A-Basin Breakfast ...... A Couple of Days Near Frisco, CO

HI!

We had a mini-vacation, spent an hour of drive time and made the base at Frisco, CO. My flyfishing buddy and I have wanted to go to Hartsel, CO and fish the Dream Stream - the stretch of the South Platte River between 11 Mile and Spinney Reservoirs that has probably the highest concentration of BIG Rainbow, Cutthroat, Brook and Kokanee in the WORLD in it. I'm not overstating that, either.

Here's a pic of one of the fish from that stretch of the river ..... not mine, but whets my appetite to return!

We spent a day on the water, 70 degrees or so air temp, but 20+ mph winds (not great conditions for a flyfisherman), and crystal clear water. I did not expect the stream that we fished. I am used to wider streams with much more flow (around 1,500 cfs), but the South Platte here is a shallow, narrow stream running at about 150 cfs. I am also used to fly fishing with flys that are size 10 to 12 ..... and here the flies are sized anywhere from 18 to 26.

26??? Are you kidding? If you take a sharpened lead pencil and press it against a piece of paper fairly heavily, the dot you'll make is nearly the size of a 26 fly! Yea gads! And we were fishing with a 6x tippet ...... smaller in diameter than a human hair; almost the same size as a spoke in the web of a spider!

So much for the day fishing. We caught and released a bunch of "small" trout from 10" to 12" but missed the brood stock that hangs out in the lake. I found out later that we were fishing at the wrong time of the year.


Next day, an adventure to brunch at A-Basin. A-Basin is really Arapahoe Basin, but nobody who lives here actually calls it that - we Coloradans call it A-Basin. From Frisco, one can reach ski resorts at A-Basin, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, and Loveland within a 30 minute drive. All these are prime ski areas at the 11,000 to 12,000 foot elevation, with lots of ski-able acres and powder snow. This past season, A-Basin didn't close until the last week of June and there are still pockets of unmelted snow in some of the upper valleys. We rode the chairlift up from the parking area to the first off-point and enjoyed a sumptuous meal that lasted a couple of hours and was accompanied by a special soft jazz band.

The scenery is spectacular! The tree line as at about 10,000 - 11,000 feet, so behind us you'll see that we are right at the tree line. There's a trail starting here that leads down and back to the parking are; I really enjoyed this two-mile downhill walk. Another trail leading up from here is particularly suited to walking your mountain bike up and returning down completely out-of-control!

Hopefully, this winter being as good as last winter in terms of snow, we'll ski down instead of walking down.

Stuffed full of antipasto, seafood platter, stuffed chicken breast, roast Bison, turkey breast, breads, salads, and desert trays, we enjoyed the Mimosa cocktails and dark, rich coffee while lounging on the decks that surround the restaurant.

Doesn't that description tempt you to come and visit us?

One last thing that continually blows my flat-lander mind. As we move about in Colorado, we continually cross and re-cross the Continental Divide. Last year, our dear friends, S & A, invited us to their celebrations and we spent a week near the Divide deciding that Denver would be a great place to live. This year we are actively exploring the rich diversity of the high mountains, the high desert, the plains, and the transition zones that are Colorado. I'm amazed, awestruck, and blessed to be here!


Go Broncos!