We were up early again; for the purpose of traveling, I am enjoying it. Amanda was sleeping pretty well. So I figured I’d let her sleep, but she followed me to the living room shortly after. Today, we’d head on the east side of the mountains.
We went to an extensive reservoir, and the kids wanted to fish. So, while we got ready, John ran to Walmart to grab some bait. The older gentleman who checked him out said, “The fish aren’t ready.” John replied, “Well, I only need two!” He was right; we only needed one for each of the boys. I believe that was Mama’s prayer for the morning, too, one for each boy!
I also prepared dinner for the crockpot before we left. We were having a vegetable mole, and it would be ready upon our arrival this way. I love cooking, so it’s not a burden. It mainly helps with our weight control and health in general. We don’t like how we feel after eating multiple meals out. Also, it helps our wallet because everything is expensive up here!
We got off a little later than anticipated and skipped a few things. I had a short waterfall hike and a drive to the top of the mountain at the pass. The trailhead for the hike was already getting full, and Amanda’s knee was too sore for a hike, so we drove by. Next was a semicircle drive, but the natives were getting restless and wanted to fish, so we went straight to the reservoir.
To get there, we drove up and over Wolf Creek Pass and the continental divide, which was pretty. Upon turning off the road, we followed a creek to Big Meadow Reservoir, a 600-acre lake at 7,500 feet. A big meadow provided a beautiful backdrop. We parked in a large parking lot already filling up with hikers and anglers.
The boys fished, but neither was patient enough to sit and watch a bobber! They both wanted any reason to reel in and cast again! The oldest got a different bait and was all up and down the shoreline. John was spotting the nearby mountain, explaining where the deer would be.
We were on the damn side with a bridge not far from us. I ventured around a bit, crossing over the shallow water flowing atop the damn under the bridge. It was a steep grade down for the water but not a waterfall per se. I was going to walk down a trail off the damn, but it seemed a little steep, so I walked the length of the damn and took a trail to the base.
There were pools all along the base of the damn, so I was looking for fish. I did find a few, so I made the hike up the trail to report what I saw. What I said wasn’t a waterfall looked like it from down below. It looked so much steeper from the bottom.
We all sat around and relaxed, waiting for a bobber to move. I also spotted the mountain with John’s binoculars, and then he asked me to check the others on the opposite side of the lake. He wanted to know if they had bobbers, so I spied on them to find that only a few had them. I’ve only fished a few times in my adult life, most of those with John. I enjoy it, but my knowledge is limited. After a trout hit a piece of bait thrown on top of the water, John decided to change the rig up a bit. The new rig would still have a bobber, but the bait and hook would float just below the surface. Then, it didn’t take long to have a bobber move, so everyone was at attention.
One bobber finally sunk with everyone yelling reeling it in! The oldest had caught one; we were unfamiliar with the size they had to be, so we let it go. One down, one to go! It wasn’t long before the youngest got his, followed by another catch. The hook had gone deep in one, and he wouldn’t make it. A man nearby looked it up and said there wasn’t a minimum length, so we kept the one that wouldn’t make it and the next one we caught. With one rainbow and one brook trout, one from each boy, we packed up and headed out for lunch.
We should have packed lunch to this spot as well, but it wasn’t long before we reached a pizza place in South Fork. Amanda and I got a gluten-free crust, they’re usually primarily whole grains, with extra sauce, no cheese, and most of the veggies they offered. It was nearly $30 for one drink and that little 10” pizza! This happens to us often when there isn’t a veggie pizza option because they change per item you put on there. We stopped eating at our local pizza place because their pizza cost over $30. I wish I could say it was good, but the crust was burnt, and it lacked the amount of veggies we deserved for the cost. Oddly, the kid’s pizza looked the best. I sampled a leftover piece, and it wasn’t bad.