Hello!
The Rocky Mountain Expedition just finished our first backcountry, and it was an epic one! Most of the kids have already caught brook trout, browns, rainbows, cutthroat, and even a few cutbows. Now we are taking a couple days to rest and fish near Granby before heading back into the backcountry. This group has been a blast and I am excited to see what the rest of the trip has in store for us.
After the airport day, we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park for our fly fishing seminar. We went over casting and knot tying before fishing the headwaters of the Colorado River. Everybody caught some brook trout before we ate lunch and changed spots. The rest of the day we fished a section of the Colorado River below Shadow Mountain Reservoir, where we caught some nice rainbows, browns, and cutbows. We headed back to camp and loaded up on spaghetti and garlic bread to get ready for the adventure ahead of us.
The following day we woke up early and started packing for the backcountry. After everyone had their backpacks ready, we loaded up and headed to East Inlet Trailhead outside Grand Lake, CO. We started hiking towards Lone Pine Lake where the first group stopped at Cats Lair campsite and the second group made it to the Slickrock site. Both groups fished the rest of the day and enjoyed a delicious meal of Pita Pizzas.
The next day, both groups met up and headed up Paradise Creek towards Adams Lake. The hike ended up being quite difficult, since there wasn’t much of a trail and there were lots of down trees. Everyone persevered and it paid off: many kids caught their first and biggest Colorado River cutthroat trout. These native fish are some of the most sought after trout in the country due to their beautiful colors. Everyone was very tired at the end of this 10+ mile day; we were very proud of how they handled it.
Both groups decided it was a good idea to fish a little bit closer to camp the following day. The upper camp made it to Lake Verna to fish, which is a gorgeous lake full of brook trout. The lower camp fished the stream near Cats Lair for more hungry brookies. Overall it was a great last day in the backcountry, and everyone had fun stories to share as we ate Buffalo Chicken Mac n’ Cheese. Everyone went to sleep early to get ready for our hike back to Grand Lake.
We got up early today so we could pack up and hit the trail with plenty of time to spare. After grabbing some much deserved ice cream we headed to our campsite, the River Run RV resort. There we took showers, did laundry, and soaked in their hot tub and pool. Tomorrow we will be fishing near Granby on the Colorado River and then getting ready for our second backcountry to the North Inlet of Grand Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. We will be fishing for more cutthroat trout in a pristine setting, and I don’t think we could’ve had a better group to do it with! Until next time!
The guides and the guys
