Ptarmigan and the X-Terra....

  I still remember the first time I ever saw an X-Terra commercial, the song being cranked was  “I want to get away” from Lenny Kravitz. The song and the commercial started a secret love affair that took nearly twenty years before finally being realized last Memorial day. Cat and I started thinking about replacing “The Van” shortly after both the boys left home a few years ago, the problem was that it was just so practical. Fishing trips were easy, tons of room and great gas mileage and lots of great memories, but just not very tough. This was the weekend that Cat and I decided to finally put the 4-wheels to use. We went up the back way to Ptarmigan, turning the first corner we saw lots of rocks and ruts. Thirty grand kept bouncing around in my head but I kept reminding myself that this is why we bought this car. The X-Terra made it up like a true champion with the only problem being some “in a hurry atv’rs”  that  scraped the back of our vehicle. We got to the top at about 6:30P.M. and the rain started shortly there after. We sat in the car for about an hour and a half playing games before the rain finally ended and then set up the tent. We set out for the lake at about 7:30 A.M. and found it only took about twenty minutes from that side. The weather was exactly what was expected, about 40 over night and about 6o when we got to the lake. So nice after spending the last month in the sauna known as Pueblo. We caught 15 or 20 fish with the largest being about a 15inch fatty that Cat landed. The fish seemed to be feeding off and on all day long, five casts in a row with takes then ten without. The trip back down the hill was a little more scary, lots of blind spots. I have a whole new respect for you true 4-wheel drivers. All in all I would have to say our first true 4-wheel drive adventure was a success, we are home and alive.              

  On another note, I saw the river dropped here again in town and temps at Moffat Street hit 77 degrees. Fishing can still be good here early in the day but please be cognizant about fighting the fish quickly and getting the fish back in the water as quickly as possible. The warmer water depletes the oxygen level in the water that when combined with over exertion can be fatal to the fish. Thank you as always for reading and remember, this may be the only river we ever get….Connell