Father's Day Weekend on The Colorado River
I've been writing about Father's Day since this blog was first born. It all started with my first Father's Day in 2003, continued in 2004 (the year I bought The Bus), 2005 and 2006. In 2008, I started the Father's Day Camping Trip tradition and it's been a blast ever since. We spent a couple years at the Great Sand Dunes and a year at Lake Granby. Last year, we changed things up a bit and headed to The Oregon Coast. This year, we brought back the camping tradition, packed up the raft we bought last year and headed for the Upper Colorado River.
On Saturday, we put in at Rancho del Rio and took out at Two Bridges. This stretch took about 4 hours, which was perfect considering we didn't put in until 2pm. Saturday night, we camped at Catamount, then started early Sunday floating from Catamount to Pinball (9 miles). We got on the river around 10 and disembarked 5½ hours later.
Yes, there were times when it was super windy. But there were also times where it was sunny, calm and beautiful. One of the biggest highlights for me was catching a 16" Trout, right after Trish saw it jump and told me exactly where to cast my line. The fact that I was able to cast it to the precise spot was cool enough, but getting the fish on my line moments later was exhilarating. Shortly after, a majestic Bald Eagle flew over us and we all dropped our jaws in amazement.
The Rodeo Rapid (a Class III) was definitely hairy, but not that bad. We made it through without a scratch.
Memorial Day Weekend
Father's Day Weekend wasn't our first camping trip this year, but it was the first time we've slept in a tent. On Memorial Day Weekend, we journeyed to State Bridge for Campout for the Cause, a music festival. We first got a taste of it last year, and it was the first time we'd rafted the Colorado River as well. We had so much fun with our friends Chris and Brice (who brought their kids) in 2012, we were inspired to buy our raft, as well as haul Abbie and Jack to it this year.
We stayed in a yurt near the concert venue and enjoyed comfy mattresses, which was a nice improvement over sleeping on the ground last year. We rafted during the day, listened to great music at night and had a good ol' time with our kids. Below are some of Trish's photos from this fun adventure.
With 4 days of rafting under our belt this year, both Trish and I are starting to really get the hang of rowing. Next month, we plan on towing it to Montana with us and running some of their rivers. We're not mountain biking as much as last year, but I sure do like the "whole family" aspect of rafting. The peacefulness, scenery and easy access to fishing are great bonuses too.