Fishing at Tarryall and Devil’s Head Hike

Wednesday I decided to head to the mountains and see if the snow was gone around Tarryall Reservoir. Just in case it was I brought my fishing rods and my belly boat. I left at about 9 am and was at the reservoir by 10:15. All of the snow in the South Park area where the reservoir is, was clear of snow and things are greening up nicely.

It was a gorgeous day but a bit windy so I didn’t even think about using the belly boat. Instead I fished from shore using my ultralite spinning rod and a trusty #1 Mepps lure. The reservoir is stocked with rainbow and Snake River cutthroat trout and the limit is four fish per day. I had my limit within an hour so for the rest of the day I explored the Forest Service roads around the reservoir. I found a lot of good camping areas but many would be inaccessible in my RV because the roads were pretty rough. The Picture above is of one of the campsites I found. Talk about a great view!! I headed home about 2 pm pretty satisfied with myself.

The weather cooled down a bit on Friday with temps in the upper 60’s. Perfect hiking weather so I headed for a very popular hike about 30 miles from home. Devil’s Head Trail leads to the last manned fire tower in Colorado. Friday was the first day the trail was open after the winter season. I didn’t know that when I left but as I made the last turn down the Forest Service road, the ranger was just removing the barricade and the “Closed” sign. I would have been a mad guy if I drove all that way to find the road closed!

The road into the trailhead was closed though and I had to park about a half mile from the start of the trail. That made the hike 4 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1300 feet. That is a pretty steep climb and coming down isn’t easy either but the scenery is worth the effort.

Once at the summit of the trail you can then climb the ladder up to the fire tower itself. That’s another 143 steps pretty much straight up. The fire tower itself had not yet opened for the season but I was able to walk around the outside and see the 360 degree panorama. A beautiful, beautiful sight and icing on the cake for the hike.

I spent about an hour at the tower, had a leisurely lunch and took a bunch of pictures before heading back down.

When I was hiking up and while at the tower I only saw two other people but by the time I started down, I passed more and more people on the way up. My timing this day was great! I was however one tired puppy by the time I got back to the car and this morning my calf muscles are complaining loudly! The going down part used muscles that I obviously need to exercise more.

Next week I’ll begin preparations for our trip to Moab. Have I mentioned that? The Ladder Lady is coming in for a visit and The Bride and I are taking her to Moab with the rest of The Circle for our annual trip. I’ll drive my RV on Tuesday and Ladder Lady and The Bride will follow on Wednesday in a car. This will be a trip a great one so stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting.