Where’s Ollie?

[Mike and Carol]

We spent some time in Davis Mountains State Park TX last month on our way back from New Mexico. It's near Fort Davis, Marfa, and McDonald Observatory.

 

 

 

The Airstream in this picture is a 1960's model that the owner completely restored.

 

 

That's our trailer in the middle of the picture!

[rideandfly]

Mike,

 

Nice photos! Appreciate the SP report!

[topgun2]

2017 Fly Fishing Colorado Journey - Part One

 

Total miles - 4236.2

 

Total days - 36 (total days without rain - 6)

 

Total fish landed- 237 ( all on foam beetles)

 

Total propane used - 1.5 20 gallon tanks

 

Originally this trip was to last into the first week of September.  However, due to the rain and water levels of the streams (high) the trip was cut a bit short.

 

My first stop on the way out is usually Kentucky Dam State Park, Gilbertsville, KY.  This park is uncrowded and fairly quiet but it is showing some signs of age.  Next up is one of my favorites - Blue Spring.  Just east of Kansas City and fairly close to Interstate 470, this park is clean, quiet and has a nice restroom/shower house.  Third night was spent at the Kansas Kountry Inn, Oakley, KS.  Even though the full hookup sites need a bit of cleaning, it is difficult to complain about $20/night including breakfast.  And, in my opinion, it is better than High Plains Camp which is right on Interstate 70.  On the fourth night on the road I arrived at Round Mountain Campground just west of Lake George, CO.  Having read that there was no water in the camp, I found that you could purchase potable water at the Florrisant water station (right on Highway 24 just east of Lake George) at a  reasonable rate.  As it turned out, Round Mountain now has potable water (hand pump).

 

From the Round Mountain Camp I fished a number of different places all of various parts of the South Platte River.  One of my favorites is Tomahawk State Wildlife area.  Note that if you are going to fish this you should plan on arriving either very early (prior to guides showing up) or sometime after 2pm (when the guides tend to leave).  Note that in the picture below there is a path/old road to the left which leads down to the stream.  I almost always go this way since most of the guides do not.

 

Another place that is good for a few hours fishing where there are not usually any people is right behind the old railroad station in Hartsel, CO.  In the picture below, the old RR station is the red building on the left.

 

 

Next up was Monarch Park Camp - right at the top of Monarch Pass (Southwest of Poncha Springs).  Other than a fairly short drive over to the outflow stream from O'Haver Lake this is not a very good "fishing camp".  There is no potable water and due to pine bark beetles a number of the campsites are fairly barren.

 

However, nearby there are other sites to be seen.

 

 

The above is Mt.Shavano - 14,229 feet

 

On to One Mile Camp, northeast of Gunnison and right near the Taylor River.  I had never fished the Taylor and was looking forward to giving it a try.  One Mile Camp is very nice - almost all the spots are pull throughs, are fairly private and the composting toilets are clean.  While there is electric at most sites, be sure to fill your tank prior to setting up from one of the two pressurized water stations in camp (right at the restrooms).  Unfortunately, either due to the crowds or due to the high water, the Taylor was more of a challenge than I wanted to face.  So, I went above the Taylor Reservoir and fished Texas Creek and Willow Creek both of which had no people and willing fish.  Note:  if you are this far you might as well take an hour (round trip) and drive the rest of the way up to Tin Cup, CO.

 

 

A Willow Creek fish fooled by a hunk of foam.

[Mike and Carol]

Bill, looks like a great trip!  We'll be heading to Colorado in 2 weeks. Mike

[topgun2]

2017 Colorado Journey - Part Two

 

 

 

August 1st - so its time to head east and north.  After visiting a nice little laundromat in Buena Vista, Twist found its way to a free creekside campsite on BLM land just to the west of Clear Lake Reservoir.   Bigger fish can be found on a short stretch of creek east of Highway 24, but there are miles of Clear Creek to fish above the private land near the camp.

 

 

Next up was a fairly short drive north on Highway 24 through Leadville to one of my favorite campgrounds - Gold Park.  There is a very good coffee house/bakery right in the center of Leadville directly across the street from the city hall - and - they have a fairly good WiFi system for catching up on emails, weather and news.  After Leadville, the remains of Camp Hale - this is where the US Army trained soldiers for alpine combat during WWII - can be seen just to the East off Highway 24 (when hiking in this area be careful in that there are still munitions here and there) .  Gold Park is located about seven miles up Homestake Road.  Situated on Homestake Creek all 12 sites in this camp are first come, first served.  There is no potable water or electric but there is a pit toilet - all for $21 per night (half price - $10.50 for seniors).  Get site 7 if you can!  From this camp you can fish Homestake creek, day hike (or backpack) up to Missouri Lakes (my favorite), Fancy Lake or Holy Cross City (ghost town) and Cleveland Lake.  These lakes are full of fish with Cleveland Lake holding many 20+ inchers.  For serious "Jeep people" there is a jeep trail from right near camp all the way up to Holy Cross City.  But - be prepared to lose you oil pan!

 

 

What turned out to be the last fishing camp of the trip - Yeoman Park - was next.  Yeoman is south of Eagle, CO - just head towards Sylvan State Park but take the "left" fork after the visitors center.  There is a ton of hiking from here besides the fishing.  Also, plenty of deer, elk and bear.

 

 

Again, no potable water (if you stop at the Sylvan Lake Visitor's Center right near the end of the paved road and ask very nicely, they might let you fill your fresh water tank), no trash pickup, no electric, but they do have pit toilets and plenty of quiet for $4/night senior rate.  The East Brush Creek is full of fish (and beaver) and gets relatively little fishing pressure other than very near the campground.

 

 

What is usually an uneventful four day drive back to the mountains of Western North Carolina did have one pleasant surprise this year.  Having left the Oliver factory fairly late in the afternoon I drove to Interstate 40 and began looking for a place to camp for the evening.  North of Smithville, TN,  Edgar Evans State Park is about 7 miles south of Interstate 40, 45 miles or so east of Lebanon, TN and about two hours drive west of Knoxville, TN.  All sites have water and electric and most are on concrete platforms overlooking the lake.  The bathhouses are clean and there is plenty of hot water.

 

 

A couple of "final" thoughts - not surprisingly, the Oliver performed as expected all during the trip.  This was the first time that I extensively used the furnace due to the amounts of rain and relatively low temperatures.  Sure was nice to jump out of bed, hit the "heat" button, jump back into bed and get nice and toasty.  Felt sorry for the "tent people".  Also, another tip of the hat to everyone at Oliver.  Virtually every person I've ever met in Hohenwald has been very nice.  From the Office personnel to the Plant personnel they all go out of their way to make sure that things are the best that they can make them.

 

Now to start planning next year's fishing trip in Wyoming.

 

Bill

[rideandfly]

Bill,

 

Appreciate the fine report and beautiful photos!!!!!!!!!

[rideandfly]

We just returned home from camping at Tellico Plains TN, Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground. Managed to take some eclipse shots!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[topgun2]

Bill - great color saturation on that first Ollie shot.  Assume that you entered Jason's contest and can't imagine that you will be beat.  Nice job.

 

Bill

[rideandfly]

Bill,

 

Thanks!

 

Learned much and hope to be better prepared to photograph the next eclipse.

[JWalmsley]

Those are incredible!

[rideandfly]

Just returned home from camping at Bandit's Roost ACE Campground NC. We enjoy Kayaking and hiking while camping there.

 

 

[Mike and Carol]

Colorado Springs this week. Weather is good except for haze from the fires further west.

 

[DavidS]

Where’s Ollie? Ollie went on a trailer caravan trip to Olympic National Park with his cousin Casita!

 

This was a long trip, two weeks. I now define a trip as a long trip if you need to plan a laundromat stop in your itinerary.

 

My sister and her husband live near Bend, OR, and they have a Casita. We met up in Yakima, WA, where we spent a day wine tasting before heading to Coupeville on Whidby Island, where we driveway camped at my other sister’s college roommate's home.

 

 

I sense that there are a lot of automotive aficionados on this forum. Our hosts are fans of Packard cars, and they have a number of old Packards that they have restored.

 

 

Ollie and Casita then rode the ferry across Puget Sound to begin their adventure on the Olympic Peninsula. Ollie had to pay the 40-to-50 foot fee for the ferry, while economical Casita got away with the under-40-foot fee. Size does matter!

 

Olympic National Park is truly spectacular! Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, oceans, rivers, and rain forests! We camped at Lake Crescent, Neah Bay, Hoh Rainforest, Kalaloch Beach, and Lake Quinault. Two nights camping at each location, mostly in National Park campgrounds without hookups.

 

 

 

 

These are rain forests, with a lot of downed trees, and I enjoyed photographing the fungi. I even got black slugs lounging on mushrooms.

 

 

We ate very well. We bought fresh salmon and black cod from a fisher on the dock at Neah Bay. Susan acceded to my wishes and we tried our authentic Paella recipe on our camp stove. Really delicious!

 

 

Neah Bay was particularly enjoyable. The Makah tribe has an amazing museum there. The hike out to Cape Flattery is definitely worth doing. Cape Flattery is the northwest-most point in the continental US.

 

 

It was fun travelling with others, and we each learned a lot from each other’s camping tools and tricks. I think Amazon is going to be busy with deliveries to my sister’s house… We had one major plumbing problem, which I will post in an appropriate thread. I have some questions which I will post later, and I already posted my trick for Cellular Boosters.

 

I will end with some sunset photos:

 

 

 

Happy Trails,

 

David

[rideandfly]

Just returned home from camping at Stone Mountain SP NC. The weather was perfect for hiking!

 

Widow's Creek Falls:

 

 

 

 

 

Stone Mountain:

 

 

View from top of Stone Mountain:

 

[Mike and Carol]

Just outside of Rocky Mountain NP on the Grand Lake side in September.  Rainbows seem bigger there!

 

 

Camera can’t really do justice to the scenery.

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[topgun2]

Bill - I've been told that the main stream in Stone Mountain has trout in it - true?

 

Mike - Several years ago I was attending a graduate school course at University of Colorado, Boulder.  One weekend four of us went up to Grand Lake and while we were there decided to rent a boat to go water sking.  Even with a wet suit I can attest that the water in the lake is COLD.  Pretty place.

 

Bill

[rideandfly]

Mike, Beautiful Rainbow shot!!!!!!!!!

 

Bill, Yes, we see folks trout fishing at Stone Mountain NC and Blue Ridge Parkway is not far away, for beautiful scenic drives.

[Maverick]

While we were on our western trip in July and August we visited Rocky Mountain National Park, we ran upon a herd of 200 – 300 elk in a meadow.

 

[rideandfly]

While we were on our western trip in July and August we visited Rocky Mountain National Park, we ran upon a herd of 200 – 300 elk in a meadow.

 

Horace and Dianne,

 

Nice Shot!  Hope to visit there during 2018.

[Mike and Carol]

This is a small campground in central Tennessee.  We stayed here Friday night after some upgrades and maintenance.  On the other side are two more sites.  Scubarx and Hardrock were there.  We had a mini Oliver rally.  It was a wild Friday night and we were in bed at 9:00!

 

 

Mike

 

 

[KarenLukens]

We've never been there as ours was at the other place :)

[topgun2]

Let me understand this - you, and ScubaRx were in the same place at the same time and someone was in bed at 9 pm?  Either someone is getting old or supplies were low on the adult beverage front or there really was a tight schedule for the next day.

 

I remember camping here when a nice young person lived in the little structure at the rear of the picture.  About 2 am I got up and turned on the air conditioner in order to drown out the music he was playing.  The next morning as I was leaving to head over to the factory the music was still playing and I was none too quiet in preparing to break "camp" at 6:30 am.

 

Bill

[Mike and Carol]

I guess “old” is a state of mind, but yes we are all chronologically old!  And, we all wanted to get on the road early.  The only noise was traffic driving by, but that slowed at about 9:00 - bedtime.....

 

Mike

[KarenLukens]

We were on I40E outside of Kingman, Arizona about 1:30pm this afternoon and saw a west bound Elite with blue stripes. We waved but with the reflection, couldn't see thru the windows :)

 

Then this afternoon, we pulled into the Rancho Sedona RV Park for the Scamp South West Fiberglass RV Rally, and met Jim & Sue in Hull #237... Of course being the nosey guy I am, I asked Jim if I could look at his sewer outlet.. Lol. I wanted to see if they had the sewer compartment fix that I initiated and wow, it looks real nice. Smooth aluminum, no diamond plate, straight access out of the bumper :)

 

All is good :)

 

Reed

[Mike and Carol]

We deviated from our stay in Quartzsite last week to visit some new areas. While on our way to Las Vegas we spent the better part of a week at Willow Beach Marina, part of Lake Mead NRA, about 10 miles from Hoover Dam. The campground is small but well maintained. Very quiet with lots of stars at night. The facilities are top notch.

 

 

 

 

Mike