Steamboat Springs

We just got back from a short trip to our new favorite place - Steamboat Springs, Colorado! We headed up on Friday to view some autumn foliage, relax, fish, and hang out with one another.

What a success! Starting right after Winter Park, the trees exploded with color and the rest of the drive was absolutely stunning. We went to Strawberry Park Hot Springs, drove up the steep and rocky road to the entrance and after changing and figuring out which pool was our preferred temperature, spent a luxurious couple of hours soaking in the naturally heated sulphur hot springs. Note: it was actually pretty busy, but I edited the photos using Snapseed’s “healing” function to remove other folks. Why? Well, they didn’t consent to having their image publicly posted, especially in their bathing suits. Actually, most of the popular places I’ve posted about over the last few years have had a bunch of folks there - I’ve just edited them and their cars out for their privacy. You think Rocky Mountain and Yosemite have have been that free of people? Hah.

After drying off and taking a thousand photos of leaves, we went downtown and got some tacos and the best horchata and looked up some fishing spots while we listened to the creek babble next to the restaurant patio. Then we headed to the fly shop to get some gear and were helped by the friendliest guy and his very sweet shop dog. We only had a couple hours left in the day so we went to a nearby SWA and only had to get distance from one other person which was baffling since it was such a beautiful spot - apparently autumn is the off season! We fished until dark, and I netted a couple smallish rainbows and got several more on but then lost them. Jason and I were both stalking two larger fish that kept emerging, splashing around, and taunting us on different segments but it started getting too dark and my hands were freezing from getting wet when releasing so we called it a night.

We wrapped up the evening with a trip to the Ore House for dinner, followed by some hot tub time at the hotel and then awoke to a lovely mountain view from our balcony. We stopped at a coffee shop for chai and an earl grey muffin and I very seriously contemplated selling our car so I could buy someone’s matte black 4x4 adventure van for sale in the parking lot. Then a lazy stroll around downtown, did some window shopping, passed a chili festival, saw lots of good dogs, and watched folks fishing in the river that goes right through downtown.

We decided to drive further south out of town and hit the fishing sections along the Colorado river right outside of Kremmling and I saw my first ever MOOSE - and not just one, but two! I was casting and heard this BIG rustling across the river. I looked behind me to figure out if I could scramble up the steep embankment if a bear charged through the brush (that was humbling because there would have been no way in hell I’d have made it especially in my clunky wading gear), but instead this beautiful moose with light colored legs slowly walked down the riverbank to eat some of the berries right by the water. And then its buddy showed up and they calmly watched us fish while they ate lunch. That section of the river was beautiful, but unproductive so we headed a little further down to Parshall and parked under some stunning orange and yellow aspens and fished a little while longer until we had to head back to get the dogs from daycare.

This summer, I joined a women’s flyfishing group and have gone on a couple trips with them (one overnight, and one day trip) and have already met so many kind and wonderful people who have given me so many insights into how to enjoy angling in this beautiful state. It’s an activity I’ve done off and on for years (mostly off) and I’ve found myself REALLY gravitating toward it for so many reasons. You don’t typically fish in ugly places. It combines some of my favorite activities - being outside, being away from screens, engaging with and being a good steward of the land, learning something new, being mindful, and feeling embodied and attuned to my body. And bringing my husband into this hobby has been wonderful - he caught his first fish last weekend when we went to a spot outside of Boulder and I felt so excited that was so excited! I haven’t really gotten to dive into anything as fervently as this in a few years and it has been really wonderful to learn all the terminology, techniques, rules, regulations, and locations. I feel so far from being what I could call “good” at this, but I also feel like each time I go out I’m more and more adept which is a really wonderful feeling.