June 8th to 10th
I caught a 19-inch Rainbow Trout ... dance of joy!!! It was freakishly strong but I was able to reel it in in less than two minutes which was probably why my right arm was hurting a little bit during and after my bout with the trout. It was a learning experience indeed. J, our friend/fishing guru, commended that I had the rod at 11 o'clock position but he instructed that I should "play" a fish that big for while. Insights gained: (1) I should let go of the line when it's fighting and then reel it again as soon as it stops. Repeat when necessary until the fish gets tired; and (2) This should be done not only to inflict fatigue on the fish but also to protect my fishing line from being stretched and eventually damaged.
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| Rainbow Trouts measuring 18 to 22 inches should be returned to the lake which was what we did. I read that if the fish was going to be released, it should be held horizontally for picture-taking purposes. I was overcome by excitement that I forgot all about the theories I had learned. The trout was able to swim away and seemed unharmed thankfully. |
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| Pete was able to catch four trouts!!! They were all babies though (around six inches) so he returned them. I wonder if it's the same fish that kept on biting his lure??? |
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Pete needed to work on Saturday morning at 6am! The whole pack went to Moose Creek Cafe in town (with all the other anglers!) to access Internet connection. For breakfast, he chose a hearty omelette while I opted for a burrito with green chili sauce. The nice lady who brought our food gave Brontë a treat - a sausage (devoured in one second)!
After Pete accomplished his tasks, we drove to the grocery a mile outside Walden, to get some stronger mosquito repellent. With our "natural, DEET-free" formula, we didn't stand a chance against the thousands of pesky mosquitoes that feasted on us Friday night while we were fishing. "This natural crap is not working," ranted my husband. Two weekends ago, there were no mosquitoes in our site. Thousands of midges swarmed the area but they didn't suck the blood out of us :-))
We arrived at 7.40 at the grocery store but it wouldn't open until 8 so we decided to drive to Big Creek Lake. A couple we met at the Kelly Flats the weekend before recommended the site. We thought it was worth checking it out.
On our way to the park, we spotted a lot of pronghorn bucks and does.
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A buck chasing a doe. Doesn't the rut season start in fall?
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He stopped to check us out ...
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She did the same ...
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And they carried on with the chase.
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| Doe and fawn. Seeing mom and baby gave me a natural high. |
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| The dirt road that leads to Big Creek Lake. |
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On Saturday afternoon, we took Brontë for a stroll. There's Matilda, second from the left.
It was quite curious that not a single Yellow-headed Blackbird was in sight. There were thousands of them two weeks ago. Most of the swallows were gone too. |
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| Sage Thrasher scored a juicy meal. |
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| Silvery Blues procreating. (They scored too ... LOL!) |
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| Double-crested Cormorant. Was that a fishing line? :-( |
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| A more relaxed Sunday morning. Brontë fell asleep while listening to Daddy's guitar playing. |
On a sad note, the High Park Fire (which started on Saturday, the 9th) was raging when we headed home. Highway 14 was closed so we drove through Laramie in Wyoming and then down to Highway 287. It was an eerie scenario. Reddish smoke enshrouded the mountains. It brought back painful memories of our house being razed to the ground (not once but twice) in Manila and the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
As of this writing, the fire has already burnt 46,600 acres and it continues to wreak havoc. Our prayers and thoughts go out to those who are affected - humans and animals alike.
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