The ending to the Rocky Mountain Expedition I was bittersweet. Most of group landed their biggest fish of the trip in the last few days, but we were sad for the trip to be over. After leaving our awesome campsite at the River Run Resort, we headed down to Kremmling, CO and made camp on the Colorado River below Gore Canyon. Our first night we got lucky and fish began to rise for dry flies right around sunset. We made a dinner of Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread to carbo-load for our full day float the following day.
The day of the float we woke up before sunrise so that we could get the boats on the water by 8am. The immense heat and low water levels have made the fishing a bit more difficult as of recent, but all of the boats still caught their fair share of nice fish. After the float we swam in the Colorado River for a while before heading into town for a nice dinner to celebrate a camper’s birthday. Most people ordered burgers followed by a brownie sundae for desert. We were able to make it back to camp early enough after dinner where we could fish the evening hatch.
On the day after the float we woke up and drove to a nearby tailwater on the Blue River that flows out of Green Mountain Reservoir. This place is known for having larger fish, but they are not easy to catch. Unfortunately we were not able to land one of these monsters, but most campers were still able to catch a few fish there which is impressive. Then we ate lunch and headed back to our campsite to take a much needed dip in the Colorado before fishing the evening hatch again. This was our last night camping in Kremmling, and we celebrated that by having a delicious Mexican night that consisted of Chicken Fajita Burritos with Queso and Guacamole!
The following morning we woke up and broke down our campsite before enjoying Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwiches. Then we drove to Silverthorne, CO where we set up camp and began cleaning the van, trailer, and all of the group gear. We were able to get the cleaning done in record time, just under an hour, which left us plenty of time for the rec center. We stopped by the local fly shop first, Cutthroat Anglers, before playing an intense game of ultimate frisbee.
Following the game of frisbee we all went into the rec center which has a pool, hot tub, water slide, gym, and other activities to keep us occupied until dinner. We walked from the rec center to the Historic Mint which is where we had our banquet dinner. At this restaurant you cook your own steaks and the chef prepares the sides for you. For many campers it was their first time actually cooking their own steak and I was impressed how well some of them turned out. After dinner we headed back to camp to get some much deserved rest before the airport day. The airport was smooth, with most campers sleeping the whole way there and having early flights home. All in all, this was a trip for the books and I enjoyed being a part of it. I hope to see some of these campers on Lillard trips in the future, and I hope all of you have a great rest of your summer!
Jack and Remi
