There is a nice trail that goes up to remnants of an old mine behind the cabin and offers a great view of Lake San Cristobal. When my parents are in town, hiking up there is a "required" family activity.
Lake San Cristobal from an old mine behind the cabin
Lake San Cristobal from a little higher up the hill
Looking up the mountain from above the mine. The yellowish dirt is from Slumgullion Slide.
One of the pinnacles across the lake from the cabin
Fishing and bike rides around the lake are also required activities.
My dad and our good friend, Gary, fish the Lake Fork just upstream from Lake San Cristobal
Looking back toward Lake San Cristobal on an evening bike ride
We got most of the family together in Fort Collins for my cousin's wedding, which was a lot of fun. I was hoping to have time to get on the rivers in the area and then swing north through Wyoming and Montana, but it was a quick trip and then back to Lake City to make sure the cabin wasn't going to burn down in any of the wildfires.
Rain falls between the mountains of the Front Range (in the distance) and the highway as I head north from Denver to Fort Collins.
Some of my family was driving in from Durango and went by the fires near Wolf Creek and South Fork before they closed that road. My aunt, Tricia, took this picture and the next one.
The smoke from the forest fires, including the West Fork fire threatening Wolf Creek, South Fork, and Creede, was pretty bad on the way back from Fort Collins as well, even though we were pretty far away.
You could see smoke clearly on the horizon as you approached Lake City.
Word on the streets of Lake City was that the stonefly hatch had moved up the Gunnison to just below Blue Mesa Reservoir, so I got up at the crack of dawn to be on the water before the morning sun crested over the canyon walls.
The canyon was spectacular in the early light, but the water was frigid and there were no stoneflies or hungry trout to be found.
Gone fishin'!
Hiking down to the Gunnison River
Gunnison River in the morning light.
On my way back to Lake City, I hiked down to the end of the Lake Fork where it empties into Blue Mesa Reservoir. I was fishing again by 4 pm, and I landed 69 fish (all rainbows and browns) by 8 pm--not a bad way to make up for a slow morning!
Driving back to Lake City
Lake Fork of the Gunnison, downstream from Red Bridge
After my kayaking (mis)adventure in Durango, I spent another day on the San Juan before making the trek back to Lake City over Wolf Creek Pass (and past the wildfire that was tearing through that part of Colorado). I spent the morning mountain biking around Lake San Cristobal before coming back to the cabin for an exciting ramen lunch.
Ramen: preferred lunch of unemployed fly fishermen everywhere.
After lunch I got out on the Lake Fork of the Gunnison for the first time and explored a portion of the river I had not fished before. The fishing was decent, but it was a beautiful evening to be on the river.
After a few days of serious fishing, I took a break by doing some more fishing--this time on the Animas with my uncle in his kayak. After an hour or so on the water, I made it to Gardenswartz Sporting Goods to get resupplied, and then I took my old inflatable two-man kayak to the Animas whitewater park on the edge of town. The fishing was fun even though we only caught one fish; I was clearly in over my head with the rafting.
GoPro picture pulled from my rafting video. Yes, those are Tevas.
The kayaking video is posted below. In my defense, I held onto my GoPro camera, my paddle, and the raft. If you have suggestions for how to keep the original video resolution when posting it to YouTube, let me know.
