From Star Valley to South Texas

 

We left Star Valley in early October and headed south to our friend, Val’s ranch. It is a hay ranch, but this year’s drought was so bad that she only got twenty-three bales, (she normally gets four hundred). This of course presents a huge problem, as she has two rescue donkeys, two rescue horses, her horse and deer.

She also has many bird feeders which bring in flocks of doves, scrub jays, and red wing blackbirds. The scrub jays land and empty her feeder onto the ground which brings in wild turkeys, and others. She even has a skunk that comes in but luckily, we never saw it, (did I mention she loses cats to an annoying mountain lion)?

You never know what you are going to see, and when you walk around after dark you want to take along a bright flashlight!

From Val’s, we headed further south and west and went to Surprise, Arizona. We stayed there for two hours, which was long enough for us to select and order a park model for our place in Wyoming, (The manufacturer is so far behind that out delivery date is in the spring of 2023). Jumping back in the car we next headed to Tucson, across New Mexico and into Texas. As we crossed the Hopi and Navaho Reservations, we did see Monument Valley in the distance and were lucky enough to get involved with a snowstorm, (we bought snow tires this year, so it was not a problem).

We ended up driving over twenty-three hundred miles in five days, which is way too much for us. Hopefully never again. Clear skies

So now we are in south Texas where the temperature is in the upper eighties with a high humidity. I miss the mountains already. We went birding to Lamar and did spot a red tailed hawk hiding it's kill. Clear skies

 

 

Traveling South to Fulton Texas, with a brief Picnic at Choke Canyon State Park

 

One of the signs of fall is when the deer invade our yard. They are looking for the tasty bushes we have planted and cultivated and are really unconcerned by our presence. Each year we leave when the weather turns cold and so we winterize our fifth wheel before heading out.

The first day we drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming which is a long drive. The reason we drove so far was to beat the high winds that were forecast for the next day. The forecast was that the winds would exceed eighty mile per hour.

Getting up early we dove to Lamar Colorado and checked into a motel. Its was good we pulled off the road early as the front arrived and a dust stormed slammed into the town. Visibility plummeted to about one hundred yards and semis disappeared. They never slowed down.

The next day we traveled to Lubbock, Texas. Each night we stayed at a motel and we got out our cleaning and sterilizing wipes to carefully disinfect all of the surfaces. Again, we got up early and drove to Boerne, Texas which is just north of San Antonio. We took a rock on the drive and shattered our windshield so for Christmas we are going to get a new one!

As we were only two hundred and fifty miles from our winter spot in Fulton Texas, we actually planned for a picnic at one of our favorite birding spots, Choke Canyon State Park. Entering the park, we spotted a green jay but were not able to get an image.

We drove to the eighty-acre pond got out our binoculars and cameras. Walking out to several birding points we saw the usual birds. A white ibis stood on a log and coots and swamp hens paddled around oblivious to our intrusion. The water was extremely low and areas that were usually flooded were high and dry.

We did not spot any alligators and had to be contented with a great egret, a great blue heron, and some drab ducks in their dull fall plumage, (gadwalls perhaps?). Driving through the campground was not any better but as we got near the parks exit, we saw a male and female scissortail flycatcher.

They were on a power line in about the same exact spot we had seen our first one twelve years ago.

The flycatchers made our day and so we drove the rest of the way to find our fifth wheel parked and waiting. We were home at last!  Clear skies

Marble, Colorado: Art Studios, Beautiful Stone, and the Crystal River

High up in the Colorado Mountains, near McClure pass. lies a little town of about three hundred people. The town is the home of the Yule Marble Quarry where the pure fine grained stone has been quarried for over a hundred years.

The stone was  used to build the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Lincoln Memorial, parts of the Washington Memorial, and is the source of the headstones used in the National Cemeteries. Today the mine is active with most of the stone being shipped to Italy and Asia.

Now we had come here to buy some stone ourselves and to fish the Crystal River. Driving through the small town we passed two art studios and of course we had to stop. Nestled among the pine trees stood stone carvings of big horn sheep, mountain lions, angels, and owls.

