round two of tests, so we stopped at the bike trail at the I-70 Minturn exit.  Arleen walked the trail and dodged a thunderstorm while I fished the Eagle River.  I hooked something big that I fought for five minutes before it got off.  It stayed deep so I never got a glimpse.  In my imagination, it was a huge brown trout! 

It was a good day.  We were very thankful the Vail clinic accepted my medical insurance and that we weren’t driving to Denver for the tests! 

Mushroom hunting above Vail Pass.  Copper Mountain ski resort is above my right hand.

On 3 July we had to go back to Vail and did some mushroom hunting on the way home…

My final round of medical tests in Vail went smoothly and confirmed hyperthyroidism caused by Graves Disease.  I really looked forward to an appointment with an endocrinologist the following week in Frisco.  It had been a tough three weeks of feeling like poop and resolution was around the corner!

It was a bright, blue, warm, sunny day.  On the way back, we stopped at Vail Pass and headed into the woods.   We were at 10,800 feet and had great views both west and east, above I-70.  We saw very few mushrooms…none that we would eat.

   

Arleen’s bike route to Vail Pass  /  Near the start of her adventure

On 4 July Arleen did a great bike ride and I fished…

We parked near Copper Mountain.  I headed north on the trail with my fly rod and Arleen headed west on her bike.  Between Copper Mountain and Frisco, the paved trail parallels 10-Mile Creek.  There are also 5 or 6 ponds called collectively the “Curtain Ponds”.  Trout live in the creek and the ponds.  I fished a short section of the creek and two of the ponds and missed 5 fish…it wasn’t my day.  The roaring traffic on I-70 was annoying, but I enjoyed myself.

Arleen climbed over a thousand feet on her way to Vail Pass at 10,600 feet.  A couple of miles west of Copper Mountain, the paved trail stays by the creek, well below I-70.  Highway noise was barely audible…it was nice.  The trail is very popular.  There are hundreds of cyclists on each nice summer day.  Some have little experience and others zoom up and down the trail regularly for exercise.  There are even some that get dropped off at the top and coast down.  Arleen really enjoyed the scenic ride and understood why the trail is so popular.

The bike trail just east of Vail Pass

Fishing one of the ponds near Copper Mountain

Upper Blue Lake

On 5 July we explored Upper Blue Lake…

The fairly decent dirt road ends at the base of the dam for Upper Blue Lake at 11,700 feet.  There were a few cars and a bunch of mountain goats in the parking area!  The goats have no fear of people.  A couple of times, they got uncomfortably close and we had to back up. 

The lake is fairly large and deep.  Research indicated that there are cutthroat trout, but we saw no signs of life.  Between the beautiful scenery and the goats traversing a snow bank way above us, it was a great experience.

There were lots of mountain goats

   

Fishing Upper Blue Lake…didn’t get any bites or see any trout

On 9 July we had medical appointments in Salida and mushroom hunted in South Park…

It’s about 80 miles from Breckenridge to Salida.  We didn’t want to waste a nice summer day on a lengthy drive but it was necessary.  We left early so we could spend some time in the woods southwest of Fairplay.  We hunted for mushrooms for an hour and a half.  It was very “shroomy”.  We saw lots of mushrooms, not what we were looking for, but a few of interest.  We likely found prized Prince mushrooms, but they have poisonous look-a-likes, so we left them alone.  However, we did find fresh oyster mushrooms that we enjoyed that evening for a snack.  After the appointment, we had a great meal, did a little shopping, and headed back.  

   

Oyster mushroom growing on an old aspen…yummy!  /  Likely a Prince mushroom, but we didn’t take the risk

Heather, Ashlynn, DJ, and Kyllian at Blue Lake

On 10 July we had a fun adventure with my cousin and his family…

We took my cousin and his family to Blue Lake.  Though the goats were absent, marmots posed on rocks and there were lots of pretty flowers.  We wandered around the lake and had fun posing for pictures.  Kyllian also correlated the topo map with what we saw.  It was a good lesson for all of us.

Then we headed down the hill and found two geocaches.  Just before we left, someone told us there was a mountain goat above the parking area.  We headed back up and spotted the lone billy traversing the rocks. 

We wrapped up a good day with a tasty meal at “Downstairs at Eric’s” in Breckenridge.

   

Checking out the map  /  See the marmot?

   

Being silly with my cousin  /  They found a geocache!  Look closely for sasquatch hiding in the trees

Crossing a stream on the way to Crystal Lake

On 11 July we hiked to Crystal Lake…

This beautiful lake is just south of the Breckenridge Ski Resort.  Peak 10, elevation 13,633 feet, looms high above the lake to the north.  The open cirque was filled with alpine flowers and there was still quite a bit of snow.  The lake was very pleasant to fish, but the cutthroat trout were uncooperative.  

High above the Blue River valley

Crystal Lake

Fishing Crystal Lake

   

Still lots of snow at 12,000 feet!  /  Cutthroat trout…the only one I caught

Fly-fishing upper Mohawk Lake

On 13 July we hiked to upper Mohawk Lake…

This hike starts at the Spruce Creek trailhead at 10,600 feet and ascends up a picturesque alpine valley to five lakes.  Along the way, we waited for a bull moose to vacate the trail.  There was an impressive waterfall, lots of wild flowers, and even old mining equipment.  We had the trail mostly to ourselves on the way up and shared it with many others on the way down.  There were a bunch of cutthroat trout.  Many of them sniffed my floating fly…only a few half-heartedly bit it.  I caught just one trout but I really enjoyed the slow-motion refusals…it was exciting!

   

Old mining equipment  /  Deep snow field.  That crevasse is about 15 feet deep!

   

Fighting a trout  /  A pretty cutthroat trout that hit a floating ant fly

Misc…

   

“Alaska and Madi” put on a great show on 3 July at Tiger Run  /  This is how people watch a concert at the resort

Next…

We just wrapped up two weeks at Lake Dillon, and now we are in Fairplay, Colorado for 10 days.  Then we will spend two weeks in Basalt, Colorado playing in the Aspen area.  I’m having good days and bad days with Graves Disease, but we make the most out of the good days!

Parting shots…

   

Eagle  /  Marmot

   

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