Rivers Running Through

Robin was out of town for a couple of days, so I had to come up with some constructive things to do while she was away. Therefore, and with much thought given to the matter, I went fishing.

It’s a very scenic hour’s drive from Montrose to Silver Jack Reservoir, and the last fifteen miles you are on a decent gravel road. At this time of year the reservoir is at a low level, and it’s a bit of work to get down to it, but it wasn’t my destination, anyway. What I was interested in was nearby Beaver Lake and the Big Cimarron River.

Beaver Lake is a little thing, with a campground along one side. The morning I arrived there were no humans present, but there was a single black steer grazing beside the fisherman’s path that encircled the lake. We ignored one another as I walked past him. I fished all along the bank without experiencing so much as a nibble, but the views in all directions had begun the work of restoring my soul by the time I gave it up.

Next stop was Big Cimarron Campground, which was right on the river of the same name, and only a mile or so from Beaver Lake. Beautiful river, fast flowing. The water wasn’t too deep this time of year, but wading it was challenging. The riverbed consisted of stones the size of footballs that were slippery with moss. After struggling for an hour to go only a relatively few yards, I gave it up and from then on chose spots where I could fish from shore. At one point I came across this pool. You can see that the water is a bit murky with runoff from last weekend’s snowfall, but otherwise … .

https://videopress.com/v/JDl73MRU?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

It might have been better if I had caught a fish, but only marginally so. To be lucky enough to be have the opportunity to scramble along this trail and see places like this was my reward. As the author Robert Traver once said when asked why he fished for trout, “Because you can only do it in beautiful places.”

I ate the simple lunch I had brought along, which had been prepared for me by the highly tattooed and very pleasant man at Subway a few hours earlier. It was an Italian-style sandwich that might have been easier to eat with half the amount of olive oil he had applied to it, but I simply waded through to the end before even trying to clean up. The provided napkins were not enough to clean up the oil slick I had become, and I had to fall back on some paper towels we carry in the car.

Smelling a bit like an oregano-scented air freshener, I moved on to my next destination, a part of the Gunnison River located within Black Canyon National Park. You get there by turning right just after passing the park’s guard station and driving down the East Portal road. When I say “down the road,” that is an accurate description, because portions of it are on a 16% grade.

There were a few other fishermen working the river, which was low enough to make wading possible. We did not need to get too close to one another, but were well spread out. For the first hour nothing was happening, when suddenly I could see fish rising everywhere on the river. Over the next couple of minutes I caught two small rainbows before the excitement turned off as quickly as it had begun, and the water’s surface was once again quiet. That was something I had never experienced before.

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Daughter Sarah sent along this video taken near her home in Mankato MN. I’ve seen only two of these in my lifetime, and never two at one time.

https://videopress.com/v/EbUMjtKz?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Oh, you ask, what are they? Why, pileated woodpeckers! They are big birds, nearly the size of chickens, so are not easily confused with other species.

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I am on my second day of grumbling all because of DST being snatched away. I didn’t want it in the first place, but you know, you kinda get used to it and then BAM! it’s gone. There’s no hope of a change in this annual charade as long as the members of Congress remain unable to perform even the itsiest bit of governing.

Why, that would require that they actually sit in their chairs and vote on something, as opposed to what they do now which is flit from TV camera to TV camera in full prance.

In a week the federal government will be out of money, unless our misfit congresspersons pull their heads out of their nether regions and do the country’s work. I don’t know who paid for the curse on us to live in such interesting times, but they are certainly getting their money’s worth.

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Now this, my friends, is something interesting. An electric airplane. Take a look.

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