At the first studio we met a retired miner who was busy splitting a huge block into smaller pieces for table legs. He took a break from his strenuous work and proudly showed off his studio. He complained a bit about how his art was threatening to turn into a full time business, (something that is happening to us).

He also told us where we could access and fish the Crystal River, and after eating our lunch we donned our gear and headed down to the river. George decided to fish with his wet nymphs, while the three of us opted instead for royal wulf dries.
Wading upstream I missed several fish before landing a nice rainbow. I was feeling pretty good about it, until George reached me and told me of his success using a prince nymph and a copper john. I decided to go back downstream where I found Renita and Val. Both had set their poles aside and were rock hounding.

I cast into the first hole and caught a nice mountain whitefish. My next cast resulted in a rainbow and i knew I needed to head back upstream to watch George fish. I caught and missed more fish but George caught and released a fish in every hole.
Wading back downstream I rolled my ankle and the fishing for me anyway was done for the day. Renita had switched to nymphs but wasn't having any luck, and Val, well she was still picking up rocks!

It was time to head back to the ranch and the car seemed to groan a bit as we loaded more rock into the trunk. What a day of rock and art and fishing high up in the Colorado Rockies! Oh and just to be factual, George had caught and released fifteen fish including a seventeen inch Colorado Cut Throat!
Clear skies

Coal Creek, Colorado

The main reason we had gone to Colorado, besides visiting George and Val at their hay ranch, was for the fly fishing. George and Val had guided us on several rivers here during our last visit and this time they wanted to take us to fish Coal Creek and the Crystal River.

Heading toward McClure Pass we drove past several coal mines. Stopping along the Gunnison River we gave up any thought of fishing there as the river was cloudy with sediment. Coal creek however was clear and driving up stream we found some nice looking water with easy access.

Renita and Val staked out a good looking stretch while George headed downstream and I waded upstream to a break in the creek caused by a large boulder. Three of us were using dry flies and George of course was using a prince nymph with a copper john dropper.

Before long Renita cried out that she had a fish on and she fought a nice rainbow into shore. It had taken her royal wolf dry fly and snapping a picture she gently released the fish back into the river. Meanwhile George was hollering that everyone should join him downstream, where he had caught several rainbows and a nice Colorado Cutthroat.

Deciding that there were enough people downstream I continued up the creek and soon was fast onto a nice fish. It had risen to take a parachute, one of my favorite dries.  However the hook pulled out before I could land the fish but that’s ok as I was going to release it anyway.

Meeting back at the car we ate lunch before heading back to the ranch. It had been a good day on a Colorado trout stream. The skies were a beautiful blue as the smoke from fires had not yet reached us, a day of beauty, while fly fishing colorful Colorado.

 Clear skies

Driving South to Crawford Colorado, Douglas Pass

We left Flaming Gorge and headed south to Crawford Colorado. Its a route we have traveled before, First there's a climb over the Unitas and then across Douglas Pass. This time the trip would be easier as we were not towing our fifth wheel.
Stopping at a scenic overlook we had to take images of beautiful Sheep Creek bay, If you ever travel this way be sure to take the Geology loop, a drive along the old highway, (do not pull anything along this road).

Climbing over the pass summit we were greeted with the signs telling of the number of switchbacks. This image is of the second one, warning of  the nine switchbacks. This route is not for the acrophobic although it is a truckers route!

Successfully making it down the switchbacks, the road eased and we entered Vernal, Utah. There we had to stop at a rock shop and left after buying a beautiful piece of dinosaur bone and dinosaur coprolite. Both of these treasures are destined for the saw and will be transformed into our jewelry.
Crossing into Colorado we turned south for Grand Junction, first crossing over Douglas Pass.

Now Douglas Pass is identified as another truckers route, but oh my what a route. Nearing the pass itself the road narrowed as several sections of road had sloughed off and been repaired with gravel and wooden berms.
Our friend Val had actually pulled her fifth wheel over this pass in June, before several of the sections had been replaced. She is from Colorado and has absolutely no fear, when it comes to driving and towing in high places.

Crossing the pass we shifted into lower gears to save our brakes. The Colorado Department of Transportation does not waste money warning travelers of the switchbacks. Heck you would be hard pressed to count them all!

