The storm passed through quickly, but by morning the world around us still glistened with raindrops. We packed up the wet tent, weighing heavy under the water, and we headed back up to the road. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, a fog drifted above the grass fading into the morning air. Cars passed us loaded with fly rods.

We continued walking through the valley alongside the bends of the Conejos River. Anglers began to appear waving their rods in the air, catching seams with their fly. They waved as we walked past. As we arrived closer to the town of Platoro, the bends became tighter and more anglers decorated the river. Platoro was quiet. There was no one to be seen wandering the streets, no cars went by, and no sounds beside the flowing river.

We walked into the Cafe where we ate a quick lunch before heading back out onto the dirt road. By the end of the day on the road we had climbed up to 10,800 feet. We slipped into between the wrinkles of the valley as Prospect, Lookout, and Telluride Mountain looked down on us. We came across a private property sign and two private lakes. In the middle of a National Forest, this was very intriguing to us, but with an evening storm rolling in over the mountains and thunder in the distance, we decided to end our day. We climbed up on top of a hillside, tucked our tent back into a pine forest, and slid into sleep as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

Cheers to simple days.

Garbelly & Critter