Still there were many brave souls towing fifth wheels and campers. We have been there and done that and I have no wish to pull anything big across this pass again. Regardless we made it down the pass and stopped at Grand Junction for a bit before heading east and then south to Crawford.
There we planned on fly fishing some new, to us anyway, trout streams. That however is the topic of the next blog! Clear skies

Pretty Rocks, The 2011 Denver Gem, Fossil, and Mineral Shows

We left George and Vals and drove North across the McClure Pass. I had to stop once and let the tranny cool as I used lower gear to slow my descent. Connecting with I-70 we headed east for Denver. The drive was about as bad as I ever want, (heavy rains, heavy traffic, and super long climbs and downhills), and it will be a cold day in hell before I cross the Vail Pass again.
Arriving in Golden we parked and planned our next days excursion and we were both so excited that we had a hard time sleeping. The next morning we arrived at the Denver Gem and Mineral show and got in line with the other early birds,( The early bird gets the best rock don't ya know!).

Renita went left and I right so we could cover more ground before the other buyers snapped up all the best and cheapest specimens. I found Gursney agate and Morrisionite and Renita found some beautiful lapis. We stayed the whole day and left drained and broke but with beautiful rock for our lapidary wheels.
Another day and this time two different shows at the Denver Coliseum. There we saw the best lapis, turquoise, and sugaite that money could buy, but the price oh the price! At a dollar fifty a gram we didn't buy any and thats ok, maybe next year. We did find some Wyoming Jade, from the Rhodes collection. Its old jade from Green Mountain and Crooks Gap and we had to have some of this vanishing collection.

We bought some tuxedo stone, which we didn't know was actually sugar and acid treated Brazilian agate. Its made by soaking the plain white agate in honey for several weeks and then boiling it in sulfuric acid. We were so disappointed to be taken with treated stone, stone we try to avoid but at least we learned. We also leaned how to detect dyed lapis and so we decided not to buy any unless the dealers allow us to test it,(take a cotton ball and wet it with acetone and then rub it on the stone. If it turns purple its dyed stone).

The high light of the shows was when we met the paleontologist who made a guest appearance  on Jurassic Park, Dr Robert Bakker( He was eaten by one of the beasts). More famous for his theory of warm blooded dinosaurs and the book Raptor Red, he shook my hand and attempted to identify the tooth I wear as a pendant,(He told me how to clean it and said he thought it might be a creodont canine ocyeana, kind of an Eocene Hyeana).

We ended up getting what we came for which was not just more rock but more importantly contacts and new insights into our passion for stone. Its funny really how lucky we are to travel and meet so many people with like interests. Again we have been truly blessed. Clear skies.

Fishing the Gunnison, Lessons in Flyfishing

"There is no was to fish this stretch using roll casting, you have to first cast downstream because of the willows. Then you can cast your line upstream and fish the edge of the break", George explained as I sat and watched him fish. He next watched me fish and said that I needed to learn to high stick and better mend my line and here I thought I knew how to fly fish!

We had left Wyoming and headed south to visit George and Val at their Colorado hay ranch near Crawford, Colorado. It was our second trip there as last year Val had lead us down the Gunnision in a kayaking expedition and this year George was going to take me fly fishing.
So on our first day there, we had headed to a lower stretch of the Gunnision where George showed me how to high stick and mend. He talked of fishing Alaska and how I didn't need to make long casts, like you see in the fishing shows, that by high sticking I could catch the fish I would see in the resting pools.

Val, an expert fly fisher herself, added that we would need to watch the bears and be ready to break off our lines as they had learned that the sound of the drag meant a salmon or rainbow dinner. She quietly watched us fish before asking George if she could use his fly rod to cast to a spot he had missed.

I didn't catch any that day but I watched as George caught a beautiful brown and Val handed the fish and then released it back for another day. It didn't matter as I had just had a lesson in fly fishing nymphs from two masters fly fishers on a beautiful river in Colorado. Clear skies

Canoeing The Gunnison, From Hotchkiss to Delta

Our previous blog, Doing It On the Road ,was stolen by a hacker and so we have been forced to start a new blog! Google has so far denied our attempts to return access. Furthermore the hacker used our email to send a request for money saying we were in England and have been mugged. We are safe and need no money.

We were in a narrow branch of the river and something wasn't right. The current was too fast, as the water was being forced into the narrow channel, by a newly constructed coffer dam and there was no sign warning a river traveler. Worse yet the rapids on the main channel were too much for us and so we had to run the left channel.
One of the things we had wanted to do was go with Val and float down the Gunnison in Colorado. George had agreed to drop us off above the town of Delta and pick us up at the fourth bridge, where there is a pickup point and a warning sign about further travel. So it was with some trepidation that we pushed off from shore and started our float.
The Gunnison was a little stained but it had cleared considerably from recent monsoon rains and so we could see submerged rocks and snags. It was flowing pretty fast and we quickly reached a small class one rapids. Keeping our mad river canoe straight we scrapped bottom once and then reached a relatively calm stretch of moving water.
I saw place after place where I wanted to fish but I hadn't brought my fly rod as this first time down the Gunnision was really a test of our skills and the canoes capabilities,(If you read our old blog you know that we had primarily used it in protected waters). Renita took the camera out and started to take some images of the river and surrounding cliffs, but she soon had to store it in its waterproof bag as a much stronger rapids neared.

Following Val, who had run the stretch of river before, we passed through a chute and actually took in a little water as the bow of the canoe almost stuffed a wave. Renita, in the bow, held on firmly to her paddle and quickly obeyed my commands of paddle left, no left, and change sides and we made it through our first class two rapids.

The float went swiftly as we drifted and rested through calm stretches followed by rapids and then another calm stretch. A great blue heron lifted from the water and flew to a promontory where it stood and watched us pass. Two ducks flushed ahead and flew downstream but we soon caught up with them and we played tag for a bit till they flew around us.
Ahead a strong rapids made us take a narrow channel to the right and the water slowed to almost a crawl. We soon ran aground in a shallow rapids and our first portage of the day went easy, except for wading on the slippery rocks of the shallow stream bed.

Houses started to appear along the banks, or should I say vacation homes, and a bridge told us that we were getting near Delta. Two more bridges loomed in the distance, and then I saw something I didn't want to see, a newly built coffer dam!
Msking a major mistake we decided to float into a narrow channel on the left side instead of landing on the right side of the coffer dam and portaging around it. Well deciding really wasn't the right choice of words as the current was so fast that we quickly passed any chance of taking the portage.
The channel narrowed and sped up! It curved around and we saw cement walls. Putting our paddles to good use we were barely able to canoe against the current and land on an island. I saw a possible portage to the other side and we dragged the canoe and Val's kayak back to the man channel. Val, ever the daredevil decided to try and ride her kayak into the river, pretending it was a luge, and she almost made it!
Laughing, we helped her as she climbed back into her craft and we headed for the bridges.
Now the other channel appeared and we were able to see that the narrow channel we had been in ended in a small dam with a five foot waterfall, oh my! It was a place that we would have definitely crashed and rolled the boats. I reminded myself to be sure to check out google earth from now on and to always inquire about the current river conditions.
Muddy water entered the river from the irrigation ditches and it became harder to spot submerged rocks. To add to the excitement it started to first drop big raindrops followed by a strong rain. Of course we had launched in beautiful blue skies and hadn't brought our rain gear.
Val reassured us that the take out point was near and so we paddled on, at least the rain was warm ,and we stayed comfortable as we were wearing our life jackets. Another rapids appeared and then a small drop where large rocks dammed much of the channel.

Drawing more water then Val's kayak, we hit a rock dead center, turned sideways, and started to roll over. The canoe lucrhed big time and then righted itself. We stayed out of the drink! Maybe the mad river canoe really was a good choice. It sure gave Renita confidence and she stated her opinion as I thought to myself about my mistake in misguiding the rock.
Alls well that ends well and the fourth bridge appeared. along with our truck and a wet and shivering George. It turns out he had fell, while wading a rapids and had rolled over before regaining his footing. He wa proud however in his fishing ability as he told us of the 20 inch brown he had caught and released.
It had been a nice four hour float, we had successfully run some class one and maybe easy class two rapids. Our canoe had met or exceeded our expectations. What could be better then a day on a Gunnison. Clear skies.